There’s Lee Krasner at Gagosian; Tracey Emin at White Cube (plus, don’t miss her giant bronze on view at the Palais de Chaillo across from the Eiffel Tower); Jenny Holzer at Musée d’Orsay (if you’re stopping by, check out Mary Cassatt, too); a staggering collection of works, including a giant Barbara Kruger installation, at the Bourse de Commerce; Vija Celmins at the Musée de l’Orangerie. And more. (I wish I could get to them, alas we are on the US Kids Book Tour!)

PS. I’ve also included films, and my favourite places to eat. Let’s go!

Booths at Art Basel

• Chantal Joffe, Wangechi Mutu, Paula Rego, Shahzia Sikander, Hedda Sterne, Sarah Sze, Adriana Varejão and more at Victoria Miro, Booth B17

• Mary Stephenson at Chapter NY, Booth 1.H10

• Christina Quarles at Pilar Corrias, Booth 0.B50

• Kapwani Kiwanga at Galerie Poggi, Booth C05

• Louise Bourgeois, Jenny Holzer, Hélène Delprat, Camille Henrot, Carol Rama and Alina Szapocznikow at Hauser & Wirth, Booth B23

• Apolonia Sokol at The Pill, Booth 1.G8

• Tracey Emin, Marguerite Humeau, Louise Giovanelli and Helen Frankenthaler at White Cube, Booth B34

• Ann Veronica Janssens, Merikokeb Berhanu and Celeste Rapone at Esther Schipper, Booth B40

• Mire Lee, Maia Ruth Lee, Suki Seokyeong Kang, Ghada Amer, Pacita Abad, Kim Lim, Lee ShinJa and more at Tina Kim Gallery x Take Ninagawa, Booth 0.A2

• Rosalind Nashashibi and Marina Faust at Gianni Manhattan x PM8 / Francisco Salas, Booth 1.H14

• Tarsila do Amaral at Almeida & Dale, Booth P.08

• Ruth Asawa, Marlene Dumas, Yayoi Kusama, Joan Mitchell, Elizabeth Peyton, Bridget Riley and more at David Zwirner, Booth B22

• Lynda Benglis, Claire Falkenstein, Miyoko Ito, Suzanne Jackson and more at Ortuzar, Booth A42

• Louise Bourgeois, Lisa Brice, Liza Lou, Joan Mitchell, Joan Snyder and more at Thaddeus Ropac, Booth C21

• Leonora Carrington, Taryn Simon, Thu-Van Tran and more at Almine Rech, Booth A16

• Nairy Baghramian, Gala Porras-Kim, Leonor Antunes and more at kurimanzutto, Booth B43

Offsite Shows

• Mary Cassatt. The Choice of Independence, Musée d’Orsay (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Lee Krasner: Works from the 60s, Gagosian Paris (until 18 Dec)

• Tracey Emin: I will miss you Yesterday, I will miss you Today, I will miss you Tomorrow, And that’s how it will Always be, White Cube Paris (until 18 Dec)

• Vija Celmins, Musée de l’Orangerie (until 15 Feb 2027)

• Louise Bourgeois: Extrême tension, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Richelieu)(until 21 Feb 2027)

• Jenny Holzer: J’ai Vu, Musee d’Orsay (until 21 Feb 2027)

• “Marie Antoinette” by Sofia Coppola, Palace of Versailles (Petit Trianon) (until 24 Jan 2027)

• Arlene Shechet: Kind of Blue, Galerie Lelong (until 14 Nov)

• Mamma Andersson, Nalini Malani, Alison Saar: Selected Prints, Galerie Lelong (until 14 Nov)

• Remember Me, Bourse de Commerce (until 18 Jan 2027)

• Pour aujourd’hui et pour l’avenir: Absher, Bonnard, Fell, LBF Contemporary (until 26 Oct)

• Tacita Dean and Bruce Nauman, Marian Goodman Gallery (until 19 Dec)

• Helena Minginowicz: Out of Order, Galerie Prima (until 14 Nov)

• Jordan Casteel: Winter Sun, Thaddeus Ropac (until 23 Dec)

  ---

Films

• Before Sunset (2004)

• Amélie (2001)

• Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

• Funny Face (1953)

• Marie Antoinette (2006)

• Breathless (1960)

• The Dreamers (2003)

To Eat!

• La Coupole

• Chez Marianne

• Le Hangar

• Le Cheval d’Or

• Le Paris Seize

• Bouillon Julien

• Paloma

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To celebrate, I’ve gathered some of my favourite German artists for you – from pioneering twentieth-century printmaker Käthe Kollwitz to the painter Katharina Grosse, hailed for her explosive and immersive paintings. Enjoy! Xoxo

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717)

Born in Germany in 1647, Maria Sibylla Merian was an entomologist, botanist and naturalist known in both artistic and horticultural circles, whose observations of insects are still used by scientists today.

Merian’s big break came in 1699, when she sold all of her belongings and, along with her daughter, sailed to Suriname, South America, where she recorded the existence of native plants and insects previously unknown in Europe.

This was one of the first European voyages intended exclusively for the purpose of scientific fieldwork, and the outcome was her dazzling masterpiece, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium.

But after her death, her contributions went unacknowledged until the nineteenth century. It took until the 1970s and 80s, over 250 years later, for Merian to be properly recognised in British and German publications. And, thanks to a republishing of Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium in 2017 on the 300th anniversary of her death, her name has now come back to the fore.

Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945)

Known for her portrayals of the oppressed and grief-stricken, printmaker Käthe Kollwitz created some of the most extraordinary and psychologically intense art of the 20th century.

Born in East Prussia, Kollwitz, having witnessed the physical and emotional effects of industrialisation, used printmaking to record the bleakness and inequalities of life. Printmaking was the perfect vehicle for her social commentary, as an art form that is relatively inexpensive and can be reproduced easily.

Later, she turned her deeply sensitive and empathetic lens to the events of war. As a response to the First World War, in 1919 she began her anti-war series Krieg (War), which focuses on the suffering of the families whose husbands, sons and brothers had fought and died in the war (Kollwitz herself lost her son).

Rather than depicting historical events from a distance, Kollwitz made suffering intensely physical. Her figures are often compressed together, their bodies and faces expressing exhaustion, desperation, tenderness and grief. One of the most heartbreaking is Mothers (1922), which depicts women protecting their terrified children. I often think that world leaders who want to start a war should look at Kollwitz’s work before making their decisions.

Listen to Dorothy Price on Käthe Kollwitz for the GWA Podcast.

Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907)

In 1900, Paula Modersohn-Becker made a seventeen-hour train journey from Worpswede, an art colony where she lived with her husband, to Paris. It was a trip – the first of four – that would change her life.

Enraptured by the works of the French Modernists – their dazzling colours and fragmented forms – as well as the paintings hanging in the Louvre, Modersohn-Becker thrived.

One of my favourite of her paintings is Self-Portrait at 6th Wedding Anniversary (1906). Wearing a beaded necklace and nude from the waist up (she is argued to be the first woman in Western art to paint herself in a semi-nude self-portrait), she stands clutching her bulbous round stomach. She was not pregnant, but burgeoning with her new life. Assertive, she appears free from all authority other than herself.

Unfortunately she was forced by limited finances to return to Worpswede in 1907. There, she became pregnant and, tragically, died from complications related to childbirth. She was only 31.

Despite being virtually unknown in her lifetime, in recent years her works have gained renewed attention, especially her striking self-portraits, for their emotional acuity and the authority and self-possession that they exude.

Listen to Ep 58 of the GWA Podcast: Diane Radycki on Paula Modersohn Becker.

Jeanne Mammen (1890–1976)

‘I have always wanted to be just a pair of eyes, walking through the world unseen, only to see others’ — Jeanne Mammen, 1975

With her cropped hair and trouser suits, Jeanne Mammen epitomised the modern woman, embracing same-sex desire in her vibrant Berlin nightclub scenes. Successful, radical and a cunning observer of the day (regularly publishing her satirical drawings in magazines), she depicted women who were bold, glamorous, sensual and free, and her images erupt with colour, rhythm and movement: you can almost sense the pounding music in her jazz-fuelled scenes.

Returning from Paris to Berlin in 1921, where she captured the glitz, glamour and raucousness of the avant-garde, Mammen documented all-female dancing crowds, sharp-eyed and stylish in their top hats and waistcoats. In the watercolour She Represents, c.1928, queer women are pictured oozing with confidence and effervescent playfulness, although at the time German laws disallowed same-sex relationships. Transporting us to hectic, lively nights, Mammen nevertheless also conveys the gritty reality of Weimar life in her paintings of prostitutes getting ready for work under an electrically lit midnight sky.

Anni Albers (1899–1994)

Anni Albers is known for her spellbinding weavings that spanned large scale, practical wall coverings to smaller thread-based works, that she infused with geometric, rhythmic patterning and electric colouring. She was also a celebrated writer, whose books are treasured by artists today, and an inspiring and radical teacher.

Born in Germany in 1899, she studied at the Bauhaus, the pioneering modernist art school, before moving with her husband Josef Albers to the US, where they taught at the experimental Black Mountain College for 16 years.

The first artist working in textiles to be honoured with a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Albers brought weaving into the modernist world, while also rooting it in ancient textile traditions from around the world. The energy and dynamism of her weavings are extraordinary. Her threads dance, lyrical while remaining tight and controlled.

Listen: Nicolas Fox Weber on Anni Albers, for the GWA Podcast.

Katharina Grosse (b.1961)

Katharina Grosse is hailed for her site-specific paintings, which she takes off the canvas and onto rocks, walls, landscapes and architecture – allowing us to totally enter their world.

Since the late 1990s, she has used a compressor-powered spray gun to apply the paint, allowing her to work at a scale and speed that would be impossible with a paintbrush. Her way of working means that her works become a record of changing thoughts and improvisation – “when I’m in the studio, I paint like 30, 40 things at the same time. And I really work from spot to spot, from painting to painting in an ongoing action. So for me it’s not about the singular work that has to be accomplished, but it’s a train of thoughts that changes from moment to moment.”

At once an architect, sculptor and painter, Grosse aims to reset what painting is and can be.

