Five Women Artists Whose Works Were Misattributed to Men
An article from DailyArt Magazine showcases five female artists whose creations were wrongly credited to male counterparts because of gender bias. Sofonisba Anguissola (1535–1625) had her court portraits mistakenly assigned to Alonso Sánchez Coello until the 1910s. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1653) experienced misattribution of 'Susanna and the Elders' (1610) to her father until the 1990s, while 'David and Goliath' (1639) was rectified in 2020. Judith Leyster (1609–1660) was linked to Frans Hals until her signature was discovered in 1893. Marie-Denise Villers (1774–1821) had 'Portrait of Charlotte du Val d’Ognes' (1801) credited to David until it was recognized as hers in 1995. Caroline Louisa Daly (1832–1893) was also misattributed until her authorship was validated in 2017. Financial incentives contribute to ongoing misattributions.
Key facts
- Sofonisba Anguissola's court portraits were misattributed to Alonso Sánchez Coello for three centuries.
- Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Susanna and the Elders' (1610) was attributed to her father Orazio until the 1990s.
- Judith Leyster's 'The Happy Couple' (1630) was reattributed from Frans Hals in 1893 by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot.
- Marie-Denise Villers' 'Portrait of Charlotte du Val d’Ognes' (1801) was confirmed as hers in 1995 by Margaret Oppenheimer.
- Caroline Louisa Daly's watercolors were misattributed to male relatives until 2017.
- The Confederation Centre Art Gallery held a monographic exhibition 'Introducing Caroline Louisa Daly' after the correction.
- Misattribution is often driven by financial gain and gender bias in the art world.
- Corrective reattribution has cultural and socioeconomic consequences.
Entities
Artists
- Sofonisba Anguissola
- Alonso Sánchez Coello
- Artemisia Gentileschi
- Orazio Gentileschi
- Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri
- Judith Leyster
- Frans Hals
- Jan Miense Molenaer
- Marie-Denise Villers
- Jacques-Louis David
- Marie-Victoire Lemoine
- Caroline Louisa Daly
- John Corry Wilson Daly
- Charles Daly
- Majo Prieto Pedregal
- Cornelis Hofstede de Groot
- Charles Stirling
- Margaret Oppenheimer
- Anne Higonet
- Paige Matthie
- Richard Jenkins
Institutions
- Museo del Prado
- Schloss Weissenstein
- Louvre
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Confederation Centre Art Gallery
- Simon Gillespie Studio
- Haarlem Guild of St. Luke
- DailyArt Magazine
Locations
- Madrid
- Spain
- Pommersfelden
- Germany
- Paris
- France
- New York City
- New York
- USA
- Prince Edward Island
- Canada
- Charlottetown