Thomas Fearnley was a 19th century Norwegian painter who specialized in landscapes.

He painted many of his works in Italy, particularly along the beautiful Amalfi coast in places like Sorrento and Capri.

He was also an accomplished printmaker and produced very appealing lithographs and etchings of landscape scenes.

His subjects ranged from grand and dramatic to intimate and contemplative. I particularly enjoy his more subdued subjects.

Josh Keyes is an Oregon based painter whose themes include graffiti on objects where it would not normally appear, animals intersecting with civilization in thought provoking ways, and scenes in which nature is reclaiming what appears to be a recently post-human world.

The latter theme is sometimes expressed in compositions in which the elements have been squared off and isolated, as if a slice of his alternate reality had been carved out by a cosmic cookie cutter — producing a diorama-like object in which water is presented as a block.

In these he not only shows the works on civilization inundated by the kind of shallow but still disastrous levels predicted for seal level rise brought on climate shift, but also juxtaposes a variety of animals with human made artifacts. Sharks prowl beneath war monuments, alligators lurk next to cowboy memorials and seals cavort around submerged mail boxes.

You can find more of these among his older works in the Paintings: Gallery II section of his website. In additon to that and the Paintings: Gallery I section, there is an unfinished Gallery section with more images of his work.

Many of his works that show woodland elements are beautifully realized and can be appreciated just as landscape paintings, concept aside.

There is a brief interview with Keyes on Art Threat.

Keyes works in acrylic on wood panels. He is married to painter Lisa Ericson, who I profiled in 2016.

[Via Kottke.org]

As I mentioned in my post on Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, one of the tragedies of the level of misogyny in the history of art — in addition to the personal tragedies of women whose passion for creating art was denied by societal “norms” — is the unknowable number of possibly brilliant women artists whose contributions we have denied ourselves as a culture.

Though opportunities for women artists are better today than in the past, women still must face disparaging attitudes and assumptions based on their gender about the value of their work. In the past, it was even more pronounced, and artistic endeavors like painting and sculpture were largely considered “inappropriate” pursuits for women.

There were exceptions, of course — women who by luck or right of birth or grit, determination and persistence managed to establish themselves as artists of note in spite of the odds against them.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC is a museum and organization dedicated to highlighting, promoting and increasing awareness of the contributions of women artists.

I have to say that when in Washington I have difficulty getting past the mind-boggling collections of the National Gallery of Art to visit other art museums in the city. (It’s only in the past few years that I’ve even gotten to the amazing Smithsonian American Art Museum, and I have yet to visit the National Portrait Gallery.) So while the the National Museum of Women in the Arts is certainly on my list, I just haven’t made it there yet. I’m looking forward to spending more time in D.C. and visiting the museum this summer.

In the meanwhile, their website not only describes the museum and their mission, but offers highlights of their 4,500+ object collection.

In addition to viewing items from the collection that way, you can browse or search their artist profiles, which give biographical backgrounds and also feature images of the artists’ works.

Just from this small sampling in one museum, imagine if we had been more open minded as a society and had access to a hundred times this many more women artists from history, how much richer we would be for their contributions.

(Images above: Lavinia Fontana, Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau, Lois Mailou Jones, Arreau, Louise Moillon, Eulabee Dix, Judith Leyster, Louise Abbéma, Marguerite G&eacuterard, Rosa Bonheur, Rachel Ruysch, Elisabetta Sirani, Celine M. Tabary, &Eacutelisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun, Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Anna Ancher)