Listen to Katharina Grosse on The Great Women Artists Podcast.

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(1) Frieze London: Booths

• Helen Chadwick and Cathy de Monchaux, Richard Saltoun Gallery, Booth C23

• Ana Mendieta at Alison Jacques, Booth A25

• Myrlande Constant at Fort Gansevoort, Booth A10

• Okiki Akinfe at Ginny on Frederick, Booth F02

• Huda Lutfi, Nada Elkalaawy, Hana El-Sagini and Yasmine El Meleegy at Gypsum Gallery, Booth A02

• Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Clare Woods, Paula Rego and more at Victoria Miro, Booth D12

• Louise Giovanelli, Caroline Walker, Rosalind Nashashibi and more at GRIMM, Booth C20

• Laila Majid at Niru Ratnam, Booth F29

• Ella Fleck at Ehrlich Steinberg, Booth F30

• Selma Selman at acb Gallery, Booth S07

• Sonia Boyce, Catherine Goodman, Allison Katz, Christina Kimeze, Anj Smith, Michaela Yearwood-Dan, Phyllida Barlow, Camille Henrot and Nicole Eisenman at Hauser & Wirth, Booth D20

• Mia Kokkoni, Aubrey Levinthal, Lorna Robertson, Ellen Siebers and more at Ingleby Gallery, Booth D19

• Sofía Bassi, Mary Kelly, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Wangari Mathenge, Liorah Tchiprout and more at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Booth A21

• Sasha Gordon, Dana Schutz, Rose Wylie, Lisa Yuskavage, Portia Zvavahera and more at David Zwirner, Booth D15

• Eilen Itzel do Espírito Santo nominated by Firelei Baez at Bolanle Contemporary, Booth AA5

• Shannon Cartier Lucy, Rhea Dillon and more at Soft Opening, Booth B33

• Ilana Savdie, Louise Bourgeois, Marlene Dumas, Leonor Fini, Maria Lassnig and more at White Cube, Booth D21

• Laura Footes, Joline Kwakkenbos, Lindsey Mendick and more at Carl Freedman Gallery, Booth A28

• Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings at Arcadia Missa, Booth B32

• Márcia Falcão, Maggi Hambling, Leiko Ikemura, Sarah Lucas and more at Contemporary Fine Arts, Booth D24

(2) Frieze Masters: Booths

Don’t miss a very exciting ‘Spotlight’ section curated by Devika Singh and Sofia Gotti. Here’s an interview they did with Frieze.

• Pacita Abad at Alison Jacques, Booth S19

• Women of the 8th Street Club: Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell and Perle Fine at Berry Campbell, Booth A09

• Dorothea Tanning, Leonor Fini and Stella Snead at Galerie Minsky, Booth F13

• Claude Cahun and Judy Chicago at Alberta Pane Gallery, Booth E12

• Nordic Women Artists at Åmells Konsthandel, Booth F06

• Louise Bourgeois, Marlow Moss, Gabriele Münter, Carol Rama, Flora Yukhnovich and more at Hauser & Wirth, Booth D01

• Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Barbara Hepworth and Vanessa Bell at Piano Nobile, Booth D07

• Lotte Laserstein at Agnews Gallery, Booth E09

• Alice Neel at David Zwirner, Booth D09

• Tilde Poli at 10 A.M. Art, Booth S06

• Emma Reyes at Crèvecoeur, Booth S03

• Luce Turnier at Harlesden High Street, Booth S13

• Anna Zemánková at The Gallery of Everything, Booth S16

• Manina at Richard Saltoun Gallery, Booth S10

• Ana Pellicer at MASA Galería, Booth R02

• María Martorell at Remota Galería, Booth S24

(3) Frieze Sculpture

• Carolina Aguirre, Held, 2026

• Catriona Robertson, WYRM, 2026

• Elena Nemkova, Agony in the Garden, 2026

• Ivana Bašić, Metanoia, 2025

• Tarini Sethi, The Sun Bathes Its Friends and Neighbours, 2026

  ---

(4) The Shows To Visit Outside The Fair

• Sofía Bassi: Floating Between Earth and Sky, Pippy Houldsworth (until 14 Nov)

• Firenze Lai: North and True North, White Cube (until 14 Nov)

• Monika Sosnowska: Weight of Matter, South London Gallery (until 22 Nov)

• Paloma Contreras Lomas: Disco Inferno, Gasworks (until 13 Dec)

• Nicole Eisenman, Sadie Coles (until 21 Nov)

• Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threads, Whitechapel Gallery (until 14 Feb)

• 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair 2026, Somerset House (15–18 Oct)

• Somaya Critchlow: Pastels, Maximillian William (until 14 Nov)

• Issy Wood: Self-Portraits, National Portrait Gallery (until 28 Feb)

• Ethelwynne M. Quail: The Kingdom of the Gods, The College of Psychic Studies (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Gabriella Boyd, Aleksandra Ionowa, Mila Nowacka, and Vanessa da Silva: The Etheric Field, The College of Psychic Studies (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Lorna Simpson: Previous & Ongoing, Hauser & Wirth (until 23 Dec)

• Cindy Sherman, Hauser & Wirth (until 23 Dec)

• Lubna Chowdhary: Dohra Shoor, Corvi-Mora (until 7 Nov)

• Mary Ramsden: The Feeling of What Happens, Pilar Corrias (until 7 Nov)

• Minne Kersten: Room Temperature, Ginny on Frederick (until 17 Oct)

• This Must Be the Place: Artists for Whitechapel Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery (until 8 Nov)

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A new season of the GWA Podcast launches today – click here for an episode with Edmund de Waal on Lucie Rie; we kick off our US Kids Book Tour this weekend; plus, tonight, 8pm, I start as a judge on Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year. Tune in!

But before we dive in, here’s some updates…

USA: Kids Book & Tour!

Exciting news – my new book for younger readers is out in the USA now (order your copy here!) and I’m going on an East Coast tour – click here for all the info. See you there!

The GWA Podcast: Edmund de Waal on Lucie Rie

The GWA Podcast is back for its 16th season, and I couldn’t be more excited to kick things off with the ceramicist and writer Edmund de Waal, on the legendary potter Lucie Rie! Click to listen.

Edmund is one of my favourite writers and artists, and it was a joy to talk to him about the importance and potential of objects, the rhythms of writing and pot-making, and the fleeting fragility of porcelain:

“The great joy with something like porcelain is that it will break. It is not going to be there forever. And that is a kind of strength. Because you’re talking about real things when you’re making objects out of such a fragile material. You’re talking about who we are. We don’t last. We are just fleetingly here. There are a lot of shards, broken pots in the world, underfoot.”

We also spoke about the extraordinary life and work of the Viennese born, London based potter Lucie Rie (1902–1955). Here’s Edmund on Rie’s radical discipline:

“The thing at the heart of Lucie Rie is this extraordinary radical discipline. There’s the discipline in the sense that her pots are unbelievably beautifully thrown… They are works of extraordinary, powerful integrity. But they’re also radical because what she’s doing is taking from Roman pots, from the Vienna Werkstatte, from architecture, from a huge range of powerful pulses of disciplines, and making objects that she felt could exist entirely by themselves in a contemporary world.”

Listen here!

NYC Talk – 19 Oct: In conversation with Coco Mellors

On Monday 19 October, the brilliant author Coco Mellors will be interviewing me at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side! Get your tickets here.

NYC Talk – 22 Oct: In conversation with Torkwase Dyson, Nora Lawrence, and Sarita Dubin at Pace

On Thursday 22 October I’ll be at Pace Gallery New York in conversation with Torkwase Dyson, Nora Lawrence and Sarita Dubin. We’ll be discussing the work of the groundbreaking artists Torkwase Dyson, Arlene Shechet and Lynda Benglis, in celebration of their current exhibitions at Pace New York. RSVP here!

Tate etc: On Frida Kahlo

For Tate Etc. I wrote about my love for Frida Kahlo and her 1938 painting, What the Water Gave Me – alongside legends like Judy Chicago, Ishiuchi Miyako, Eileen Myles, Chloe Aridjis.

Ok, now for our October recommendations! Enjoy xx

14 exhibitions to see in the UK:

• Frieze London and Frieze Masters (14–18 Oct): My guide to Frieze is coming soon!

• Sofía Bassi: Floating Between Earth and Sky, Pippy Houldsworth, London (until 14 Nov)

• Beverly Buchanan: Weathering, Spike Island, Bristol (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Somaya Critchlow: Pastels, Maximillian William, London (until 14 Nov)

• Cecilia Vicuña: Living Threads, Whitechapel Gallery, London (until 14 Feb 2027)

• British Art Show 10: A Chorus of Strangers, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry University, and the Mead Gallery, Coventry (until 10 Jan 2027)

• Ethelwynne M. Quail: The Kingdom of the Gods, The College of Psychic Studies, London (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Gabriella Boyd, Aleksandra Ionowa, Mila Nowacka, and Vanessa da Silva: The Etheric Field, The College of Psychic Studies, London (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Becky Beasley: A Gentle Man (Part II) (1975-2029), The Bluecoat, Liverpool (until 3 Jan 2027)

• Catherine Opie: To Be Seen, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (until 1 Nov)

• Lorna Simpson: Previous & Ongoing, Hauser & Wirth, London (until 23 Dec)

• Cindy Sherman, Hauser & Wirth, London (until 23 Dec)

• What Remains, The Women’s Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, Cambridge (until 28 Feb 2027)

• Lucie Rie/Hans Coper: Life at the Wheel, Offer Waterman, London (until 30 Oct)

15 exhibitions to see outside of the UK:

• Tracey Emin, Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk (until 18 Apr 2027)

• Catherine Goodman: The Colour of a Quiet Mind, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich (until 19 Dec)

• Yayoi Kusama, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (until 17 Jan)

• Krasner & Pollock: Past Continuous, The Met, New York (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Hosts at the Louvre: Kader Attia and Elizabeth Peyton, Louvre, Paris (until 14 Dec)

• Calder | O’Keeffe, Hauser & Wirth, Palo Alto (until 24 Jan 2027)

