The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution and Resilience: Five Hundred Years of Women's Self Portraits

"Whether you’ve missed losing yourself in art museums or simply feel lost whenever you step into one, Jennifer Higgie’s The Mirror and the Palette will bring a fresh perspective on the power of art. The personality and preoccupations expressed by a painting in a single frame are made even more potent with these self-portraits, ultimate acts of defiance in a world that often demands what a woman should (or, more frequently, shouldn’t) be. Higgie’s meticulous research into those obstacles and the artists who faced them captures how miraculous it is that some of these paintings even came to exist but, far more than that, the inexorability of these women’s resilience in taking back control of how the world saw them."

"Right up to our present day, art history has been mostly written by white men admiring or analysing the work of other white men. In parallel, women have continued to produce art – with the odds so often stacked against them, be they social, religious or economic. The Mirror and the Palette relates the stories of women artists who show us the many ways that art is made and looked at. Through the lens of the self-portrait and over the span of five centuries, Jennifer Higgie weaves art history and biography into a compelling narrative to celebrate women whose creative expression bears witness to the courage and resilience with which they lived their lives. “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.” Other best art books 2021 that I’ve added to my reference library include Hilma Af Klint: Occult Painter and Abstract Pioneer , available in English for the first time since its original publication by Åke Fant in 1989; Theaster Gates: A Clay Sermon , by the artist who maintains that ‘beauty is a basic service’; and the catalog from Jennifer Packer’s show at the Serpentine Gallery in London, The Eye Is Not Satisfied with Seeing . Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount ."