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Book and magazine illustration was historically an environment very populated by women in times in which they weren’t allowed the same room for artistic education, exposure and professional careers as male artists. Even though the Golden Age of illustration brings usually the names of the “fathers” of the artform, many women developed artistic styles that added new significance to storytelling. Still, it’s important to note that the environment was still a place of great privilege and only few women (especially white women with enough means) were able to find sustainable work in the industry in the XIX and early XX century. Some of the women showcased here became historically relevant many years after they passed, having awards named after them, becoming firsts to enter artistic halls of fame, creating networks for employment that outlived them, and being included in “gay-themed history tours” that recognized their lives, among many other legacies.

These are the few artists showcased here: Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825-1916), Josephine Pollard (1834-1892), Kate Greenaway (1846-1901), Alice Bolingbroke Woodward (1862 — 1951), Jessie Wilcox Smith (1863 – 1935), Isobel Lilian Gloag (1865–1917), Helen Stratton (1867-1961), Elizabeth Shippen Green (1871 – 1954), Violet Oakley (1874 – 1961), Anne Anderson (1874 — 1952), Jessie M. King (1875—1949), Elenore Plaisted Abbott (1875–1935), Ruth Mary Hallock (1876-1945), Florence Susan Harrison (1877-1955), Mabel Lucie Attwell (1879-1964), Rie Cramer (1887-1977), Margaret Tarrant (1888-1959), Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888—1960), Dorothy P. Lathrop (1891—1980), Cecile Walton (1891—1956), Margaret Tempest (1892-1982), Wanda Gág (1893-1946), Jennie Harbour (1893-1959), Virginia Frances Sterrett (1900—1931), Adrienne Segur (1901-1981), Janet Grahame Johnstone (1928 – 1979) and Anne Grahame Johnstone (1928 – 1998), Trina Schart Hyman (1939-2004) and Kinuko Y. Craft (1940).

Wow wtf HIV/AIDS was discovered by Flossie Wong-Staal, an Chinese-American woman, and she’s the reason the HIV test even exists. AND THEN she invented the molecular knife that lead to treatments for HIV/AIDS. And she’s STILL ALIVE. We don’t hear about the contributions of Women of Color enough, my word. Madness.

Please make this go viral.

It is so important I don’t even care if you delete what I write here, just help it be seen. 

to everyone who is losing things like concerts and senior proms and commencements and brunches they’d had planned forever and literally anything they’ve been looking forward to i’m sorry. i really am. it sucks and i’m sure there will be people in your life who will tell you to get over it because others have it worse right now and while it may be true that others have it worse that doesn’t make your pain, disappointment, or sadness any less real or valid. keep your head up.

The carrier bag theory of fiction by ursula k le guin / cueva de las manos / stone age toddlers had art lessons / bronze age baby bottles reveal how some ancient infants were fed / lovers of valdero / how a 15,000 year old human bone could help you through the coronavirus / the lascaux caves / is this cave painting humanity's oldest story?