Women of the Flemish Golden Age

Meet the Forgotten Women of the Flemish Golden Age News Art World Art & Exhibitions Artists Archaeology & History Art & Tech Art Collectors Art History Law & Politics Opinion Pop Culture People Museums & Institutions Collectibles Marketplace Artnet Auctions Gallery Network See All Art World Market Columns The Art Detective Wet Paint The Hammer Kenny Schachter The Gray Market Auctions Galleries Art Fairs Special Reports The Intelligence Report The Innovators List See All Market Podcast Artnet PRO About Art History Meet the Forgotten Women of the Flemish Golden Age At the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, a new exhibition uncovers a long-forgotten 17th-century creative economy. Michaelina Wautier, Two Girls as Saints Agnes and Dorothea (c. 1650). Image courtesy Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) – Flemish Community Collection. Jo Lawson-Tancred March 8, 2026 Share Share This Article Rubens, Rembrandt…. Rachel Ruysch , Judith Leyster , and Michealina Wautier . The canon of celebrated Flemish Old Masters has finally opened up to include some outstanding women in recent years. Yet these belatedly recognized artists are only the tip of the iceberg. A new exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) in Ghent, Belgium recovers the history of a long-forgotten creative economy in the 17th century—one in which women were vital participants. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Please enter a valid email address Signup failed. Please try again later. You have successfully subscribed to Artnet News. “Many still assume that a woman artist was exceptional in the 17th century, but we have on view more than 40 women who made beautiful, high-quality art,” said Frederica Van Dam , the curator of “Unforgettable” at MSK Ghent until May 31. “So I hope this narrative can end now.” The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Please enter a valid email address Signup failed. Please try again later. You have successfully subscribed to Artnet News. These women, who worked in Belgium and the Netherlands between 1600 and 1750, saw art not as pastime but as a profession. As evidenced by contemporary biographies on view at MSK, they were well-regarded, even famous, in their day. Over the centuries since, their names had fallen into obscurity. It has taken decades of dedicated research to finally rescue these women’s stories from the archive. What is immediately striking about “Unforgettable” is the diversity of paths that women took to pursue their artistic ambitions. Whether single or married, rich or poor, a painter, a sculptor, or a paper cutter, each woman’s success was determined by a unique mix of circumstance and strategy. So what exactly did it take for a woman to become a successful artist in 17th-century Flanders? Class Consciousness Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate, Self-Portrait (ca.1650-55). Image courtesy MSK Ghent. The defining struggle of a woman’s career was against the constraints of her class, with even those born into the elite facing obstacles. Louise Hollandine, who was born a princess in The Hague in 1622, is represented in the exhibition by three self-portraits, including one from around 1650 that has never previously been on public display. Hollandine was initially encouraged to paint portraits by her family, who were often her subjects. Eventually, however, it became clear that a serious career making and selling art would be incompatible with court life. In secrecy she escaped in 1657, converting to Catholicism and joining a prestigious abbey in France, where she eventually became an abbess. Though Hollandine’s motivations for establishing a new life are unknown, it gave her the freedom to continue painting. Many middle-class women artists followed in the footsteps of their fathers or brothers. This was the case for Maria Schalcken, who studied a technically complex, illusionistic style of painting with her brother Godefridus, who had himself been taught by Rembrandt’s pupil Gerrit Dou. There is evidence on at least two of her paintings, including a self-portrait, that Maria’s signature was at some point altered to give the impression that the work was instead by her brother, so raising its market value. This kind of intentional erasure is one of the reasons that so many women artists have been forgotten. Installation view of lace by anonymous makers on display in “Unforgettable” at MSK Ghent, 2026. Photo: © Martin Corlazzoli. Working-class women did not have the opportunity to establish artist studios but they were frequently employed in less gratifying creative roles, like lacemaking. This painstaking, time-intensive work was poorly paid and shouldered almost exclusively by women. On view at MSK are pieces of lace by anonymous makers who were essential to the wider luxury economy. “It’s important to not only look at painting but also at other disciplines,” explained Van Dam. “By combining fine art with applied arts, we get a better overview of the share women had in the economic blossoming of that time.” Marriage In rare cases, a middle-class woman with no artistic background was able to establish a career against the odds. This was true