• Barbara Kruger: The History of Tears, Bourse de Commerce, Paris

• Louise Bourgeois: The Architecture of Memory, NYC MOCA, New York (until 14 Feb 2027)

• Dreaming: Annemirl Bauer and Bärbel Bohley, Galerie im Turm, Berlin (until 8 Nov)

• Lai Foong Moi: Crossings, National Gallery Singapore (until 3 Oct 2027)

• Arlene Shechet: She Said She Said, Pace, New York (until 24 Oct)

• Polina Osipova: Cosmologies at Play, Neun Kelche, Berlin

• Allison Katz: Jeu d’esprit, MFA Montreal (until 14 Mar)

• Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Kemi Onabulé and Megan Rooney: A New Life Force, MICAS, Floriana (until 31 Jan 2027)

• Sara Anstis: Pastels, Olney Gleason, New York (until 24 Oct)

5 things to listen to/watch:

• Tracey Emin: I’m Doing What I Think Is Right, via Louisiana Channel

• Eileen Cooper via Talk Art

• Sense and Sensibility in the cinema

• Anne Imhof via A Brush With…

• Verity Platt on seal-impressions (typoi) and ancient image making, via Lesche

5 things to read:

• The amazing life of 101-year-old art warrior Ce Roser: ‘We made noise. We closed the streets’, via The Guardian

• Black Coffee and Red Lipstick: Notes on Living by Alexandra Shulman

• On Lisette Model by Adam Shatz, via the LRB

• Anita Brookner: Art and Life by Hermione Lee

• Enid Marx: the woman who made the fabric of Britain, via The Observer

5 things to do in London

• BFI London Film Festival 2026, 7–18 Oct

• An Evening with Lynne Tillman and Emily LaBarge, David Zwirner, 8 Oct 6pm

• Maggi Hambling, Bharti Kher and Linder Sterling discuss the iconic women of the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, 15 Oct 7:45pm

• Between Reading and Looking: Women Artists’ Books, Tate Britain, 23 Oct 2pm

• John Berger: From Life with Tom Overton and Geoff Dyer, Foyles Charing Cross, 29 Oct 7pm

5 artists to know

Marguerite Zorach (1887–1968)

Cathleen Clarke (b.1988)

Luce Turnier (1924–1994)

Ellen Lesperance (b.1971)

Hillary Harkness (b.1971)

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I’m going on tour with family-focused museum and bookstore events – including live draw-alongs with the book’s fantastic illustrator, Ping Zhu, and an in-conversation with the amazing author Coco Mellors.

I’ll be coming to NYC, DC, Miami, Boston and Philadelphia. Scroll down for all the event details! Pre-order your copy now. I’ll see you there. Katy xoxo

Saturday 10 October, 2pm: Guggenheim New York

Interactive family book talk and live art demo by illustrator Ping Zhu.

Tickets here

Sunday 11 October, 12pm: McNally Jackson Seaport, New York

Interactive family book talk.

Tickets here

Saturday 17 October, 11am: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.

Interactive family book talk and live art demo by illustrator Ping Zhu.

Tickets here

Sunday 18 October, 11:30am: ICA Miami

Interactive family book talk.

Tickets here

Monday 19 October, 7pm: Barnes & Noble Upper West Side, New York City

In conversation with Coco Mellors! (Teens and above)

Tickets here

Saturday 24 October, 2pm: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Interactive family book talk.

Tickets here

Sunday 25 October, 1pm: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Interactive family book talk.

Tickets here

Aimed at ages 7–14, this book is a sprawling adventure through art history – with bold ideas, brilliant inventions, and trailblazing artists who changed the way people see the world.

Through vibrant illustrations by NYC-based artist Ping Zhu, as well as artwork reproductions and creative exercises – that I call “Art Tasks” – woven throughout, this book turns art history from something that can feel intimidating into something full of wonder, that younger readers can get involved with.

“Every page is packed with artwork, from Renaissance painters to today’s creator of giant paintings... I could have read a whole book on every chapter of this engrossing title, which celebrates the women whose work has been overlooked. It will galvanise young artists, whatever their gender.” — The Bookseller

“This distilled version of Hessel’s 2022 bestseller, with Ping Zhu’s absorbing, enticing illustrations welcoming the reader on to every page, is a superb introduction to art history and image analysis, offering a thrilling perspective shift to focus on unfairly neglected female trailblazers. Perfect for visual art fans of 9+” — The Guardian

“A picture of art history drawn by women... The book is aimed at readers as young as 8 and strikes a suitably accessible tone.” — The Telegraph (Children’s Book of the Week)

For press requests, please email: heidi@hijinxarts.com

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But, as I read in Mary Gregory’s excellent article The Women of the Legendary 1913 Armory Show, one part of its story is perhaps less well remembered. Did you know that 50 of the 300 artists exhibiting were women? From Gwen John, Marguerite Zorach, Marie Laurencin, Agnes Pelton, Ethel Myers to Mary Cassatt.

Women were crucial behind the scenes of the Armory Show, too. 19 of its 24 substantial supporters were women, and many female collectors contributed works to the show (including Gertrude Stein).

While some are well-known today, the majority of these women have since faded from view, and accounts of the show are dominated by names like Marcel Duchamp, Paul Cézanne, and Edgar Degas. Want to know more? Read on.

Fast forward to 2026, and this week the Armory Show is back for its 32nd edition (24–27 Sept). The new Armory Show began in 1996, in homage to that original 1913 spectacle. And now there’s a few more than 50 women artists to see.

Part 1 of this newsletter features my round-up of the artists to catch at the fair, while Part 2 covers the best exhibitions to see across NYC this Fall.

Enjoy! Xoxo Katy

At The Armory

• Celia Paul, María Berrío, Clare Woods and more at Victoria Miro, Booth 108

• Kathia St. Hilaire at Perrotin, Booth 100

• Marilyn Minter, Zanele Muholi, Mickalene Thomas, Tania Franco Klein and more at Yancey Richardson Gallery, Booth 117

• Kate Friend, Florence Houston, Fumi Imamura, Heidrun Rathgeb and more at Lyndsey Ingram, Booth 139

• Rachel Rossin at Albion Jeune, Booth P45

• Charlotte Edey, Katie Paterson, Naudline Pierre, Kennedy Yanko and more at Norr Cohan, Booth 404

• Renée Cox at Ethan Cohan Gallery, Booth F10

• Kiki Smith, Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread and more at Galleria Lorcan O’Neill, Booth 409

• Christiane Baumgartner⁠, Bridget Riley⁠ and more at Cristea Roberts, Booth 303

• Sheila Hicks, Cristina Canale and more at Nara Roesler, Booth 101

• Women in Fiber: Kandy G Lopez, Faith Ringgold, Helen McBride Richter and more at ACA Galleries, Booth 124

• Mary Bauermeister, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Lee Krasner, Yayoi Kusama, Joan Mitchell, Alice Neel, Louise Nevelson, Betye Saar, Alma Thomas, and more! at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, Booth 407

• Anoushka Mirchandani, Élise Peroi, Rosalind Tallmade at Carvalho, Booth 133

• Sophie Barber, Gina Kushke, Sheila Hicks and more at Alison Jacques, Booth 107

NYC Exhibitions This Fall

• The Lost World: The Art of Minnie Evans, Whitney Museum, until 10 Jan 2027

• Taryn Simon: Father Country I Do Love You, Guggenheim, until 14 Mar 2027

• Jutta Koether: Songs of New York, Galerie Buchholz, until 31 Oct

• Conduits of the Unseen: Women Artists Imagine Other Worlds, Andrew Edlin Gallery, until 31 Oct

• Whitney Biennial 2026, Whitney Museum, until 12 Oct

• Louise Bourgeois: The Architecture of Memory, NYC MOCA, 9 Oct - 14 Feb 2027

Read more

14 shows to see in the UK:

• Emma Reyes, White Cube, London (until 3 Oct)

• Ce Roser: Running with the Sun, Works 1961-2014, VeneKlasen, London (until 5 Dec)

• Tess Tomasini: The Air Becoming No Air Becoming Air Again, Ashley Saville, London (until 7 Nov)

• Victory Over the Sun: Encounters with Light, The Light, Durham (until 17 Jan 2027)

• Lasting Impressions: Women Printmakers 1900 – Now, V&A South Kensington, London (until 27 Sept)

• Liz Larner: A hard line to bend, Camden Art Centre, London (until 17 Jan 2027)

• Pathways: Contemporary Textiles, Farfield Mill, Sedbergh (until 20 Dec)

• Hospital Rooms: Host/Guest, Victoria Miro, London (3–7 Sept)

• Mary Ramsden: The Feeling of What Happens, Pilar Corrias, London (until 7 Nov)

• Elizabeth Blackadder: A Life in Colour, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh (until 14 Nov)

• Liorah Tchiprout: The Family Katz, Pippy Houldsworth, London (until 3 Oct)

• We Make Museums: Sustaining and Changing Worlds, Glasgow Women’s Library, Glasgow (until 26 Sept)

• Woven Voices: Her Story in Art, 3812 Gallery, London (until 27 Sept)

• Staging Resistance: Tessa Boffin, Rotimi Fani-Kayode and
  Sunil Gupta in 1980s London, Hales Gallery, London (until 17 Oct)

12 shows to see outside of the UK:

• Mary Magdalene: Sin. Pray. Love, Städel Museum, Frankfurt (until 17 Jan 2027)

• Carrie Mae Weems: The Heart of the Matter, C/O Berlin, Berlin (until 3 Feb 2027)

• Mary Bauermeister, Yayoi Kusama, Niki de Saint-Phalle: Visions from the Hirshhorn Collection, Wrightwood 659, Chicago (until 21 Mar 2027)

• Anna Maria Maiolino, ANNA – and the Infinite Line, Hauser & Wirth, New York (until 31 Oct)

• The Fabric of the Artist, Musée Bourdelle, Paris (24 Jan 2027)

• Rana Begum, Lehmann Maupin, New York (until 24 Oct)

• Emma Prempeh: The Domain of the Stranger, Perrotin, Paris (until 26 Sept)

• Melissa Joseph: Casserole Culture, Charles Moffett, New York (until 17 Oct)

• Lynda Benglis: Knotting, Tying, Folding, Pace Gallery, New York (until 24 Oct)

• Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will have revelations along felled branches and longer roots/routes, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (until 14 Feb 2027)

• Video Killed the Radio Star: The 1980s and Their Cultural Echoes, Mudam Luxembourg, Luxembourg (until 11 Oct)

• Helga Philipp: Spaces of Movement, Albertina Museum, Vienna (until 20 Sept)

7 things to read:

• Impossibility is a Myth via The Fence

• ‘I’m not nervous, I’m ready’: Tschabalala Self on racist vandals and her bold striding woman for the Fourth Plinth, via The Guardian

• Life of M by Rachel Cusk

• On Dolly Parton by Niela Orr, via the LRB

• Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin

• Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt

• In The Studio With Anya Gallaccio, via Apollo

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6 things to listen to & watch:

• Lisa Yuskavage via A Brush With…

• Ali Smith via Take Four Books

• Christina Kimeze via Louisiana Channel

• The Bayeux Tapestry is here! Don’t miss this great podcast via The New York Times’ Daily Podcast & this documentary: Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry via BBC iPlayer

• Janis: Little Girl Blue via Netflix (or wherever you get your docs!)

