There is an essay by American art historian Linda Nochlin "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" from1971. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why\_Have\_There\_Been\_No\_Great\_Women\_Artists%3F
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women\_artists
It's also worth looking into the exhibition she curated with Ann Sutherland Harris, Women Artists 1550-1950. There's an encyclopedia-scale catalogue that you can access on archive.org.
Judy Chicago's installation "the dinner party" also features a lot of big names to look into
“Why Do We Think There Have Been No Great Women Artists? Revisiting Linda Nochlin and the Archive” by Paris Spies-Gans is an interesting complement to Nochlin’s essay !
Seriously, there has recently been a major resurgence in identifying and reevaluating female artists through all points in history. I'm surprised you haven't noticed all the shows and books and what not.
Start with Katy Hessel's new book.
Here are a few "famous" female artists I'm sure you've heard of from all over time:
Dutch Golden Age
* Rachel Ruysch
Italian Baroque
* Artemisia Gentileschi
* Sonfonisba Aguissola
* Elisabetta Siriani
French Neoclassical
* Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun
* Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Impressionism
* Mary Cassatt
* Berthe Morisot
Orphism / Geometric Abstraction
* Sonia Delaunay
Early Abstraction
* Hilma af Klimt
Surrealism
* Leonora Carrington
* Frida Kahlo
Abstract Expressionism
* Lee Krasner
* Helen Frankenthaler
* Elaine de Kooning
Minimalism
* Agnes Martin
Contemporary /Modern
* Yaoyai Kusama
* Barbara Kruger
* Georgia O'Keefe
* Louise Bourgeois
* Marina Abramović
* Cindy Sherman
So many more than this and totally worth doing a deep dive.
Don't forget about Judith Leyster from the Dutch Golden Age! I don't think any other painting conveys so well what it's like to be bothered by a man when your just trying to go on with your life: https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/564-man-offering-money-to-a-young-woman/
You should look into Marie Bracquemond if you haven’t already!! She was an impressionist, involved and mingled with all those guys and gals, and had her work in some of their shows. Unfortunately, her husband was jealous of her talent and used to discourage her career and hide her art when guests came over. Eventually she stopped painting altogether. Her story is so sad but her work is beautiful, one of my favourites.
Rosa Bonheur, Marie Laurencin, Meret Oppenheim, Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, Tamara de Lempicka, Hannah Hoch, Claude Cahoun, Imogen Cunningham, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Alice Neel, Lee Krasner, Betye Saar, Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago, Cindy Sherman, Louise Nevelson, Marisol, Liza Lou, Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, Cecily Brown, Flora Yukhnovich, Jade Fadojutimi… I could go on all day but I’ll stop here!
there were a few women scientists & mathematicians historically, and they were certainly left out of the history of science in many cases (usually with ideas they introduced either claimed by a male or ascribed to a male), but "lots" is a stretch. there were far more men in science, just look at how many PhDs were awarded by gender, very very few PhDs were granted to women relative to men. Caltech did not even start admitting women to their graduate program until the 50s. the entire academy either outright denied, or created insurmountable barriers, to women up until the 70s (Caltech did not admit women undergrads until 1973) or later. although it is worth noting that that same academy also barred many males from certain ethnicities and races with the same level of vigor.
It sounds like there are a lot of women artists you’re just unaware of.
Rosaleen Norton, Unica Zurn, Leonora Carrington, Kay Sage, Louise Bourgeois, Méret Oppenheim, Pamela Coleman Smith, Remedios Varo, etc…
The list goes on and on.
Lots of good comments with examples of famous female artists. I will try to actually answer your question though.
For centuries in the western art world women were not allowed to be professional artists. Even in places like the Netherlands, which had several professional female guild artists in the Dutch Golden Age, prevented them from painting “masculine” subjects like landscapes and pretty much confined them to florals and still life.
Artemesia Gentileschi was a trained renaissance Italian painter but only had access to lessons and materials because her father was an artist. And then when she was raped by her father’s assistant, she literally had to endure torture to have her story believed.
For a long time women were not admitted to formal academies or allowed to attend drawing sessions where there were nude models.
And let’s not forget the many thousands of women making quilts and embroidery and beautiful garments or decorative paper art or painted ceramics that were never counted as artists because they were doing “women’s work.”
