Modern Women at PAFA: From Cassatt to O'Keeffe

In conjunction with The Female Gaze: Women Artists Making Their World, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) presented a companion installation featuring works by modern artists from Mary Cassatt to Georgia O’Keeffe who paved the way for future generations of professional women artists.

Modern Women at PAFA included the work of over 20 female artists whose works explore the following themes: motherhood and beauty; the natural landscape; self-portraiture; women in their community; women illustrators; and modern women in motion.

In 1915, Cecilia Beaux declared: “I predict an hour when the term ‘Women in Art’ will be as strange sounding a topic as the title “Men in Art” would be now.” Nearly a century later, it remains to be seen if Beaux’s prediction has become a reality, as we continue to explore the history of women and art.