CLEVELAND, Ohio — Sunday at the Cleveland Museum of Art was bustling with several art tours, but one intentionally celebrated some of arts unsung heroes: Women.
A small group gathered with a docent for a deep dive into the contributions of women whose art can too often be overshadowed by the work of their male counterparts. The Sunday tour marked the last of the museum’s Women’s Art History tours, which took place every Wednesday and Sunday during Women’s history month.
The tour began in Africa, where attendees had the chance to see stunning centuries-old pottery that was once thought to have been made by men but are now believed to have been made by women. A more recent work on display was made by Magdelene Odundo, a Kenyan-born artist.
The docent then went into the art made by women in 18th century France, including paintings made by Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, who was the official artist to Marie Antoinette.
The group also came across an Ohio connection in Clara Driscoll, who designed some of the Tiffany’s glass work, but had not received credit for decades. Also the attendees learned about Rose Bonheur, a French artist known for her paintings of animals. She had to get permission from the government to wear pants, which would have enabled her to study animals up close.
Also represented on the tour were women who had to deal with the duality of race and gender, like Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage, who won a scholarship to a prestigious French art school but was denied attendance because she was Black.
The tour group peppered the docent with questions, while hearing the stories of women who fought to be known as artists, in their own right, not just ‘women artists.’
“It was helpful to be able to put women in the arts in a historical context,” one attendee said adding that it was “inspirational” to hear their stories and their courage to overcome inequalities.
