Katy Hessel's 'The Story of Art Without Men' Reviewed

Katy Hessel's 'The Story of Art Without Men' is an instant classic, culminating a forty-year journey in gender studies art history initiated by Linda Nochlin's question 'Why have there been no great women artists?' The book is a gynocentric correction of E.H. Gombrich's 1950 'The Story of Art,' covering from the Renaissance to today. However, it notably omits contemporary Italian women artists, a gap that raises questions about geopolitical art perspectives as argued by Michele Dantini. Hessel's approach decouples art from subjective sentiment and taste, focusing on the relationship between languages and existences, revealing a feminine language that shapes interpretation. The book celebrates a process already seen at the last Venice Biennale, risking the museification of a secular emancipation struggle. It intertwines gender and decolonization, especially in its final section, giving sense to images that become increasingly contemporary and figurative, often self-referential, with surprising figures like painter Flora Yukhnovich. The narrative crosses styles and genres across eras, marks women's participation in avant-garde movements, and explores the role of women artists in 'decolonial feminism,' a term favored by Françoise Vergès.