The Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, VA, has opened “Abstract Expressionists: The Women,” an exhibition featuring nearly 50 paintings by 32 women artists who were pivotal to the Abstract Expressionist movement. Running from January 23 through April 26, 2026, the show draws from the Christian Levett Collection and the FAMM (Female Artists of the Mougins Museum), France, and is organized by the American Federation of Arts. It spans the movement’s development from the late 1930s to 1977, with works by artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, and Grace Hartigan, and is structured around four thematic sections covering New York, San Francisco, Paris, and the artists’ own voices.
This exhibition matters because it directly challenges the long-standing marginalization of women within Abstract Expressionism, a movement historically dominated by male figures. By centering these artists as key innovators rather than exceptions or muses, the show reframes art history and offers a more complete understanding of mid-century abstraction. It also highlights the international scope of the movement, connecting artists working in New York, California, and Paris, and underscores the ongoing institutional effort to correct gender imbalances in the art world.