Stand with women artists and be recognized!

Give by March 31, and we’ll include your name on our 2026 Honor Roll.    

Donate Now
Two women standing and smiling in front of a framed painting in a gallery. One has curly gray hair, wearing a patterned skirt; the other has straight brown hair, wearing a sleeveless top.
NMWA Tickets
National Museum of Women in the Arts

The First Woman Graphic Novelist: Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová

Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová, untitled mounted print from Malířka Na Cestách (The Artist on her Journey), n.d.; Woodcut, print size: 4 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts Betty Boyd Dettre Library and Research Center
May 12 to Nov 14, 2014

Please note: Information about this exhibition is limited.

Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová (1894–1980) was a Czech graphic artist whose 1929 novel Z mého dětství (From My Childhood) is widely acknowledged to be the first wordless novel created by a woman.

Bochořáková-Dittrichová’s appealing and warm woodcut style was influenced by pioneering Belgian graphic artist Frans Masereel. This exhibition showcases five of her published novels as well as her unpublished book Malířka Na Cestách (The Artist on her Journey), which contains 52 original woodcuts about a young woman artist studying abroad, mirroring Bochořáková-Dittrichová’s own life at the beginning of her career.