NEW YORK (May 2025) – Lincoln Glenn Gallery is pleased to present Herself: American Artists of the 20th Century. This eclectic grouping of 24 artists shares a kaleidoscope of influence that unites them across nearly 100 years of artistic production. The women represented in Herself had varying degrees of commercial success, some achieving major museum shows and earning a place on the rosters of well-known galleries, while others are still seeking institutional recognition. Regardless of their notoriety, each of these artists had a hand in the greater cultural development of visual art in 20th century America. Enterprising and bold, they made strides not only for women artists to have a seat at the table, but for women to be respected for their contributions in any field.
Archaic stigmas of the time implied that to make it in a role reserved traditionally to males, such as fine art during the early and mid-20th century (and arguably beyond), women had to embody masculine traits but also ensure they did not come off too brutish or intractable to avoid negative classification. Being quiet, agreeable, and pleasant however– qualities often ascribed to women – were not necessarily the agreed upon ways to succeed. Many women knew this – some naturally embodied these “male” traits, some rose to the challenge and played the game, and others disregarded the sentiment entirely, choosing to be their authentic selves regardless of the impact on their classification.
Since our first exhibition in Westchester in fall of 2022, our steadfast commitment to fairly representing women artists in our gallery programming has been clear. We have curated 16 exhibitions and this will be the eighth (50%) either focusing on a single female artist, such as Juanita Guccione (January-March 2025), or a group of female artists, such as the National Association of Women Artists (March-May 2024).
The exhibit consists of works by Mary Abbott, March Avery, Alice Baber, Mary Bauermeister, Virginia Berresford, Lynne Drexler, Grace Hartigan, Perle Fine, Sherron Francis, Suzan Frecon, Shirley Goldfarb, Gertrude Greene, Juanita Guccione, Sheila Hicks, Yvonne Jacquette, Barbara Kruger, Blanche Lazzell, Yoko Matsumoto, Alice Neel, Betty Parsons, Agnes Pelton, Vivian Springford, Marjorie Strider, and Takako Yamaguchi.
Lincoln Glenn’s exhibition will run May 3rd – July 5th, 2025 at 542 West 24th Street, and the gallery space will be open to visitors from 10am–6pm Tuesday–Saturday. A catalogue essay by Clanci Jo Conover will accompany the exhibition.