• PULP: WHAT DO YOU DO FOR AN ENCORE? via Mubi

5 artists to know

Ce Roser (b.1925)

Ellen Siebers (b.1986)

Tess Tomassini (b.1996)

Eleonore Koch (1926-2018)

Tanoa Sasraku (b.1995)

Bonus! Check out ‘How Artists See Writers’ via our Substack. I’ve always been fascinated by how artists engage with writers. How do you capture someone – known for their expansive imagination – through a painting, photograph, or print?

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I am very excited to hosting two events at this year’s Book Festival. Come join!

• Fri 28th Aug, 6:45pm: I’ll be in conversation with Octavia Bright about all things How to Live an Artful Life: Tickets here.

• Sat 29th Aug, 10:30am: I’m hosting an interactive family-friendly event for my book for younger readers (ages 7+) learning all about brilliant women artists: Tickets here.

For those headed there – or thinking about it (there’s still time!) – I’ve put together my top picks for this year’s Fringe and the Book Festival, plus the best art to see in the city. If you can’t make it, I've got book + film recommendations to bring a little of it to you instead. Enjoy! Katy xx

1. My top Fringe picks

• Grace Campbell: The Lady is a Tramp, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 8:30pm

• Patti Harrison: Just Ironing Some Things Out!, The Pleasance, 10pm

• Sarah Roberts: Scary Movie 7, Monkey Barrel, 10pm

• Joseph Morpurgo: Highlander 70, The Pleasance, 7pm

• Emmeline Downie: Gail, The Pleasance, 4:35pm

• Roleplay by Hannah Reilly, Summerhall, 5:50pm

• The Palestinian Circus: Step and a Half, The Lafayette at Underbelly’s Circus Hub, 2:05pm

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2. My top Edinburgh Book Festival picks

• Jem Calder & Derek Owusu: New Masculinities, Fri 21 Aug, 5pm

• David Olusoga: The Frederick Hood Memorial Lecture, Mon 24 Aug, 1pm

• Marina Warner: Sanctuary, Mon 24 Aug, 1:45pm

• Jennifer Higgie: Bedlam, Wed 26 Aug, 2pm

• Impossible Creatures Made Real with Katherine Rundell, Fri 28 Aug, 1:30pm

• Seasonal Quartet: New European Ensemble & Ali Smith, Fri 28 Aug, 7pm

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3. Museums & Galleries

National Galleries Scotland: National

Begin with the National, whose collection spans Old Masters and modern Scottish art. On view now – a retrospective of the extraordinary American photographer Catherine Opie, until 1 Nov.

National Galleries Scotland: Modern One & Modern Two

Set in verdant grounds, the National’s two modern-art outposts hold excellent collections, including Dorothea Tanning, Edith Rimmington, Tracey Emin and Joan Eardley. Don’t miss Gwen John: Strange Beauties, on view at Modern Two until 4 Jan 2027!

Ingleby Gallery

On now: Songs of Innocence and Experience, Part II, celebrating the centenary of the Caribbean artist Frank Walter, bringing his work into conversation with artists including Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Rose Wylie, Peter Doig and others.

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Edinburgh Book Festival: 28th & 29th August

At the end of the month, I’ll be heading to one of my favourite cities for the Edinburgh Book Festival!

• Fri 28th Aug, at 6:45pm, I’ll be in conversation with Octavia Bright about all things How to Live an Artful Life: Tickets here.

• Sat 29th Aug, at 10:30am: I’m hosting an interactive family-friendly event for my book for younger readers (ages 7+) learning all about brilliant women artists: Tickets here.

Keep posted for a special Edinburgh-themed Substack coming up later this month.

Art Days Out

If you need some inspiration for art-filled days out across the UK this summer, check out my Art Days Out Substacks from 2025 and 2024 – from church murals to artist houses, seaside galleries to sculpture gardens.

On Substack: A museum dedicated to women artists

Did you know that one of the largest collections of work by women artists in Europe can be found at FAMM (Femmes Artistes du Musée de Mougins) in the South of France? They’ve just had a big rehang for summer 2026 – with 75 new works on view. Read all about it.

On Substack: 10 Paintings for Summer

I’ve gathered some artworks that capture summer for me – across styles and eras, from some amazing artists – plus, a summery playlist! Read here.

Ok, now for our August recommendations! Enjoy xx

10 shows to see in the UK:

• The Meeting Ground: Scenes from the KNMA Collection, Christie’s, London (until 21 Aug)

• Felipe Baeza: Errantry, Morena di Luna, Hove (until 6 Sep)

• Caragh Thuring, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (until 19 Sep)

• Angela de la Cruz: Upright, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (until 6 Sep)

• Soft Spot, Pilar Corrias, London (until 21 Aug)

• The Air of Ideas, Kate MacGarry, Rye (until 31 Aug)

• Lindsey Mendick: Where You End and I Begin, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate (30 Aug)

• Caroline Walker: Mothering, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance (until 31 Oct)

• Eva Rothschild: The Void Presses The Wall, Fruit Market, Edinburgh (until 11 Oct)

• HEARD, Rene Matić, V&A East, London (until 18 Oct)

9 shows to see outside the UK:

• Wangechi Mutu: The SeasSpirit, Victoria Miro, Venice (until 29 Aug)

• Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, Massachusetts (until 10 Jan 2027)

• PREMIERE!: The Oesterreichische Nationalbank Collection, Leopold Museum, Vienna (until 11 Oct)

• Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles 2026, Arles (until 4 Oct)

• Women Artists Crossing the Sea, Yokohama Museum of Art (until 11 Feb 2027)

• That Green Ideal: Emily Carr and the Idea of Nature, Vancouver Art Gallery (until 8 Nov)

• Francesca Woodman: Lately I Find a Sliver of Mirror Is Simply to Slice an Eyelid, Gagosian, Rome (until 12 Sep)

• The Visionary Art of Minnie Evans, KMAC Contemporary Art Museum, Louisville, (until 4 Oct)

• Berthe Brincour: An Unconventional and Timeless Artist, Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart, Luxembourg (until 10 Jan)

5 things to listen to & watch:

• Marie-Laure Bernadac and Lauren Elkin on Louise Bourgeois, via LRB Podcast

• Eve Arnold on Marilyn Monroe, from 1987, via BBC iPlayer

• Ultramarine: a blue more expensive than gold, via the National Gallery’s ‘Stories in Colour’

• Sonia Boyce on René Magritte, Lygia Clark, and the Art of Improvisation, via Artforum

• The Art That Made Me: Thelma Golden with Ekow Eshun, via Hauser & Wirth

5 things to read:

• Check out my summer reading list!

• Why Dior’s Jonathan Anderson Is Inspired by Lynda Benglis, via The New York Times

• Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea by Emily Wilson

• The women who reframed Japanese photography, via A Rabbit’s Foot

• Emily Wilson on The Odyssey via LRB

Things to do in London:

• Late at Tate Britain: Zineb Sedira, 14 Aug, 6pm

• Everyman On The Canal 2026 - free outdoor cinema

5 artists to know:

Mia Kokkoni (b.1993)

Rachel Jones (b.1991)

Loie Hollowell (b.1983)

Lygia Clark (1920–1988)

Minnie Evans (1892–1987)

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The latter has just had a big rehang for summer 2026 – with 75 new works on view. Think masterful paintings, drawings, photographs and collages by the likes of Berthe Morisot, Lee Krasner, Alice Neel, Lee Miller, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Joana Choumali, Anj Smith and more. I am thrilled that FAMM is the very generous sponsor of the GWA Podcast, and makes all the episodes possible.

FAMM is a must-visit. And if you’re in the area, don’t miss Fondation Maeght, La Colombe d’Or, or a visit to Chagall’s grave and/or Matisse’s chapel. It’s the perfect summer day out.

OK – scroll on for a deep dive of my favourite works from the FAMM collection, all of which are on view at the museum this summer:

Celia Paul, Camille Claudel (2024)

I love it when artists paint portraits of artists no longer here – as if to connect to them through an artistic lineage. Here is Celia Paul’s (b.1959) take on sculptor Camille Claudel. Looking at it, you feel almost pierced by the fierce intensity of Claudel’s gaze – and the extraordinary strength and inner force that seems to radiate from the canvas.

Listen: Celia Paul on the GWA podcast / Emerson Bowyer on Camille Claudel.

Bernice Kolko, Frida Kahlo in bed III (1954)

The photographer Bernice Kolko (1905–1970) was a close friend of Frida Kahlo, photographing her many times in the early 1950s, especially the final two years of her life. These photographs are intimate glimpses into the artist’s everyday life: laughing with friends, at work painting, with her husband Diego Rivera, and, eventually, confined in bed as her health deteriorated. This photograph was taken shortly before her death, aged 47.

Listen: Jessie Burton on Frida Kahlo on the GWA Podcast.