for Judith Leyster, whose father was a brewer. Born in Haarlem in 1609, Leyster became a member of the local guild in 1633 and her confidence at this time is apparent from a smiling self-portrait , on view at MSK. An earlier painting, Y oung woman being Harassed by a Man (1631), in which a man uses coins to proposition a woman who concentrating on her sewing, has been read as a feminist work. Judith Leyster, Young Woman being Harassed by a Man (1631). Image courtesy Mauritshuis, The Hague. “Eventually the social expectations of a woman at that time conquered her dreams,” said Van Dam. In 1636, Leyster married fellow artist Jan Miense Molenaer and began painting less, with only a few known works dated to after the wedding. In the years after her death, Leyster’s entire oeuvre was falsely attributed to her husband and Frans Hals until she was rediscovered in the late 19th century. Though the accomplishments of women shine in “Unforgettable,” the show is also marked by the absence of what might have been. A particularly compelling example is that of Anna Francisca de Bruyns, born in Morialmé in 1604, who had never wanted to marry according to a biography written by her son. Nonetheless, she became a wife at 24 and would go on to have 12 children. That she found time to make art in private is clear from a small sketchbook on display at MSK, a diaristic document that records the merging of artistic ambitions with family life. On one page containing a self-portrait, a child’s hand has captioned the image “this is my Mommy.” Maria Van Oosterwijck, Vanitas Still Life , (1668).Image courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museum. Vienna Motherhood did not hinder the ambitions of a privileged few, like the painter Ruysch, who was able to afford childcare for her 10 children. As a working mother, the artist frequently earned more than her portraitist husband thanks to the strong demand for her floral still-lifes. By contrast, Maria van Oosterwijck chose never to marry. A slightly earlier still-life painter who also made her name in Amsterdam, she instead supported herself through her work. In Vanitas Still Life (1668), Van Oosterwijck quietly asserts her authorship with a small self-portrait hidden in the reflection on a vase. Business Strategy “Women artists had to have an entrepreneurial spirit if they wanted to make a living,” according to Van Dam, noting that their approaches reveal a sensitivity to trends as well as the assertion of a distinctive style. The Antwerpian artist Johanna Vergouwen situated herself within a global network of commerce by producing copies of Flemish Baroque masterpieces by Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. These were made on copper—an easily transportable material—and exported to the Spanish colonies, where there was particularly high demand. Other women contributed to emerging intellectual and scientific scenes, including the naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian and botanical artist Alida Withoos, both of whom collaborated with the prominent Dutch art collector and horticulturalist Agnes Block. She was one of the very first Europeans to successfully cultivate a pineapple, a fruit also recorded by Merian. Johanna Koerten, Roman Freedom (1697). Image courtesy Westfries Museum. Born in Amsterdam in 1650, Johanna Koerten received widespread acclaim for her highly-skilled, intricate “silhouette cuttings,” achieved by delicately slicing into paper mounted on a contrasting background. The effect is not dissimilar to that of an etching, but this technique was particularly prized in the 17th-century and commanded high prices. Koerten’s clients included Peter the Great, Frederick elector of Brandenburg, and William III of England. Notably, she had no children and received considerable support from her husband, who promoted her work long after her death. Unfortunately, few of Koerten’s works have survived due to their fragility, contributing to her absence from dominant narratives about 17th-century art. Her case exemplifies how the erasure of women’s achievements also risks overlooking the niche but important art forms in which they particularly excelled. “Unforgettable: Women artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750” is on view at MSK Ghent until May 31. Jo Lawson-Tancred European News Reporter Article topics Art History Museums The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. The best of Artnet News in your inbox. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Please enter a valid email address Signup failed. Please try again later. You have successfully subscribed to Artnet News. Related Articles Market 17th-Century Painter Michaelina Wautier Was Almost Lost to History. Will Blockbuster Shows Juice Her Market? By Eileen Kinsella , Feb 25, 2026 Art & Exhibitions Rachel Ruysch’s Impossible Still Lifes Outsold Rembrandt—Now They Star in a Major Museum Show By Katie White , Apr 16, 2025 Art World Art Bites: How the Art World Rediscovered Judith Leyster By Vittoria Benzine , Jul 7, 2024 Related Articles Market 17th-Century Painter Michaelina Wautier Was Almost Lost to History. Will Blockbuster Shows Juice Her Market? 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