This Spring, Art Herstory is excited to announce eight new note card designs! Two artists—Clara Peeters and Rachel Ruysch—make a repeat appearance. But with this year’s card additions we introduce six “new” female Old Masters: Rosalba Carriera, Barbara Regina Dietzsch, Lavinia Fontana, Angelica Kauffmann, Anna Ruysch, and Dorothea Storm-Kreps.

With these additions, the total number of Art Herstory note card designs is 25. The cards feature paintings by 17 female artists of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For some of the 2022 cards, the art sources are new for Art Herstory:

• A generous private collector in the US;
• The Walters Art Museum;
• The Saint Louis Art Museum;
• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen; and
• The Detroit Institute of Arts

And we are once again in the debt of these art museums:

• The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC; 
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and
• The Art Institute of Chicago

We are grateful to all of these institutions for their liberal art-sharing policies. Now, to introduce the Spring 2022 line-up (in alphabetical order by artist’s last name):

Rosalba Carriera, A Young Lady with a Parrot, c. 1730

Rosalba Carriera was one of the most celebrated artists of the eighteenth century. Over time her fame waned; but even today, public and private collections all over the world hold her works. By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800—an exhibition hosted by The Wadsworth Atheneum last Fall, and on at the Detroit Institute of Arts through May 29—has highlighted some of Carriera’s miniatures and pastels. A Young Lady With a Parrot (original held at the Art Institute of Chicago) combines two of her specialties: portraiture and allegory.

Barbara Regina Dietzsch, A Branch of Gooseberries with a Dragonfly, an Orange-Tip Butterfly, and a Caterpillar, 18th-century

With the publication of this note card, Art Herstory is excited to introduce eighteenth-century German artist Barbara Regina Dietzsch to our line! She was born into a family of artists, and enjoyed recognition in her lifetime as a flower painter. Though her name is unfamiliar to many art lovers, significant caches of Dietzsch’s depictions of flowers, birds or landscape scenes can be found in collections around (at least) Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC holds the original art for the work reproduced here. Read about Dietzsch in Andaleeb Banta’s Art Herstory guest post.

Lavinia Fontana, Portrait of Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani, c. 1595

Though Art Herstory offers a porcelain ornament featuring a Lavinia Fontana work, this is our first Fontana note card. It also the first reproduction on an Art Herstory card of a painting held at Baltimore’s Walters Art Gallery, which holds three works by the artist. This portrait is one of many by Lavinia Fontana that display her particular gift for depicting textiles, including ornate fabrics. A number of her portraits of noblewomen include the lady’s dog! Visit our Lavinia Fontana resource page to learn more about the artist. Scroll down for a list of books, blog posts and other online articles about her.

Angelica Kauffmann, Woman in Turkish Dress, 1771–4

Angelica Kauffmann was a child prodigy, known for her artistic and musical talents. She pursued art, becoming famous across Europe for her history paintings, portraits, landscapes, and decorations. Her works were widely reproduced in print, as well as copied and adapted for the decoration of porcelain and fans. This card presents both the first Kauffmann painting and the first work from the Saint Louis Art Museum to appear in the Art Herstory line. (Museum visitors can view this artwork in Gallery 202.) The artist’s name is spelled, on our website and generally, in a variety of ways. The spelling on this card mirrors that on the museum’s object page. Read more about this artist in Anita Viola Sganzerla’s Art Herstory guest post Angelica Kauffman: Grace and Strength.

Clara Peeters, A Bouquet of Flowers, c. 1612

The name Clara Peeters is well known to the Art Herstory faithful! Our previously issued note cards reproduce her Still Life with Cheeses, Artichoke, and Cherries and her Still Life with Flowers Surrounded by Insects and a Snail. The Met only recently (in 2020) acquired the painting we present on this new Peeters card. It is on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 627. A particularly charming feature of the work is that Peeters positions her signature just under a sprig of forget-me-nots. There are now a total of four Met paintings reproduced on Art Herstory note cards.

Anna Ruysch, A Still Life of Flowers on a Marble Table Ledge, 1685

We are grateful the the collector who has shared their Anna Ruysch painting by allowing us to reproduce it on an Art Herstory card. It is one of only a handful of works firmly attributed to the artist, who did not always sign her paintings. Also, scholars believe that she painted less frequently after her marriage to a paint dealer. If the name Ruysch sounds familiar … Anna was the sister of the famous and successful painter Rachel Ruysch, whose work is also represented in the Art Herstory stationery line.

Rachel Ruysch, Flowers in a Glass Vase. 1704

With this new Rachel Ruysch card, we make good on our 2020 promise that Still Life with Rose Branch, Beetle and Bee would not be the last Ruysch work to appear in the Art Herstory line! The Detroit Institute of Arts holds the original painting reproduced here. Even within Ruysch’s extraordinary oeuvre, this work is notable for the number of different flowers included, and for the range of sizes, shapes, and colors she incorporates. Learn more about Ruysch at the Art Herstory artist resource page for this artist.

Dorothea Storm-Kreps, Twig with Two Pears, 18th-century

The daughter of a floriculturist, Dorothea Storm-Kreps grew up surrounded by flowers. While we don’t know who taught her, at some point she began to produce watercolors and gouaches of flowers and fruit. Even after her marriage to Johannes Storm, Dorothea Kreps continued to paint. Art historians believe that she made botanical drawings for the Hortus Medicus. Other than the work reproduced on this card, scholars know of only a few works by the artist. The original art for the pears drawing is held by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

With these new cards, Art Herstory offers several new pre-packaged 6-pack sampler options: 

• Eighteenth-Century Art;
• Floral and Botanical 2;
• Floral and Botanical 3;
• Dutch & Flemish Women Artists 2; and 
• Italian Women Artists 2
  

As always, Art Herstory is grateful for the generosity of the individuals and institutions who freely share with the public the digital art files of artworks they hold. We hope the paintings reproduced on these new Art Herstory cards appeal to you, and inspire you to learn more about the artists who created them. Visit the online shop to purchase individual cards or pre-designed 6-packs. And we continue to offer customers the option of designing their own custom 3- or 6-packs.

More posts about Art Herstory cards

Art Herstory’s First Botanical Holiday Card

Art Herstory Adds Five New Note Card Designs for Spring 2021!

Announcing Six New Art Herstory Note Cards (Fall 2020)

The Inaugural Art Herstory Christmas Card!

New from Art Herstory: The Artemisia Gentileschi Christmas Card