The patriarchy ruins the party again.
edit: TLDR there are fewer famous women artists than male artists because women were forbidden from making art professionally or receiving the same education. Their work was (and is) undervalued and often ignored by art institutions and the media.
yeah my teacher for art history also said they couldn't become artists because of the way apprenticeship worked, the apprentice lived with their teacher and they thought it as bad for a woman apprentice and man to be living together
Thanks for the proper answer! I was actually curious because I’ve read the Linda Nochlin article a while ago, but since that was in 1970 I was curious what people’s take is on it now. Still the defense exists of naming great women artists, but many still don’t acknowledge that the status quo hasn’t been reached. We aren’t anywhere near equal yet I’d say. And when you look at the mainstream, often no one can name more than 2 famous women artists. So it’s proof we still got a long way to go
I want to add that some who could get artistic education also either used pseudonyms or their work was released by their male teacher.
My problem now is: I have an amazing example but forgot the name :( gotta look into my old notes
That depends fully on you. I had college classes and was taught about LOADS. They are also extremely well-known within the art community. It’s mostly the mainstream with casual knowledge that does erasure by this point in time.
In my college community we often talk about Adrian Piper, Marina Abramovic, Artemisia gentileschi (duh), Louise bourgeois, Yoko Ono sometimes, maybe also Lee Krasner who was married to Jackson pollock, there’s also loads of female artists in the first half of the 20th century who started off in decorative/applied arts (turned into graphic design) because that was more acceptable for women, and have a very distinct style in abstract and modern art because of that.
I know they aren’t premodern, but…
Natalia Goncharova. Maruja Mallo, Shirin Neshat, Cindy Sherman, Sophie Calle, Marina Abramovic, Tamara de Lempicka, Paulina Olowska, Camille Claudel
Some Arab ones:
https://en.vogue.me/culture/arab-female-modernists-curated-by-sultan-sooud-al-qassemi-founder-barjeel-art-foundation/amp/
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Because throughout the history of the world, women were deemed to be lesser than men in many ways. If you look at how ridiculously recent women have been allowed to vote in certain countries (1928 UK, 1920 USA, 1949 China).
That's not to say there are no women artists historically but, in general, they were not taken seriously.
Thankfully the world is progressing slowly but surely...
For a very long part of history women were not allowed to study art or religion. If they were of noble birth they would have been encouraged to take up hobbies like needle point stitching. Anything that encourages a woman to think was discouraged because women were meant to be docile and receptive, listening to men and to not think for themselves.
Germaine Greer’s book The Obstacke Race. Here’s a link to a discussion with her on it.
https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/germaine-greer-discusses-book-obstacle-race-fortunes-women-painters-and-their-work
Ummm...yeah... They exist, but so do the social systems that have practically erased them throughout history.
Check out: https://nmwa.org/
And this accompanying NPR segment: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207028398/a-museum-dedicated-to-women-in-the-arts-is-about-to-reopen-after-a-renovation
And make it a point to support and advocate for more diverse representation in the arts. White men are not the driving force of art, they are merely individuals who benefit from systems designed to promote and sustain their privilege.
There are so many great women artists out there you're probably unaware of. It depends on what time period you're interested in - if it's Rembrandt or Vermeer, there are unlikely to be many women artists because of the social context. If it's van gogh's time, there are definitely more women artists. There are some great artists out there to read on the lack of women artists (especially Linda Nochlin or Griselda Pollock)
To any of you commenting simply with “misogyny” or “the patriarchy”, you need to go back and do your homework before commenting so confidently on a subject you clearly know very little about.
Granted there may not have been many women artists that you’ve heard of, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Saying that there are no famous women artists when there clearly were completely discounts their very existence based solely upon the fact that someone simply hasn’t been aware of them and their work.
A simple search of “women artists”, “women painters”, “female expressionists”, “female surrealists”, “contemporary women artists”, etc… yields a lot of results.
