In ages past, women have had a hard path toward even becoming an artist, much less being recognized as one. By late 1500, some of them, like Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola, achieved enough recognition to live as a professional commissioned artist. However, even for artists as famous as Sofonisba (Anthony van Dyck sought her advice when he visited her), her gender was a reason that she was soon forgotten after her passing. Only in the late 20th century were some of the most famous portraits of the Spanish royal family reattributed to her.

To this day, museums have relatively small collections of art by women—often dispersed, not exhibited regularly, sometimes misattributed, and not much understood. Sometimes just learning about the artists’ biographies makes us reevaluate their creations, but because female artists are less known, it takes some searching to learn about them.

In our virtual museum of “Women & Art,” we seek to spotlight some of our favorite female painters or sculptors, or report about exhibitions dedicated to women in art.