Leonor Fini, Sorcière (c.1949)

Witches appear throughout Leonor Fini’s work, often as alter egos through which to imagine forms of femininity untethered from male control. Fini (1907–1996) took typical visual tropes of the witch – the broomstick, the long flowing hair – and infused them with power. Her witches are not grotesque or cartoonish (like Hans Baldung Grien’s from the 16th century!), but rather symbols of female autonomy, rebellion and sensuality. She was very inspired by Jules Michelet’s book, La Sorcière (1862) – one of the first publications to position witches as against patriarchal oppression, and instead picture them as representative of spiritual freedom; in touch with the natural world, and the lineage of women!

Listen: Alyce Mahon on Leonor Fini via GWA Podcast!

Joana Choumali, Inner Chatter of the Mind (2018)

Joana Choumali (b.1974), based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, is a multidisciplinary artist who often layers embroidery and textiles over her photographs to create totally unique works that feel drenched in emotion. I love how the soft, blurred colours of this work add to a sense of intimacy and interiority, surrounding this lone figure in an almost dreamlike haze.

Choumali likes to work “manually with textiles, thread and needles,” as she has said. “I use multiple layers of sheer fabrics, intertwined and embroidered together with portions of cutout images, collages of photographs, and golden paint. The different layers simultaneously veil and reveal the feelings that coexist in my imagination.”

Joan Snyder, Mamilla Immortalis (2004)

Amongst drips of red and white paint that evoke blood and milk, the painting’s title – Latin for ‘the breast that never stops flowing’ – is repeated across the surface, in scrawled, urgent handwriting, so that it becomes chant-like, an incantation. Joan Snyder (b.1940) often includes text in her paintings and, as she told me on the GWA podcast, these fragments come from a variety of sources – lines from her diaries, quotes from Virgil and Virginia Woolf, or scribbled phrases found in old sketchbooks.

Listen: Joan Snyder on the GWA Podcast

Anj Smith, Intermittence (2022)

Anj Smith’s (b.1978) paintings are often set in liminal, hallucinatory landscapes, where the human and natural world collide, even morph into one another. In Intermittence, a pink neon light arcs through a stormy sky, casting an apocalyptic glow. Whether its a natural phenomenon or something manmade is unclear. Look closely and you can see tiny animals floating in the sea, which seems to be made up of broken ice floes. The painting manages to both be beautiful and unsettling, drawing you in yet refusing to provide answers. Look at these details!

Leonor Fini, Dans la tour (Autoportrait avec Constantin Jelenski) (1942-43)

In this painting of herself and her partner Konstanty Jeleński, Fini depicts herself as the dominant figure, in an imposing black dress, pointing the way forward while fixing Jeleński with an authoritative gaze. He seems to be almost under her spell as he strides behind her, half-nude, half-draped in a red gown, towards an unknown realm. This is quintessential Fini, who challenged art history by painting women as powerful and self-possessed – casting them as guides, oracles, sorceresses.

Their real-life meeting was almost as uncanny as this painting. When Jeleński first approached Fini, she reportedly stared at him in stunned silence before explaining that the day before she had sketched a man who looked exactly like him. It was destiny, she decided, and the two remained together until his death in 1987.

Kimathi Mafafo, In deep thought - I, She is mesmerized by her self discovery as a sensuous woman, 2023

Kimathi Mafafo’s (b.1984) tenderly intricate embroideries celebrate female joy and power, often depicting goddess-like women surrounded by sumptuous bursts of flowers, butterflies, and birds. Challenging the male gaze, she depicts women in interior moments of rest and contemplation – here, she seems blissfully absorbed in a moment of self-discovery, existing entirely for herself.

Emmi Whitehorse, Glacial State of Rincon Marquez, 1986

Born in 1957 in New Mexico, Emmi Whitehorse (b.1957) creates paintings that evoke the natural world through gestural use of colours and shapes. In this painting, leaves dance amongst spindly branches, with swathes of blue and yellow suggesting land and sea and sky. Its movement makes me think of the changing seasons, the cycles of the earth. A member of the Navajo nation, Emmi Whitehorse is inspired by the landscape of the Southwest, and uses abstraction to translate her relationship to the land into these gorgeous canvases.

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Elsewhere, there’s a survey of Japanese Women Photographers at The Photographers’ Gallery; Zurbarán at the National Gallery; Marilyn Monroe at the NPG; Alice Neel in Porto, and more. But first, some updates!

On Substack: Frida Kahlo, Ana Mendieta, Tracey Emin

At the historic moment that all three artists are exhibiting at Tate Modern, I wrote about these extraordinary makers. Read here.

On Substack: My Summer Reading List

Some summer reading recommendations – from books I’ve read and loved, to those on my bedside stack that I hope to get through. Read here.

On Substack: The US Kids Book + Q&A with Ping Zhu

The US edition of my kids book, The Story of Art Without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists, will be published on October 6, 2026! Pre-order your copy here.

And to celebrate the US announcement, we’ve got a Q&A with the brilliant Ping Zhu, whose vivid, expressive drawings have brought the stories of artists and art movements to life so beautifully. Read here!

On Substack: Q&A: Women of the Rijksmuseum

I spoke with Laurien van der Werff and Marion Anker from Women of the Rijksmuseum about rediscovering women in the archives, the challenges and surprises of their work, and the most fascinating stories they’ve uncovered. Read on!

On Substack: A deep dive into Senga Nengudi

One from the GWA archive – my highlights from the 2024 episode, Naomi Beckwith on Senga Nengudi. Click here.

APPLICATIONS OPEN: Art History Link Up: September 2026 Art History A Level and EPQ courses

Are you – or do you know – a state school student interested in doing Art History A Level or an EPQ? Applications are now open for Art History Link Up’s FREE Art History A Level and EPQ courses.

Students can take part online or in person at the Courtauld on Saturday mornings or afternoons during term time. Apply by Friday 4 September. Find out more and apply here!

And now for this month’s recommendations… Enjoy! Love Katy xxx

13 shows to see in the UK:

• Ana Mendieta, Tate Modern, London (until 17 Jan 2027)

• Hold to This Earth: Works by Contemporary Indigenous North American Artists, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield (until 18 Apr 2027)

• Summer Exhibition 2026, Royal Academy, London (until 23 Aug)

• Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon, Tate Modern, London (until 3 Jan 2027)

• Ten.8 afterimage, The New Art Gallery, Walsall (until 13 Sep)

• Shahzia Sikander: High Seas, Closed Skies, Victoria Miro, London (until 31 Jul)

• Joy Like Time: Marina Abramović, Kalliopi Lemos and Gillian Wearing, Sainsbury Centre, Norwich (until 15 Nov)

• Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to now, The Photographers Gallery, London (until 27 Sep)

• Chitra Ganesh: Journey to the Great Below, Baltic, Gateshead (until 17 Jan 2027)

• Mandy El Sayegh: Jewel Tones, Thaddeus Ropac, London (until 31 Jul)

• Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, National Portrait Gallery, London (until 6 Sep)

• Anne Hardy: Feelings, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh (until 27 Sep)

• Lynn Chadwick: The Complete Prints, Pangolin Gallery, London (until 5 Sep)

• Say When…, Soho Revue, London (until 31 Jul)

12 shows to see outside of the UK:

• Alice Neel: Beautifully Imperfect, Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto (until Jan 2027)

• Sylvia Sleigh and Re-Collection: An Exhibition, MAMCO, Geneva (until 25 Oct)

• Sara Flores: Akinananti, White Cube, New York (until 14 Aug)

• Barbara Kruger: Untitled (Pride and Contempt), Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Kallithea (until 1 Nov)

• Alina Szapocznikow: Autobiography in Fragments, Hauser & Wirth, Zurich (until 5 Sep)

• In the Very Bowels of Changes: Surrealism and Antifacism, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw (until 10 Jan 2027)

• Terminal Piece, mumok, Vienna (until 7 Feb 2027)

• Mary Ellen Carrol: How to Talk Dirty and Influence People, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (until 1 Nov)

• Katherine Hubbard: The Great Room, Secession, Vienna (until 30 Aug)

• Directionless, Hauser & Wirth, Menorca (until 25 Oct)

• Nicola L.: When the Earth Turned the Other Way, Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (until 18 Oct)

• Sonia Boyce: Demonstrate, Queens Museum, New York City (until 31 Jan 2027)

Things to watch:

I recently came across the short film Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris.

Made in 1970, it follows Terence Dixon travelling to Paris to capture the writer James Baldwin with the intention of making a portrait of “a writer, not a political figure”. From the off, the white filmmakers seem determined to fit Baldwin’s art and identity into a neat, apolitical package. Unsurprisingly, Baldwin is fiercely resistant to their attempts at diluting his ideas and flattening his politics. The filmmakers continue to insist he answers on their terms, and the film becomes a masterclass in how not to interview someone – yet, through that failure, it captures something extraordinary.

What Dixon intended as a simple portrait of a writer gradually transforms into something much more complicated, and a lot more interesting; a study of the difficulty of representing Baldwin at all, given the historical, political and social dynamics of their interactions.

One of the most powerful moments comes at the Bastille, where Baldwin reflects on revolution, prisons, race and colonial power. Speaking to the filmmakers as representatives of a European gaze looking at a Black American subject, he exposes the imbalance built into the documentary itself.

In the final section, the filmmakers finally fall quiet, allowing Baldwin to speak freely to a group of admirers. As he said: “The world is held together by the love and passion of very few people.”

Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris is now streaming globally on MUBI.

You can get 30 days free at mubi.com/katyhessel.

5 things to read:

• Fancy Work: Unpicking Past Lives by Alice Hattrick

• Njideka Akunyili Crosby on painting the Obamas, via Harper’s Bazaar

• Regina: A New History of Women and Power by Kate Williams

• Famesick by Lena Dunham

• Allison Katz and Ariana Reine on Pompeii, volcanic eruptions and the power of ancient texts, via Ursula

3 things to do in London

• Cinema: “Eve and Marilyn”, BFI, Sun 26 July, 3:15pm

• Lates: Tate Modern Lates: Frida Kahlo, 31 Jul, 6pm

• Theatre: “The Misanthrope”, National Theatre, until 1 Aug

5 artists to know

Rose Finn-Kelcey (1945–2014)

Bridget Tichenor (1917–1990)

Donna Huddleston (b.1970)

Simone Leigh (b.1967)

Maja Ruznic (b.1983)

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While the thorns look painful, her expression remains patient, stoic, and calm despite what seems like enduring pain. Hanging off the branches is a hummingbird – a symbol that usually represents joy and resilience. Known for their ability to hover in one place, hummingbirds can evoke emotional healing, and the strength to endure difficulty.

