Look at most lists of the great artists who worked in Britain and you’re unlikely to find many women listed. Why is this? You might immediately assume that perhaps there were few female artists to begin with, but you’d be wrong. In fact, as a new exhibition proves, there are a large number of women whose creative legacies are barely known today. Running until 13 October, ‘Now You See Us’ at Tate Britain in London is a collection of over 200 artworks from across the globe that showcases the work of 100 women to explore female artists in the British Isles from 1520 to 1920. In some cases, these artists were among the greats of their time whereas others were little known, but all are barely recognised today. We spoke to curator Tabitha Barber and assistant curator Tim Batchelor to examine the fascinating lives of just a handful of these forgotten women.
Hidden in Plain Sight
But first we need to ask, just why were these women forgotten? “The reasons vary depending on which century you’re in,” Barber explains. “But there is a notion throughout the exhibition that women were seen as different. The way they were spoken of was different to men. For example, we start the exhibition in 1520, in a period when women were not expected to have a public role.