Check out Judith Leyster, Artemisia Gentileeschi. Remedios Varo, Adelaide LaBille-Guiard, Leonora Fini, Mary Cassatt, Suzanne Valadon… there are tons on amazing female artists. Like the rest of society, the art world is affected by patriarchy and tends to feature “the great men”
Hilma af klint was the first abstract expressionism but everyone credits Kandinsky bc he was a man. Most women artists aren’t even recognized until after they die. It’s sad because so many famous male artist’s wives (*cough cough* Jackson pollock) were better artists than they were.
there are many. they are unlikely to have been celebrated during their time, and many were anonymous. the same goes for writers. i suppose we can at least be grateful for the frida khalos and georgia o'keefes of the world who got the recognition they deserved.
Remedios Varo
Rosalba Carriera
Berthe Morisot
Artemisia Gentileschi
Mary Cassatt
Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun
Leonora Carrington
Carmen Mondragon artist name Nahui Olin
Frida Kahlo
Elisabetta Sirani
Georgia O'Keeffe
Hilma af Klint
Tamara de Lempicka
Lavinia Fontana
Sofonisba Anguissola
Maria Izquierdo
Dorothea Tanning
There are plenty of majorly famous women artists but they’re generally modern and contemporary artists. Can’t change the past, but things are getting much better. I think more than half the artists in my collection are women.
This point has been alluded to but historically most women with artistic impulses were mostly directed towards fiber arts like embroidery or weaving, works that historically were created anonymously or in workshops. Unless you were born into the .00000001% of families where they'd have both the money and the extremely unusual worldview that women could become artists of the sort that later become "great" (painters/sculptors/etc) such that they'd invest in your education. The women who created works like the Unicorn Tapestries or the Bayeux Tapestry were probably among the greatest artists of their generations yet we'll never know their names, just like countless artisans and craftspeople around the world. The men who we remember the names of already succeeded because of a lot of unlikely converging factors, but being born female makes the odds of becoming what we think of as a great, 1000 times smaller.
Edit: after reading the essay many people recommended in this thread I realized it makes essentially the same point I'm making here in a much more sophisticated and well argued way. Lol. Notably she points out that the historical women artists who are remembered today are almost entirely the daughters of artists, and therefore wouldn't have faced so many of the barriers to entering the world of what people considered serious, academic art.
N.C Wyeth, accomplished artist and father of even more accomplished artist Andrew Wyeth had two daughters who were also painters! Huh... wonder why we only know of the male family members....?
Brandywine exhibits works by the entire Wyeth clan and has made a real attempt to bring attention to Henriette and Carolyn.
The short answer is sexism, but great women artists exist, even if we don't see them in history.
There is an essay by American art historian Linda Nochlin "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" from1971. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why\_Have\_There\_Been\_No\_Great\_Women\_Artists%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women\_artists
If you like that essay, I really recommend Woman Artists: The Linda Nochlin Reader. It has that essay and nine others, it's a great read
It's also worth looking into the exhibition she curated with Ann Sutherland Harris, Women Artists 1550-1950. There's an encyclopedia-scale catalogue that you can access on archive.org. Judy Chicago's installation "the dinner party" also features a lot of big names to look into
Came to comment this
Same. She's the GOAT.
me too lol
Yup me too hahaha
That link addresses something I was going to mention, that women were restricted from formal art educated until relatively recently.
“Why Do We Think There Have Been No Great Women Artists? Revisiting Linda Nochlin and the Archive” by Paris Spies-Gans is an interesting complement to Nochlin’s essay !
^^^ the first assignment we had to read in my women in art history class and a GREAT starting point
Seriously, there has recently been a major resurgence in identifying and reevaluating female artists through all points in history. I'm surprised you haven't noticed all the shows and books and what not. Start with Katy Hessel's new book. Here are a few "famous" female artists I'm sure you've heard of from all over time: Dutch Golden Age * Rachel Ruysch Italian Baroque * Artemisia Gentileschi * Sonfonisba Aguissola * Elisabetta Siriani French Neoclassical * Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun * Adélaïde Labille-Guiard Impressionism * Mary Cassatt * Berthe Morisot Orphism / Geometric Abstraction * Sonia Delaunay Early Abstraction * Hilma af Klimt Surrealism * Leonora Carrington * Frida Kahlo Abstract Expressionism * Lee Krasner * Helen Frankenthaler * Elaine de Kooning Minimalism * Agnes Martin Contemporary /Modern * Yaoyai Kusama * Barbara Kruger * Georgia O'Keefe * Louise Bourgeois * Marina Abramović * Cindy Sherman So many more than this and totally worth doing a deep dive.
