I picked up Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (In That Order) expecting a straightforward overview of women artists, but what I found felt so much more alive. Bridget Quinn invites you into these artists’ studios, into their rebellions, their persistence, their quiet, blazing creativity. She profiles fifteen women working from the 1600s to the present day: Artemisia Gentileschi, Louise Bourgeois, Kara Walker, and others whose names I should have known before.
What makes the book sing is Quinn’s voice. She writes with spark and honesty, sharing her own reactions as she discovers these artists’ stories. It’s not textbook history; it feels like someone opening the door and saying, Come see what they made, and why it matters. Instead of dry encyclopedia entries, I was excited to encounter stories of human beings making art under pressure, exclusion, or doubt.
I especially connected with how Quinn ties each artist’s struggle to bigger themes: sexism in the art world, institutional barriers, and the question of whose work gets remembered. She celebrates their creativity without pretending those challenges didn’t exist.
As someone who’s exploring art and design as a possible path, this book felt like a call to action. Quinn doesn’t just present these women as rare exceptions who managed to break through; she shows how their ideas and forms still reverberate today. The mix of history, image, and reflection made me realize how much of art history remains hidden (or at least under-told), inspiring me to keep digging deeper.
Allegra on Art & Architecture 