Another View: Landscapes by Women Artists opens on 20 April at the Lady Lever Art Gallery.
It will feature over 40 artworks dating from the early 1800s to the 1980s by women artists including Vanessa Bell, Dame Ethel Walker and Ingrid Pollard.
The exhibition is presented in chronological order and considers how women artists have used their practice to explore the issues of their day, raising questions about class, gender, politics, and more through their depictions of landscape.
Narratives surrounding the British landscape painting tradition have historically been dominated by male figures such as John Constable, J.M.W. Turner and Thomas Gainsborough, whilst overlooking the pioneering women artists who played an integral role in developing the medium.
By focusing on work by women, Another View aims to detangle the term “lady amateur”, which was often used in contrast to the “professional” artist title typically reserved for men, before exploring how women pushed for greater recognition as artists and began to train in professional schools during the 19th century.
Meanwhile, in the 20th century women turned to the medium of landscape painting to explore and critique the modern world.
Their artworks becoming more experimental in response to the social changes and shifting geopolitics of the era.
Featured works by Sheila Fell and Ingrid Pollard interrogate the picturesque landscapes of the Lake District in relation to themes of race and class, examining the impact of industry, capitalism and tourism on the local environment.
Melissa Gustin, Curator of British Art at National Museums Liverpool, said: “Far from just painting pretty watercolours, this exhibition shows how women landscape painters used their art to express their individual gazes, representing multiple viewpoints along the way.
“They explored and interrogated the landscape around them, developing important networks and experimenting with new mediums and techniques in the process.
“We’re looking forward to sharing their stories and celebrating their work, which has perhaps been overlooked historically within the narrative of British landscape painting.”
Another View: Landscapes by Women Artists is at the Lady Lever Art Gallery from April 20 to August 18.
Image: Elizabeth Adela Forbes (née Armstrong), Blackberry Gathering, first exhibited 1912. National Museums Liverpool.