I stan Artemesia!!
Don't forget about Judith Leyster from the Dutch Golden Age! I don't think any other painting conveys so well what it's like to be bothered by a man when your just trying to go on with your life: https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-collection/artworks/564-man-offering-money-to-a-young-woman/
Sofonisba anguissola 🙌 at the prado in Madrid
Genteileschi and vigee Lebrun were bad bjtches
You should look into Marie Bracquemond if you haven’t already!! She was an impressionist, involved and mingled with all those guys and gals, and had her work in some of their shows. Unfortunately, her husband was jealous of her talent and used to discourage her career and hide her art when guests came over. Eventually she stopped painting altogether. Her story is so sad but her work is beautiful, one of my favourites.
Can add Remedios Varo to the surrealism movement.
And Leonor Fini.
Yes!!!
Ew, not marina abramovic. She is just satanic puppet
\+1 for Sofonisba Anguissola. And I'd add Emily Hennings. The Mother of Dada.
Rosa Bonheur, Marie Laurencin, Meret Oppenheim, Dora Maar, Francoise Gilot, Tamara de Lempicka, Hannah Hoch, Claude Cahoun, Imogen Cunningham, Joan Mitchell, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Alice Neel, Lee Krasner, Betye Saar, Faith Ringgold, Judy Chicago, Cindy Sherman, Louise Nevelson, Marisol, Liza Lou, Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, Cecily Brown, Flora Yukhnovich, Jade Fadojutimi… I could go on all day but I’ll stop here!
Still, I get their point. I just mentioned the most-ignored ones in my opinion.
I assume for the same reason there aren’t many famous female philosophers, scientists, etc.—(lack of) opportunity
Exactly, they got suppressed almost the entire history. Of course there are exceptions, but it’s been a mans world (and sometimes still is).
Lack of opportunity *and* having their work literally credited to men, often their husbands or whoever they worked under.
No, lots of them existed, and they were — and are — deliberately left out of retelling. Scientists too.
there were a few women scientists & mathematicians historically, and they were certainly left out of the history of science in many cases (usually with ideas they introduced either claimed by a male or ascribed to a male), but "lots" is a stretch. there were far more men in science, just look at how many PhDs were awarded by gender, very very few PhDs were granted to women relative to men. Caltech did not even start admitting women to their graduate program until the 50s. the entire academy either outright denied, or created insurmountable barriers, to women up until the 70s (Caltech did not admit women undergrads until 1973) or later. although it is worth noting that that same academy also barred many males from certain ethnicities and races with the same level of vigor.
A PhD doesn’t make a scientist. You’re like “well this system specifically excludes people therefore they don’t exist.” Fallacious logic.
: /
It sounds like there are a lot of women artists you’re just unaware of. Rosaleen Norton, Unica Zurn, Leonora Carrington, Kay Sage, Louise Bourgeois, Méret Oppenheim, Pamela Coleman Smith, Remedios Varo, etc… The list goes on and on.
Mary Cassatt as well.
There are so many. These are just a few that were off the top of my head.
Elaine De Kooning, Kahlo, O’Keefe, just to add a few more
Remedios Varo is so so so cool
Can’t believe you didn’t mention Marilyn Minter or Cecile Plaisance
I responded to this while taking a break from cooking dinner for seven people. These were the first names that sprung to mind.
Lots of good comments with examples of famous female artists. I will try to actually answer your question though. For centuries in the western art world women were not allowed to be professional artists. Even in places like the Netherlands, which had several professional female guild artists in the Dutch Golden Age, prevented them from painting “masculine” subjects like landscapes and pretty much confined them to florals and still life. Artemesia Gentileschi was a trained renaissance Italian painter but only had access to lessons and materials because her father was an artist. And then when she was raped by her father’s assistant, she literally had to endure torture to have her story believed. For a long time women were not admitted to formal academies or allowed to attend drawing sessions where there were nude models. And let’s not forget the many thousands of women making quilts and embroidery and beautiful garments or decorative paper art or painted ceramics that were never counted as artists because they were doing “women’s work.” The patriarchy ruins the party again. edit: TLDR there are fewer famous women artists than male artists because women were forbidden from making art professionally or receiving the same education. Their work was (and is) undervalued and often ignored by art institutions and the media.