But look at it again, and notice that it’s not white, orange, or iridescent, but black: like it’s burnt or lifeless. How does that change the way we think our protagonist might feel – despite the strength she exudes, or the beauty that surrounds her?

Her hair is held together by an infinite loop of purple – with dragonflies and butterflies hovering above. When I look at this portrait I see both beauty and suffering, but also an ability to shift pain into something full of vitality. The hints of blue sky could symbolise hope, and, while she is suffering, she is still there.

The woman I am talking about is Frida Kahlo.

This is Kahlo’s Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940 – on view at Tate Modern – and painted when she was about 33 years old.

Since her death in 1954, Kahlo’s face has become one of the most recognisable in history: identified by her strong features, dark eyes, and monobrow. But who was she?

Born in July 1907 in Mexico City, Kahlo was raised in the blue house or Casa Azul. The daughter of a Mexican mother, and a German father – heritages she explored in her work – Kahlo was especially close to her father, not least because he was a photographer and introduced her to art and his library of books, but because they shared empathy with each other’s suffering. He had epilepsy, and she had Polio, a disease contracted when she was six that left her with one leg shorter than the other.

While the bullies nicknamed her “pegleg” at school, Kahlo never played the victim, and dreamt of being a doctor.

But in September 1925, this came to an end when a bus she was riding crashed with an electric train, and burst into 1000 pieces. It is known the handrail thrust through Frida’s pelvis and she was found lying in the street, unclothed, coated in blood but also gold powder from a tub that someone on the bus had been holding.

This extraordinary pencil drawing shows a memory of what she experienced. How does one capture the before and after of something that altered their body – physically and psychologically – forever? It’s almost like grief: how can life ever be the same again?

Kahlo’s spine broke in three places, plus her collarbone, ribs, pelvis, leg, shoulder and foot – but her greatest fear was that this would bind her to her bed, away from the action of the Mexican revolution.

So Frida’s mother affixed a mirror to the top of her bed, and gave her paints.

She began by decorating the plaster corsets, with images of butterflies or unfulfilled wishes, and then turned to herself – painting fearlessly and honestly: her battle with death, miscarriages, her Communist beliefs, being a woman and an artist, her love of nature, and more.

Kahlo died in July 1954. One of her last public appearances was at her second ever solo exhibition (and first in Mexico), in 1953, where she was driven in by an ambulance, arriving on a stretcher bed just so she could see her work.

Her final painting, made eight days before her death, is titled Viva la Vida, translating to Long Live Life, of half and whole succulent watermelons, brimming with vitality.

Her final diary entry reads, “I hope the exit is joyful – I hope never to return – Frida.” She was 47 years old.

25 years later, a new movement was afoot: the Women’s Liberation Movement, which helped catalyse a revival of her work.

In New York City, where the movement was rife, a young Cuban-born artist, just 30 years old, was inspired to dress up as this Mexican artist and revolutionary. Her name was Ana Mendieta.

The costume party was hosted by artist Mary Beth Edelson, and the brief was to go as your favourite artist. Louise Bourgeois went as herself!

But let’s go back to Mendieta: what would she have seen in Kahlo? What affinities would she have shared? When speaking to Mendieta’s niece Raquel, she explained to me that Mexico was like a surrogate home: “the first place she’s travelled where people look like her, talk like her.”

Born in pre-revolution Havana in 1948, Mendieta – like Kahlo – had a split in her life. But it was physical and emotional in a different way. When she was a child, Fidel Castro came to power and her father was imprisoned for counter-revolutionary activities. Along with her sister, Mendieta – at age 12 – was sent to America, settling in Iowa, on a scheme, along with thousands of other minors, called Operation Peter Pan.

Mendieta remained separated from her parents – and birth country – for years, scars she would later go onto explore in her work, when, at the University of Iowa graduate art program she began to use her body. Transitioning from painting – a medium shown for one of the very first times in the Tate show – she said, using her body, that she could finally feel the magic “running through her”.

Between 1973 and 1980, Mendieta, using “the earth as my canvas and my soul as my tools”, created more than 200 ephemeral ‘sculptures’, which she called Siluetas (silhouettes), and captured these works through film or photography.

She began this series during a trip to Mexico in 1973, where she was inspired to make life-size ephemeral works exploring notions of existence, resurgence and renewal.

Through methods of burning, carving, planting and more, she moulded the outlines of her body onto the soil across the US, Mexico and, from 1980, Cuba.

Her first Silueta in Yágul, an archaeological zone in Oaxaca, Mexico, is of Mendieta lying in an Aztec tomb covered in weeds and grasses (above).

Looking at it, I see a figure emerging from or returning back to the land. Like the plants around her, she too is a living and breathing organism, and reminds me where we all come from. Although personal, like Kahlo, there is a universality to Mendieta’s work. Like Kahlo, it challenges conventional representations of women and also speaks to notions of human healing: both in respect of the rift between her home country and America; as well as the powers of nature; the redundancy of borders; and, in a feminist realm, shows the freed woman leaving her imprint on the soil: a canvas free from patriarchy.

What does it mean to be a woman artist in a history that has prioritised a very narrow viewpoint? How do you break through; to where and to who do you look?

The other artist who uses her image so prominently is Tracey Emin. Born in Croydon in 1963, and raised in Margate where she relished the lights of Dreamland but also where she experienced abuse at a young age, Emin went onto study at Maidstone College of Art, then the Royal College of Art, and is known for her practice spanning painting, sculpture, film, textile and more – and is still making the art that we will one day talk about.

Like Mendieta, she dressed up as Frida Kahlo – this time for Mary McCartney in 2000, wearing a traditional Mexican dress, and, fittingly, pictured in her bed.

This was taken in October 2000, two years after Emin’s iconic work My Bed – a place and subject that continues to hold many significances across her career: from the work that unapologetically showed the results of a three-day breakdown and was a raw portrait of womanhood or the human experience, transforming the idea of the ‘self portrait’ in art – despite the ‘absence’ of the body. But, also, more recently: where she has spent time recovering from cancer.

The Bed was of similar significance to Kahlo: where she began painting, but also a key subject – especially her work Henry Ford Hospital of the physical, psychological and emotional effects of a miscarriage.

Appearing minuscule in comparison to the oversized hospital bed, with looming railings that appear almost like prison bars, Kahlo lies down, naked, her belly swollen and her backside spindled in a pool of blood. Tears pour from her eyes, as she clutches an umbilical cord that links her to the foetus, and other motifs like a snail, or a flower or a cast.

In this work, both artists present the reality of what women endure, but they have often been billed as ‘radical’. But why? Is it because it is not conventionally beautiful? Is it because they are showing the truth?

It’s an interesting dichotomy that these artists portray. On the one hand their work is so raw, it can be disturbing, but disturbing is a great way because ultimately it’s about the human experience. To confront it is to understand it.

I think that’s what we see here: artists, who refused to hide experiences that had often been excluded from history. By making this visible, they transformed individual suffering into something universal, allowing generations of viewers to recognise themselves in the work.

At a historic moment, all three artists are exhibiting at Tate Modern.

Tracey Emin: A Second Life is on view until 31 August 2026.

Frida: The Making of an Icon is on view until 3 January 2027.

Ana Mendieta runs from 15 July 2026 to 17 January 2027.

Go! Love Katy xx

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This newsletter is divided into three sections: (1) novels & short stories; (2) non-fiction; and (3) memoirs & diaries. Enjoy!

(1) Novels & Short Stories:

“The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout

“My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein” by Deborah Levy

Listen: to Deborah Levy on Gertrude Stein via The Great Women Artists Podcast

“The Palm House” by Gwendoline Riley

“The News from Dublin” by Colm Toibin

“Transcription” by Ben Lerner

“Brawler” by Lauren Groff

“Land” by Maggie O’Farrell

“The Hearing Trumpet” by Leonora Carrington

Listen to Joanna Moorhead on Leonora Carrington on The Great Women Artists Podcast.

“Nova Scotia House” by Charlie Porter

Listen to Charlie Porter on The Great Women Artists Podcast.

“Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke

“Blonde” by Joyce Carol Oates

(2) Non fiction:

“How To Kill a Witch: A Guide For The Patriarchy” by Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi

“London Falling” by Patrick Radden Keefe

“Tonight the Music Seems So Loud: The Meaning of George Michael” by Sathnam Sanghera

PS. I just saw a preview of this doc – of GM’s Faith tour – out in November!

“Parallel Lives” by Phyllis Rose

“The Future Is Peace” by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon

“Finding Albion” by Zakia Sewell

“A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda” by Carrie Rickey

“Talking to Women” by Nell Dunn

“Careless People” by Sarah Wynn-Williams

“Marilyn and Her Books: The Literary Life of Marilyn Monroe” by Gail Crowther

PS. This morning we went to see “Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait“ at the National Portrait Gallery – beautiful, heartbreaking, joyful. It inspired me to pick up this account of her reading life by Gail Crowther, which reveals a side of Marilyn that is so often overlooked.

“The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek” by Andrew Durbin

“A Life of One’s Own” by Joanna Biggs

“Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea” by Emily Wilson

(3) Memoirs & Diaries:

“How to End a Story: Collected Diaries” by Helen Garner

“Ghost Stories” by Siri Hustvedt

Listen: Siri Hustvedt on The Great Women Artists Podcast

“Strangeland” by Tracey Emin

Listen to Tracey Emin on The Great Women Artists Podcast; first in 2022, and again in 2026.

“Between Lives” by Dorothea Tanning

Listen to Alyce Mahon on Dorothea Tanning on The Great Women Artists Podcast.

“Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, and L.A.” by Eve Babitz

“Famesick” by Lena Dunham

“Mother Mary Comes to Me” by Arundhati Roy

“Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: The New York Years, 1941–1950”, edited by Anna von Planta

Patricia Highsmith’s wisdom features in my book How to Live an Artful Life.

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This Autumn, I’ll be embarking on a US book tour, including family-focused museum and bookstore events. More on that soon.

Ever since The Story of Art Without Men came out, I've been asked if there would ever be a version for younger readers. I'm so happy there finally is.

Aimed at ages 7–14, this book is a sprawling adventure through art history – with bold ideas, brilliant inventions, and trailblazing artists who changed the way people see the world.

Through vibrant illustrations by NYC-based artist Ping Zhu, as well as artwork reproductions and creative exercises – that I call “Art Tasks” – woven throughout, this book turns art history from something that can feel intimidating into something full of wonder, that younger readers can get involved with.

“Every page is packed with artwork, from Renaissance painters to today’s creator of giant paintings... I could have read a whole book on every chapter of this engrossing title, which celebrates the women whose work has been overlooked. It will galvanise young artists, whatever their gender.” — The Bookseller

“This distilled version of Hessel’s 2022 bestseller, with Ping Zhu’s absorbing, enticing illustrations welcoming the reader on to every page, is a superb introduction to art history and image analysis, offering a thrilling perspective shift to focus on unfairly neglected female trailblazers. Perfect for visual art fans of 9+" — The Guardian

"A picture of art history drawn by women... The book is aimed at readers as young as 8 and strikes a suitably accessible tone." — The Telegraph (Children’s Book of the Week)

For press requests, please email: heidi@hijinxarts.com

To celebrate the US announcement, I’m bringing you a Q&A with the brilliant Ping Zhu, whose vivid, expressive drawings have brought the stories of artists and art movements to life so beautifully.

I wanted to know more about the world of illustration, as well as her process, inspirations, and everything in between. So I sat down with her to find out more.

Scroll on to read our conversation, and pre-order a copy here:

Hi Ping!

Hi Katy.

Thanks so much for talking to me today. Let’s start at the beginning. What inspired you to become an illustrator?

The short answer is that I was better at drawing than any school subjects, so my career options were limited. Growing up in Los Angeles, my dad would take me to the Norton Simon and LACMA, which left an impact just being able to see art of all kinds in person. I also had encouraging teachers and professors who helped me follow through with pursuing art once I was in high school, and we had a New Yorker subscription that exposed me to many incredible contemporary illustrators, so it seemed like a real job. All that combined with a general interest in creativity and problem-solving, and, being a bit chaos-curious, it all sounded like a fun challenge.

How did you get into it?

I applied to a few art schools and got into ArtCenter to study illustration, which taught me much more about the career itself. Many of us go into the arts hoping it’s just drawing all day, but it’s also about running a business and being your own boss. NYC has a great community of illustrators, and I continue to learn about our industry just by being in proximity to them.

Where do you go for inspiration? Or, which artists do you look at?

NYC has no shortage of inspiration, but it’s usually when I’m not paying attention that something catches my eye. I really like noticing strange combinations of things, whether it is colour or signage or strangers.

There are some artists whose work I do enjoy spending time with: Henni Alftan and Magali Cazo are two that come to mind. They paint in a way that feels quiet but evokes strong emotions, and are eerily familiar – like a blurry memory.

What is your process: how does an illustration go from a sketch to a book?

Illustration requires context, so most of the time there will be a brief or layout where the art will exist. Personally I like coming up with ideas that are less literal so there’s some room for interpretation, but it depends on what the assignment is. It’s a pretty collaborative type of work, where there is feedback and other design elements to consider.

I paint most of my finals with gouache on paper, such as in The Story of Art Without Men, but I do sketches digitally. There are certain jobs that require the finals to be in digital formats, and I do what I can to maintain a similar energy as my painted work. The nice thing is that neither have to be the other, and variety is what keeps the work interesting for me.

Once sketches are approved by the art director, I sometimes will do a quick digital colour study to prepare for the painting. Trying to come up with colours on the fly is not easy or recommended unless you like repainting pieces! I paint on printmaking paper that has a little bit of tooth for texture, and it’s also scanner friendly for when it’s time to deliver the finals. After the scan, there may be a little colour adjustment or cleanup in Photoshop, and then it’s emailed to the client for print.

Tell us about making the illustrations for The Story of Art without Men! Where did you start?

The process involved having a solid team of Andrea the Art Director, Sophie the Designer and of course Katy the author. Andrea reached out to me about the project, and before we confirmed anything I had to paint a sample spread. Luckily Katy and the team were happy with the direction and the illustrations officially began.

Because there were so many chapters and individual illustrations of various sizes, Sophie did an amazing job of sending me the layouts with space for the artwork. From there I was able to make sketches in the right dimensions, and once approved by Andrea and the team, move onto the finals. The chapters came in chunks so it wasn’t the entire book all at once, which was helpful because the latter would have been overwhelming! We also had to make sure nothing was too similar to the actual artworks or copied from photo references.

It was a coordinated effort on all our parts so I feel very lucky to have worked with such a great team.

Were any illustrations especially challenging? Did you have any favourites?

Some of the larger chapter headers were challenging mainly in the level of detail compared to the smaller ones. It was also a challenge to keep everything looking consistent stylistically since it was a project that lasted many months. It was also tricky to figure out how to create illustrations that would exist alongside actual mentioned artworks and photographs, but Sophie did such a great job balancing out the design that I’m happy to have entrusted her with my illustrations!

My favourites were the Surrealism spread since launched this whole project into motion, and the Yoko Ono image for the Experimentation chapter. I want to be that peaceful...

What’s it like making illustrations of artworks and artists?

It was a first for me, so my approach was trying my best to honour the artists themselves and capture some of the spirit. The Baroque and Impressionism openers are good examples of trying to mimic the style itself, but when it came to the portraits I had some more freedom to play with my own interpretation.

I wanted the illustrations to feel relatable and accessible to future young readers, especially if they are new to the artists and artworks mentioned. It can be intimidating to look at great art sometimes, and hopefully my work will feel like a friend helping to understand the newness.

Were you inspired by any of the artists?

There were so many artists and eras I learned about in the process, so it’s hard to pick just a few! The First Nations artwork was very beautiful, and I enjoyed how much nature was a basis for their works.

I loved reading about Abstract Expressionism and the strong personalities who were major pillars of the movement. Unapologetic women taking up space and making art of all sorts will always be inspirational. Especially if it upsets some people.

What are you up to next?

I have some other book projects on the horizon that will allow me to work in some new formats, which I’m looking forward to exploring. Aside from that, the ongoing personal projects will hopefully get some more attention than they have been (it’s been very little lately). Exciting times ahead!

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In 2021, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum launched Women of the Rijksmuseum: an initiative dedicated to researching and bringing visibility to the women held in the museum’s collection. Looking beyond the familiar narratives, the project seeks to reveal the many lives, contributions and stories that have long been overlooked.

Among the Rembrandts and Vermeers on its walls now hang works by women artists including Judith Leyster, Rachel Ruysch and Gesina ter Borch. Painters who, for centuries, were largely left out of the story of Dutch art history, yet whose stories reveal extraordinary talent, ambition and resilience.

But their work goes beyond simply ‘rushing to display’ more works by women artists. Their researchers spend years investigating the lives of both the makers and those working ‘behind the scenes’, from unnamed sitters to donors and collectors whose names were hidden by those of their husbands. Delving deep into the museum’s own archives, the Rijksmuseum is saying, let’s see how we can confront our history, and put in the work to make this whole museum look different.

To find out more, I spoke with Laurien van der Werff and Marion Anker from Women of the Rijksmuseum about rediscovering women in the archives, the challenges and surprises of their work, and the most fascinating stories they’ve uncovered.

Let’s dive in!

Hello Laurien and Marion, thank you both so much for speaking with me. When and how was the Women of the Rijksmuseum initiative established?

A media inquiry in late 2019 gave the final push that led to the Women of the Rijksmuseum project. Wieteke van Zeil, a journalist, asked the Rijksmuseum how many women makers we had in the collection and whether there was a policy regarding women makers – a question we could not immediately answer. It was clear that the much-needed catch-up could no longer wait.

After a slight delay due to covid, Women of the Rijksmuseum was officially launched on 8 March 2021 – International Women’s Day. And starting with a bang, for the first time in the museum’s history, works by 17th-century women artists were displayed in the Gallery of Honour, our main stage. The presence of work by women painters in that gallery is now standard policy, and women’s visibility has steadily spread throughout the museum ever since.

So we started in 2021, but we are certainly not the first to study women in art and history. We build on, and are deeply aware of, the work that feminist art historians and historians have been doing since the 1970s. However, at least in the Netherlands, much of this research has mainly stayed in academia and has not been translated to a lasting discourse change in museums like ours. And that is what we aim to change now.

Why do you think so many women artists have historically been hidden or lost in museum archives?

We think it is largely rooted in blind spots from the 19th and 20th centuries, which still linger today and have created entrenched patterns of thinking about women. Art history and history took shape as academic disciplines in the 19th century, and the past was interpreted through contemporary ideas about the roles of men and women, leaving little space for women in active and creative roles.

There is also the fact that women are often hidden behind the names of male relatives in archival records, and thus erased from history. In the 19th and 20th centuries that was, for example, often the case for married women who donated or bequeathed objects to the Rijksmuseum. In our registration system, these women were at times effectively invisible, hidden behind their husband’s names. One of our researchers dedicated three years uncovering the role of women as donors to the museum and working to making them visible.

What was your most recent acquisition, and what about it made you think it had to be added to the Rijksmuseum collection?

Since 2022, thanks to the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, we’ve been able to contribute to some 40 acquisitions. One of our favourites is definitely Maria van Oosterwijck’s Vanitas Still Life. Van Oosterwijck (1630-1639) was one of the most important female Dutch painters of the 17th century, alongside Judith Leyster and Rackel Ruysch. She achieved international fame during her lifetime and her paintings were collected and commissioned by monarchs like the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV.

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We have just returned from my favourite Hay Festival where I spoke with the legendary (faithful) David Olusoga about my book, How To Live An Artful Life, and hosted kids events for The Story of Art without Men: An Illustrated Guide to Amazing Women Artists.

