The Mirror and the Palette : Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraits - Jennifer Higgie

The Mirror and the Palette

Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraits

By: Jennifer Higgie

Paperback | 9 August 2022 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $24.99

$24.50

or 4 interest-free payments of $6.13 with

Aims to ship in 5 to 10 business days

When will this arrive by?
Enter delivery postcode to estimate

Her story weaves in and out of time and place. She's Frida Kahlo, Lois Mailou Jones and Amrita Sher-Gil en route to Mexico City, Paris or Bombay. She's Suzanne Valadon and Gwen John, craving city lights, the sea and solitude; she's Artemisia Gentileschi striding through the streets of Naples and Paula Modersohn-Becker in Worpswede. She's haunting museums in her paint-stained dress, scrutinising how El Greco or Titian or Van Dyck or Cezanne solved the problems that she too is facing. She's railing against her corsets, her chaperones, her husband and her brothers; she's hammering on doors, dreaming in her bedroom, working day and night in her studio. Despite the immense hurdles that have been placed in her way, she sits at her easel, picks up a mirror and paints a self-portrait because, as a subject, she is always available.

Until the twentieth century, art history was, in the main, written by white men who tended to write about other white men. The idea that women in the West have always made art was rarely cited as a possibility. Yet they have - and, of course, continue to do so - often against tremendous odds, from laws and religion to the pressures of family and public disapproval.

In THE MIRROR AND THE PALETTE, Jennifer Higgie introduces us to a cross-section of women artists who embody the fact that there is more than one way to understand our planet, more than one way to live in it and more than one way to make art about it. Spanning 500 years, biography and cultural history intertwine in a narrative packed with tales of rebellion, adventure, revolution, travel and tragedy enacted by women who turned their back on convention and lived lives of great resilience, creativity and bravery. This is a dazzlingly original and ambitious book by one of the most well-respected art critics at work today.
Industry Reviews
A bewitching, invigorating history of women artists, the work they've made and the impossibly hard conditions in which it was produced. I can't think of a more satisfying riposte to anyone who asks why there have been no great women artists than to present them with this incandescent book

An uplifting and dazzling tour through history . . . a breakout book that shifts the spotlight onto the names that the art world has painted over. It's illuminating and essential reading - STYLIST

Joyous . . . As Jennifer Higgie argues in this fine, haunting book, women have always made art, despite the discouragement lobbed in their path. The Mirror and the Palette is a redress, and vividly done - so much so that it rustles with the women's presence. You feel them standing behind you, expectant . . . A revelatory study - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Jennifer Higgie puts female artists centre stage with this fascinating biography looking at 500 years of self-portraits - THE i NEWSPAPER

A fascinating survey of women's self-portraits from the Renaissance to the 20th century. . . Extraordinary - DAILY MAIL

This engrossing book sheds new light on forgotten and disregarded female artists throughout history - and about time too . . . an absorbing story of women's art made in the European tradition - EVENING STANDARD

More in History of Art & Design Styles

Yoshitomo Nara - Yeewan Koon

RRP $160.00

$98.95

38%
OFF
The Story of Art without Men : The instant Sunday Times bestseller - Katy Hessel
Studio Ghibli : Architecture in Animation - Studio Ghibli

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
JoJo A-Go!Go! : JoJo A-Go!Go! - Hirohiko Araki

RRP $43.99

$36.75

16%
OFF
65,000 Years : A Short History of Australian Art - Marcia Langton

RRP $79.99

$53.35

33%
OFF
Witchcraft. The Library of Esoterica : Library of Esoterica - Jessica Hundley
Tom Ford - Tom Ford

Hardcover

RRP $250.00

$147.50

41%
OFF
Elden Ring : Official Art Book : Volume II - FromSoftware

RRP $107.99

$97.25

10%
OFF
Spider-Man : Across the Spider-Verse: The Art of the Movie - Ramin Zahed
Gray Malin: Dogs: Photographs - Gray Malin

RRP $69.99

$47.35

32%
OFF
Slim Aarons : Style - Shawn Waldron

RRP $140.00

$87.35

38%
OFF
The Art of Haikyu!! : Endings and Beginnings - Haruichi Furudate

RRP $70.00

$47.35

32%
OFF
Perspectives - Laurent Binet

Paperback

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Plant Magick : The Library of Esoterica - Jessica Hundley

RRP $79.99

$53.35

33%
OFF
Monster Hunter Illustrations - Capcom

RRP $80.99

$72.90

10%
OFF
Interaction of Color : 50th Anniversary Edition - Josef Albers

RRP $28.95

$21.50

26%
OFF
Art : The Definitive Visual Guide - DK

RRP $85.00

$56.25

34%
OFF
Paris in Ruins : Love, War and the Birth of Impressionism - Sebastian Smee
Wicked : The Story of Oz & the Wonderful Wizard: Replica Pop-Up - Insight Editions
Dark Souls : Design Works - From Software

RRP $71.99

$56.80

21%
OFF
Chanel : Collections and Creations : Collections and Creations - Danièle Bott