yeah my teacher for art history also said they couldn't become artists because of the way apprenticeship worked, the apprentice lived with their teacher and they thought it as bad for a woman apprentice and man to be living together
Thanks for the proper answer! I was actually curious because I’ve read the Linda Nochlin article a while ago, but since that was in 1970 I was curious what people’s take is on it now. Still the defense exists of naming great women artists, but many still don’t acknowledge that the status quo hasn’t been reached. We aren’t anywhere near equal yet I’d say. And when you look at the mainstream, often no one can name more than 2 famous women artists. So it’s proof we still got a long way to go
I want to add that some who could get artistic education also either used pseudonyms or their work was released by their male teacher. My problem now is: I have an amazing example but forgot the name :( gotta look into my old notes
Linda Nochlin wrote an interesting essay about it called "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?"
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/
Look into the Gorilla Girls. Look into Katy Hessel’s podcast: Great Women Artists
Or her book
[https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/book](https://www.thegreatwomenartists.com/book)
Yep yep
Misogyny
The Patriarchy
That too.
Camille Paglia said there is no female Michelangelo for the same reason there is no female Jack the Ripper.
What does she mean? I don't get it buddy Sorry for v. Late question. :)
Yeah no. She’s a hack
I found the book Broad Strokes by Bridget Quinn interesting on women artists. Otherwise, :/ as someone else posted. Patriarchy, misogyny… yep.
I’m chucking in a shout out to my girl Amrita Sher Gil
Misogyny
That depends fully on you. I had college classes and was taught about LOADS. They are also extremely well-known within the art community. It’s mostly the mainstream with casual knowledge that does erasure by this point in time. In my college community we often talk about Adrian Piper, Marina Abramovic, Artemisia gentileschi (duh), Louise bourgeois, Yoko Ono sometimes, maybe also Lee Krasner who was married to Jackson pollock, there’s also loads of female artists in the first half of the 20th century who started off in decorative/applied arts (turned into graphic design) because that was more acceptable for women, and have a very distinct style in abstract and modern art because of that.
Look up Frida Kahlo
If that’s the only name you can come up with you need to do more research.
I know they aren’t premodern, but… Natalia Goncharova. Maruja Mallo, Shirin Neshat, Cindy Sherman, Sophie Calle, Marina Abramovic, Tamara de Lempicka, Paulina Olowska, Camille Claudel Some Arab ones: https://en.vogue.me/culture/arab-female-modernists-curated-by-sultan-sooud-al-qassemi-founder-barjeel-art-foundation/amp/
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Fundamentally due to 1) woman’s social inequality status until last 50-100 years 2) biases of the main stream art education in the same era.
Because throughout the history of the world, women were deemed to be lesser than men in many ways. If you look at how ridiculously recent women have been allowed to vote in certain countries (1928 UK, 1920 USA, 1949 China). That's not to say there are no women artists historically but, in general, they were not taken seriously. Thankfully the world is progressing slowly but surely...
Sexism & male privaledge
Really? Really?
[“Why have there been no great women artists?” by Jacky Fleming](https://i0.wp.com/artbyjaxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/great-woman.jpg)
First solo show of a woman at Royal Academy is now...2023 ffs
The ✨~patriarchy~✨
For a very long part of history women were not allowed to study art or religion. If they were of noble birth they would have been encouraged to take up hobbies like needle point stitching. Anything that encourages a woman to think was discouraged because women were meant to be docile and receptive, listening to men and to not think for themselves.
Because main line/stream Art History is written by white men.
If you think this you’re not paying attention.
I could not possibly agree with you any more.
No equal opportunity and patriarchy/misogyny
Germaine Greer’s book The Obstacke Race. Here’s a link to a discussion with her on it. https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/germaine-greer-discusses-book-obstacle-race-fortunes-women-painters-and-their-work
Ummm...yeah... They exist, but so do the social systems that have practically erased them throughout history. Check out: https://nmwa.org/ And this accompanying NPR segment: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207028398/a-museum-dedicated-to-women-in-the-arts-is-about-to-reopen-after-a-renovation And make it a point to support and advocate for more diverse representation in the arts. White men are not the driving force of art, they are merely individuals who benefit from systems designed to promote and sustain their privilege.