Scroll on for my British Museum Kids Book Club (!) and, as always, top reads, things to see, do, watch and listen to! Have a great month. Love Katy xxx

TALK: 10 July, 6.30pm: Iconic Female Artists at Tate Modern – sold out; livestream tickets available

On Friday 10 July, I’ll be at Tate Modern discussing the powerful practices of Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo and Ana Mendieta — at the rare moment that these three great women artists are all exhibiting at Tate. In-person tickets have sold out, but you can book a livestream ticket here!

BONUS EPISODE: The Great Women Artists Podcast: Joan Snyder

When I was in NYC in April, I visited the studio of legendary painter Joan Snyder, whose new show Earthsongs opens tomorrow, 6 June, at Thaddeus Ropac Paris (until 25 Jul). We discussed the power of music (and our love of Philip Glass); her journey from sociology to art – and the conviction to get herself into graduate school; plus, how important it is to teach art to kids. Joan is awesome. Listen here.

“I mean, that was what compelled me to keep painting… I was pretty self-taught because I didn't have those beginning classes. I didn't have that structure. I didn't have any of that. So, in some ways, I think that served me well. Maybe not for all students, but it definitely served me well – not to have too much instruction.”

On Substack: What to see at London Gallery Weekend 2026

It’s London Gallery Weekend, and the city is full with exhibitions, talks, tours, performances, and more — all totally free to attend. Check out my top picks here.

Plus don’t miss Hauser & Wirth’s Literary Evening, tonight (Friday 5 June), 5:30pm – hosted by Ben Luke, with readings from myself and many more.

On Substack: A new discovery: Louise Janin

As the first UK solo exhibition dedicated to Louise Janin opens this week, I spoke to curators Simon Grant and Vivienne Roberts about this visionary artist, whose work melds East Asian influences with surrealism, spiritualism, and more. Check it out!

On Substack: Dada Masilo’s Hamlet

Ahead of the UK premiere of Dada Masilo’s Hamlet at Sadler’s Wells, longtime collaborator Suzette Le Sueur told me about Masilo’s radical reimagining of Hamlet through Ophelia’s eyes. Read here.

On Substack: Briony Fer on Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Click here for highlights from my conversation with art historian Briony Fer on artist, designer and avant-garde icon Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

British Museum Kids Book Club!

I went to the British Museum to answer some kids’ questions, including: “Who would you want to paint a portrait of you?” and, “Why do we see more works by male artists than female artists in museums?” Along the way we looked at works by Mary Delaney, Clara Peeters, Tracey Emin and the Guerrilla Girls. Watch here!

And now for June’s recommendations!

16 shows to see in the UK:

• Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon, Tate Modern, London (until 3 Jan 2027)

• Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature, Newlands House Gallery, Petworth (until 6 Sept)

• Eileen Agar, Alison Jacques, London (until 25 Jul)

• Mrinalini Mukherjee: Unbound Forms - Women Sculptors of India and Bangladesh, Hepworth Wakefield (until 25 Oct)

• Georgia-May Cook: Picnic Lightning, Union Pacific, London (until 18 Jul)

• Jemila Isa: Dreams Lost Upon Waking, Maureen Paley, London (until 25 Jul)

• Olivia Plender: Little Fennel’s Complaint, Modern Art Oxford (until 16 Aug)

• Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica, Barbican, London (until 6 Sep)

• Roni Horn: Seizure of Hope, Hauser & Wirth, London (until 1 Aug)

• Andrew Cranston and Lorna Robertson: Painting, our mutual friend, Glasgow Print Studio (until 1 Aug)

• Louise Janin: The Echo of the Spirit Through the Rhythms of Life at GPS Gallery, London (3–7 Jun) (read my q&a with the curators here!)

• To the Dance: Eight works by Nancy Spero 1926–2009, Frith Street Gallery Golden Square, London (until 7 Aug)

• Gladys Hynes: Radical Lives, Charleston in Lewes (until 11 Oct)

• Nomenclature for the Time Being, Raven Row, London (until 6 Sep)

• Lara Shahnavaz: Dust, Ginny on Frederick, London (until 12 Jun)

• Phyllida Barlow: disruptor, Wolterton, Norwich (until 31 Oct)

13 shows to see outside of the UK:

• Firelei Baez: feet squelching on wet grass, nourished by uncertainty, Hauser & Wirth, New York (until 31 Jul)

• Tilda Swinton: Ongoing, Onassis Foundation, Athens (until 28 Jun)

• Emily Kam Kngwarray: The Turning Season, Pace Gallery, New York (until 14 Aug)

• Body. Ideal, Gaze, Freedom, Gothenburg Museum of Art, Gothenburg (until 17 Jan)

• Betty Parsons / Carla Accardi, Peter Marino Art Foundation, Southampton, NY (until 3 Oct)

• Whitney Biennial 2026, Whitney Museum, New York (until 23 Aug)

• The Cubists: Inventing Modern Vision, Center Pompidou Hanwha, Seoul

• Carol Rama: I See You You See Me, Hauser & Wirth, New York (until 31 Jul)

• Aleksandra Waliszewska: Irruption of Antiquity, Benaki Museum of Greek Culture, Athens (until 27 Sep)

• Christina Kubisch: The Emergence of Sound, Ludwig Forum, Aachen (until 20 Sep)

• MOTHER: Stories from the NGV Collection, NGV, Melbourne (until 12 Jul)

• Camille Henrot: Paper Planes, Copenhagen Contemporary (until 31 Dec)

• Joan Snyder: Earthsongs, Thaddeus Ropac, Paris (until 25 Jul)

5 things to read:

• Vocal Break by Lauren Elkin

• Graphic rebellion: The women who made the West Coast Modern, via A Rabbit’s Foot

• Land by Maggie O’Farrell

• Leïla Slimani on Goya and the relationship between literature and painting, via The Guardian

• Issue 27 of The Fence

Things to watch:

Recently I’ve loved delving into MUBI’s eight-film collection Frederick Wiseman: American Lives, dedicated to the unique American documentarian (1930–2026) who travelled the country with modest equipment – handheld cameras and portable mics – to record the institutions and people that make up modern life.

From Model (1980), a behind-the-scenes look at the modelling industry, to In Jackson Heights (2015), a generous ode to a New York City neighbourhood threatened by gentrification; the eight films in this MUBI collection make up a moving portrait of the full spectrum of human behaviour and emotion.

I was drawn to Wiseman’s films for the way his open, non-judgemental approach makes space for the small gestures, expressions and idiosyncrasies that shape people’s everyday lives, and which together reveal something much larger about the world we live in.

In many ways Wiseman reminds me of one of my favourite artists, the great American photographer Diane Arbus (1923–1971). Led by an empathetic curiosity, both Wiseman and Arbus chronicled American lives through a lens of strangeness and familiarity, wonder and honesty – and in doing so, insisted on the beauty that underlies it all.

Frederick Wiseman: American Lives is now streaming on MUBI in Australia, India, Turkey, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Ireland, UK, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. You can get 30 days free at mubi.com/katyhessel.

5 things to do in London

• The Great Exhibition Road Festival, South Kensington, 6–7 Jun

• William Kentridge in conversation, Royal Academy, 17 Jun, 6:30pm

• Sarah Churchwell on Marilyn Monroe, National Portrait Gallery, 19 Jun, 7pm

• An evening with Olivia Laing and Charlie Porter celebrating 10 years of The Lonely City, Union Chapel, 23 Jun 7pm

• Counterpoints Lecture with Elif Shafak, Southbank Centre, 27 Jun, 2pm

5 artists to know

Margo Hoff (1910–2008)

Christina Forrer (b.1978)

Carrie Stettheimer (1869–1944)

Monika Correa (b.1938)

Minnette de Silva (1918–1998)

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Scroll on for my top picks, divided into four parts – East, Central, West and South London. Enjoy!

East London

Exhibitions:

• Sara Cwynar: Baby Blue Benzo, The Approach, E2

• Georgia-May Travers Cook: Picnic Lightning, Union Pacific, E1

• Unyimeabasi Udoh: No Vehicles, Alma Pearl, N1

• Yvonne Mabs Francis: Breakdown, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix, E1

• Shahzia Sikander: High Seas; Closed Skies, Victoria Miro, N1

• Paul Majek: Losing a Home, House of Annetta, E1

• Lara Shahnavaz: Dust, Ginny on Frederick, EC1M

Events:

• Artist Studio Visit: with Ana Viktoria Dzinic | Sun 7 Jun, 11am – book here

• Exhibition Walkthrough: Yvonne Mabs Francis, tour led by Carol Maund at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaox | Sun 7 Jun, 2pm – book here

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Central London

Exhibitions:

• Camille Henrot: Don’t, The Perimeter, WC1

• Francis Picabia & Roni Horn, Hauser & Wirth, W1

• Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Air, Gagosian, W1

• Eileen Agar, Alison Jacques, W1

• SLG Forever, Christie’s, SW1

• Alice Macdonald: Every Window is a Holiday, Cedric Bardawil, W1

• Lisa Jahovic: Soft Interpretations, Flowers Gallery Cork St, W1

• Ree Morton: Signs and Gestures, Richard Saltoun Gallery, W1

• Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska: Zanzibar, Lisson Gallery, NW1

• Hayv Kahraman: What cannot be said will be wept, Pilar Corrias Conduit Street, W1

• Hybridity and Belonging in Contemporary Art, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, SW1

• Isabelle Young: Venice As I Was, Canopy Collections, WC1A

• Prunella Clough: Out and About, Thomas Dane Gallery, SW1

• Candace Hill-Montgomery: A Bare Woman Mutters Nothing…, Hollybush Gardens, EC1

• Anne Imhof: Citizen, Sprüth Magers, W1

• Ida Ekblad: Eat an Eggplant, Galerie Max Hetzler, W1

Events:

• In Conversation: Ida Ekblad and Marie-Charlotte Carrier at Galerie Max Hetzler | Thurs 4 Jun, 6pm – book here

• Performance: Dayo Ade at Larkin Durey | Fri 5 Jun 11:30am – book here

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