Celebrating twentieth-century women painters

The start of the twentieth century saw more women pursuing careers as artists, thanks to new opportunities in education and women's growing independence. Despite this, their work was still undervalued in comparison to male artists.

From Dorothy Johnstone and her contemporaries to the art of Nina Hamnett and from Jessica Dismorr's progressive work to Elizabeth Blackadder's versatility, we hope you enjoy the work of these accomplished female painters.

Stella Steyn: the Irish artist who went beyond the Bauhaus

Six women artists of British Surrealism

What Gwen John's portraits can teach us about solitude

Helene Schjerfbeck: Finnish realist, modernist and expressionist

Laura Knight: reasserting the female gaze and painting marginalised communities

Amy K. Browning: an activist Impressionist

Above Woman Seated at a Table, 1951, oil on canvas by Stella Steyn (1907–1987). © the copyright holder. Photo credit: National Museums Northern Ireland

New on Art UK

Alicia Foster on the women artists making their mark at the turn of the twentieth century

Above The Young Girls, c.1885, oil on canvas by Mary Cassatt (1844–1926). Photo credit: Glasgow Museums

We share ten artists represented in UK collections who we recommend you follow on Instagram

Above The Burn, 2012, shell & metal barbecue by Bedwyr Williams (b.1974). © the artist. Photo credit: Arts Council Collection, Southbank Centre

Discover artworks representing women both working and gazing at the viewer

Above Mrs Pat Rule, née Detmold, Mayor of Royston (1974–1976 & 1980–1981), 1940s, oil on canvas by Ernest Herbert Whydale (1886–1952). © the copyright holder. Photo credit: Royston & District Museum & Art Gallery

See some of nature's tiny creatures with this Curation of insects in art

Above Three Dung Beetles, 2000, bronze by Wendy Taylor (b.1945). © the artist. Photo credit: New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge

Find out more about 'Rediscovering our sculpture: an Art UK symposium' in March, celebrating the end of our sculpture project

Above Photography Manager Jessie Maucor photographs sculpture at National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh. Photo credit: Rhona Taylor

Jon Sleigh examines the fine line between compulsive collector and 'art hoarder'

Above A Connoisseur's Studio, 1679, oil on canvas by Jacques Smeyers (1657–1732). Photo credit: West Suffolk Heritage Service

Discover a selection of artworks depicting 'mystic marriages' and saintly ideas of women's virginity

Above Maria Virgo, 1915, oil on board by May Louise Greville Cooksey (1878–1943). Photo credit: Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Combat the January blues with some of the bluest paintings from The National Library of Wales' collection

Above The Birds of Rhiannon, 1967, oil on canvas by John Elwyn (1916–1997). © the artist's estate. Photo credit: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / The National Library of Wales

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