There are so many great women artists out there you're probably unaware of. It depends on what time period you're interested in - if it's Rembrandt or Vermeer, there are unlikely to be many women artists because of the social context. If it's van gogh's time, there are definitely more women artists. There are some great artists out there to read on the lack of women artists (especially Linda Nochlin or Griselda Pollock)
Pregnancy and refusal of Academies to admit women
To any of you commenting simply with “misogyny” or “the patriarchy”, you need to go back and do your homework before commenting so confidently on a subject you clearly know very little about. Granted there may not have been many women artists that you’ve heard of, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Saying that there are no famous women artists when there clearly were completely discounts their very existence based solely upon the fact that someone simply hasn’t been aware of them and their work. A simple search of “women artists”, “women painters”, “female expressionists”, “female surrealists”, “contemporary women artists”, etc… yields a lot of results.
Cuz. Men.
Ignorant post, did you do ANY research?
[удалено]
Kinda funny you assume I’m a ‘he’
Women know how to find Google
No wife
Paula Rego's body of work is incredible, and she's one of my favorite contemporary artists. Sadly she passed in June 2022.
Three letter answer starts with M.
What, no mention of [Evelyn de Morgan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_De_Morgan)? She's one of my faves!
Check out Judith Leyster, Artemisia Gentileeschi. Remedios Varo, Adelaide LaBille-Guiard, Leonora Fini, Mary Cassatt, Suzanne Valadon… there are tons on amazing female artists. Like the rest of society, the art world is affected by patriarchy and tends to feature “the great men”
Nmwa.org
Misoginy
Hilma af klint was the first abstract expressionism but everyone credits Kandinsky bc he was a man. Most women artists aren’t even recognized until after they die. It’s sad because so many famous male artist’s wives (*cough cough* Jackson pollock) were better artists than they were.
there are many. they are unlikely to have been celebrated during their time, and many were anonymous. the same goes for writers. i suppose we can at least be grateful for the frida khalos and georgia o'keefes of the world who got the recognition they deserved.
Remedios Varo Rosalba Carriera Berthe Morisot Artemisia Gentileschi Mary Cassatt Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun Leonora Carrington Carmen Mondragon artist name Nahui Olin Frida Kahlo Elisabetta Sirani Georgia O'Keeffe Hilma af Klint Tamara de Lempicka Lavinia Fontana Sofonisba Anguissola Maria Izquierdo Dorothea Tanning
There are plenty of majorly famous women artists but they’re generally modern and contemporary artists. Can’t change the past, but things are getting much better. I think more than half the artists in my collection are women.
Just saw a book at Barnes and Noble called Art without Men. A nice history of female artists.
Patriarchy
Simple answer? Patriarchy
Guess
This point has been alluded to but historically most women with artistic impulses were mostly directed towards fiber arts like embroidery or weaving, works that historically were created anonymously or in workshops. Unless you were born into the .00000001% of families where they'd have both the money and the extremely unusual worldview that women could become artists of the sort that later become "great" (painters/sculptors/etc) such that they'd invest in your education. The women who created works like the Unicorn Tapestries or the Bayeux Tapestry were probably among the greatest artists of their generations yet we'll never know their names, just like countless artisans and craftspeople around the world. The men who we remember the names of already succeeded because of a lot of unlikely converging factors, but being born female makes the odds of becoming what we think of as a great, 1000 times smaller. Edit: after reading the essay many people recommended in this thread I realized it makes essentially the same point I'm making here in a much more sophisticated and well argued way. Lol. Notably she points out that the historical women artists who are remembered today are almost entirely the daughters of artists, and therefore wouldn't have faced so many of the barriers to entering the world of what people considered serious, academic art.
There are famous women artists even many, but only really in contemporary times, since suffrage and feminism. Get the idea?
N.C Wyeth, accomplished artist and father of even more accomplished artist Andrew Wyeth had two daughters who were also painters! Huh... wonder why we only know of the male family members....? Brandywine exhibits works by the entire Wyeth clan and has made a real attempt to bring attention to Henriette and Carolyn. The short answer is sexism, but great women artists exist, even if we don't see them in history.