I’ve had a heap of fun creating this little illustrated series on my Instagram account @whimsicalillustration – finished up yesterday with my last lady in the series the Spartan Queen Gorga! Thought it would be fun it share with you these last six famous historical gals!
Women were usually omitted from any Greek historian’s work (they were not “worth” mentioning) but amazingly enough Gorga is not only mentioned but also even quoted! This means she must have been truly notable and impossible to ignore. There are no descriptions or art depictions of her so she is completely concocted from my imagination. (Image background is an ancient Greek statue.)
The Irish Pirate Queen – Grace O Malley! This is a pretty fascinating 16th c lady! Her story is long so to sum it up here would be too much but if you get a chance you should definitely go read about her!
Had to be a little patriotic… 😁🇨🇦 Chose to draw one of Canada’s most beloved authors, L.M. Montgomery. Ever heard of ‘Anne of Green Gables’? This is the author! Her novels and characters were a memorable part of my childhood.
Margaret Fuller, journalist and critic during the 1800s. She was an advocate for women’s rights (especially for jobs and education). She also encouraged many other reforms in society, including prison reform and the emancipation of slaves in the United States. Impressive and ambitious objectives for a lady of her day!
The funny thing about this beautiful queen is that she is better known and remembered than her pharaoh husband. They ruled together during ancient Eygpt’s most prosperous period. Considered to be heretics because they revamped the Eygptian religion down to the worship of only one god. After her husband’s death there is some possibility that she ruled as pharaoh herself too for a short time.
I could pick a dozen artists out of history that I admire but Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926) is by far my favourite.
She lived an extraordinary life for a woman of her time. The affluence and mobility of her family provided her with the ability to chose her destiny more freely. At an early age she set out to become more than the typical “lady painter”, she wanted equality and she pursued an art career in the world of men. She was born in the US and lived most of her adult life in France where she became connected with the Impressionists and also many other famous artists of the day. It is admirable that Cassatt pursued a career in a vocation dominated by men but even more admirable that she did not do so in a typical fashion. She stepped outside of the popular subject matter and art styles of the day and chose to reflect and celebrate the domestic lives of women using new impressionistic art techniques.
