‘Old masters too’: Ghent exhibition celebrates female artists of the baroque

The Ghent Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) has opened the exhibition 'Unforgettable: Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750,' featuring over 40 female artists from the Baroque period in the Low Countries. The show highlights painters like Judith Leyster and Maria van Oosterwijck, as well as practitioners of crafts like paper-cutting and lace-making, aiming to restore these women to a historical narrative dominated by male 'Old Masters' like Rembrandt and Vermeer.

meet the forgotten women of the flemish golden age

The Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent has launched "Unforgettable," a landmark exhibition recovering the histories of over 40 women artists who were active in Belgium and the Netherlands between 1600 and 1750. The show highlights the professional success of figures like Princess Louise Hollandine and Maria Schalcken, while also acknowledging the anonymous working-class women who fueled the luxury economy through lacemaking. It challenges the long-held myth that female artists were rare exceptions during the Flemish Golden Age.

The Rediscovery of the Female Old Masters

Die Wiederentdeckung der Alten Meisterinnen

The Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) has launched a major exhibition titled "Unforgettable: Women Artists from Amsterdam to Antwerp, 1600–1750," showcasing over 40 female Baroque artists who were once highly successful but later faded into obscurity. The show highlights figures like Michaelina Wautier, who defied gender norms by painting large-scale history scenes and male nudes, and Rachel Ruysch, whose floral still lifes commanded prices rivaling those of Rembrandt. These women were not merely exceptions but active participants in the art market, running workshops and securing royal patronage across the Low Countries.

Landmark Exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts Reframes an Iconic Historical Era

The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C., will present "Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600–1750" from September 26, 2025, to January 11, 2026. This landmark exhibition features nearly 150 artworks by 40 Dutch and Flemish women artists, including Judith Leyster, Rachel Ruysch, and Clara Peeters, alongside works by unnamed textile makers. Co-curated by Virginia Treanor and Frederica van Dam, the show includes loans from over 50 institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Prado Museum. It will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, from March to May 2026.