From The Collection

View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.
Back to all blog posts

Membership, Mission, and Masterpieces

Posted: June 30, 2014
Category: From The Collection
From NMWA’s founding in 1981 to the public opening of the museum in 1987, to the exhibitions and programs that have kept NMWA’s audiences educated and entertained throughout the years,...
Three side-by-side works on vanilla-colored paper features eyes, hands and ears with words printed on them.

NMWA’s New York Avenue Sculpture Project: Magdalena Abakanowicz

Posted: June 20, 2014
Category: From The Collection
To honor Magdalena Abakanowicz on her 84th birthday, NMWA anticipates the upcoming public installation of her work on New York Avenue as the third artist in the New York Avenue...
Ten larger-than-life bronze sculptures of human bodies are installed in the middle of a city street. The bodies have no heads or arms, and are striding forward in five rows of two. While they are not naked, their wrinkled body-tight clothing makes no distinction between shirt and pants.

Catherine the Great, or Catherine the Glutton?

Posted: June 4, 2014
Category: From The Collection
The National Museum of Women in the Arts, founded by Wilhelmina and Wallace Holladay, serves as one example of women’s influence on art patronage and collecting.
Realistically rendered half-portrait of a light-skinned young woman, gazing directly at the viewer with a faint smile on her lips. Her dark, curly hair is attractively tousled, secured under a turban-like headdress which matches her gold and blue draped ensemble.

The Art of Contradiction: Nazi Reception of Käthe Kollwitz

Posted: May 16, 2014
Category: From The Collection
The Downtrodden (1900), an etching by German printmaker and sculptor Käthe Kollwitz, is back on view in NMWA’s exhibition galleries.
Print depicting a woman cradling the head of dead or ailing child in her lap; a man standing to her left turns away, covering his face with a hand.While the overall composition is black, with touches of light defining the features of the couple, a bright light illuminates the child's visage.

One is Silver and the Other’s Gold: Meret Oppenheim’s Friendships at NMWA

Posted: April 28, 2014
Category: From The Collection
Now on view at NMWA, a selection of Meret Oppenheim’s art, correspondence, and archival materials provide insight into this prolific artist. Meret Oppenheim: Tender Friendships documents friendship as a source...
An open book into whose pages the shapes of hands have been cut. Gray gloves painted with red veins are visible through the cutouts. An identical pair of gloves rest next to the book.

Controversial Representations of Sexuality in Feminist Art

Posted: April 18, 2014
Category: From The Collection
Judy Chicago’s installation The Dinner Party premiered in San Francisco on March 1979. Soon after, it received backlash from the public because the recurring “butterfly” motif in Chicago’s dinner plates...
Installation view of a gallery space with purple walls. Several colorful art pieces are hanging on the wall. On one wall, the text says: Judy Chicago, circa '75.

Behind-the-Scenes: NMWA Joins the Google Art Project

Posted: March 27, 2014
Category: From The Collection
We were so excited about our March 8 launch on the Google Art Project! A great deal of work went into posting the 59 artworks from NMWA’s collection and the...
View of the museum from outside showing the Neoclassical building from one corner. The building is a tan-colored stone with an arched doorway, long vertical windows, and detailed molding around the roof.

Anita Steckel: Fighting Censorship and Double Standards

Posted: January 28, 2014
Category: From The Collection
According to materials from the archive of artist Anita Steckel, before she revealed her solo exhibition The Sexual Politics of Feminist Art at Rockville Community College in 1973, a female...
A book is lying in a glass case. The book shows text and a black-and-white photographic portrait of a woman's face.

A Case of Mistaken Identity? Spotlight on Lilla Cabot Perry

Posted: November 19, 2013
Category: From The Collection
Lady with a Bowl of Violets (ca. 1910) has been called one of NMWA’s “best-loved works.”
A young woman sits on a chair with her hair in a loose bun, wearing a white lace-trim gown. Her body turns slightly right towards a fireplace, its orange glow reflected on her hair and torso. The room is light and clean and a dark bowl overflowing with violets sits on the mantle.

Ellen Day Hale: Traveling Adventurously

Posted: November 13, 2013
Category: From The Collection
Ellen Day Hale can be seen as a woman artist who was given opportunities not afforded to many other women of her time, showing the huge artistic benefits conferred by...