Lavinia Fontana, Portrait of a Noblewoman, ca. 1580; Oil on canvas, 45 1/4 x 35 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay; Funding for the frame generously provided by the Texas State Committee. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

WASHINGTON, DC.- The National Museum of Women in the Arts presents a major reinstallation of its collection galleries with an expansive array of paintings, photographs and sculptures, including recent acquisitions, rarely exhibited works and familiar favorites. The new installation features collection highlights that emphasize diversity and enhance connections between historical and contemporary art. 

Organized by six themes—Family Matters, Roots to Routes, Rebels with a Cause, Built to Order, Space Explorers and the Great Outdoors—each gallery examines subjects that engage women artists worldwide. A selection of recently announced gifts from the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art are also displayed at NMWA for the first time, including Marisol’s The Large Family Group, Niki de Saint-Phalle’s Pregnant Nana and Kiki Smith’s Breast Jar, among others. 

“To ensure engaging visitor experiences in our galleries, we are pleased to rehang our collection as it grows and evolves in thematic focus,” said NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling. “In art museums, installations organized by historical chronology have often been an obstacle to the inclusion of women artists, since they only started appearing in sizable numbers in the 20th century. This is especially true for women artists of color.” 

Featuring more than 150 works, NMWA’s new installation highlights renowned artists such as Chakaia Booker, Mary Cassatt, Judy Chicago, Sonya Clark, Lavinia Fontana, the Guerrilla Girls, Candida Höfer, Frida Kahlo, Barbara Kruger, Nikki S. Lee, Marisol, Joan Mitchell, Berthe Morisot, Shirin Neshat, Faith Ringgold, Rachel Ruysch, Cindy Sherman, Amy Sherald, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Mickalene Thomas, Alma Woodsey Thomas, Anne Truitt and Remedios Varo. In addition to the recently announced gifts from the trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, select works of art on view at NMWA for the first time include objects by Marina Abramović, Margaret Bourke-White, Florence Henri, Mwangi Hutter, Zanele Muholi, Pansy Napangati, Ruth Orkin, Rosângela Rennó, Laurie Simmons, Mildred Thompson and Grazia Toderi.

Lavinia Fontana (Bologna 1552-1614 Rome), Portrait of Costanza Alidosi, ca. 1594; Oil on canvas, 62 x 47 3/8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Judith Leyster (Haarlem 1609-1660 Heestede), The Concert, ca. 1633; Oil on canvas, 24 x 34 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay.© 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Mary Beale (Borrow 1633–ca. 1699 London), Portrait of a Woman with a Black Hood, ca. 1660; Oil on canvas, 28 1/4 x 23 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Bequest of John N. and Dorothy C. Estabrook. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Elisabetta Sirani (Bologna 1638-1665), Virgin and Child, 1663; Oil on canvas, 34 x 27 1/2 in; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Conservation funds generously provided by the Southern California State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Rachel Ruysch (The Hague 1664-1750 Amsterdam), Roses, Convolvulus, Poppies and Other Flowers in an Urn on a Stone Ledge, ca. 1680s; Oil on canvas, 42 1/2 x 33 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Marie-Geneviève Navarre (Paris 1737-1795), Portrait of a Young Woman, 1774; Pastel on paper, 24 x 19 3/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Anne Vallayer-Coster (Paris 1744-1818), Madame de Saint-Huberty in the Role of Dido, 1785; Oil on canvas, 57 3/8 x 40 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (Paris 1755-1842), Portrait of Princess Belozersky, 1798; Oil on canvas, 31 x 26 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Rita M. Cushman in memory of George A. Rentschler. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (Paris 1755-1842), Portrait of a Woman, 1803; Oil on canvas, 35 3/4 x 28 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of an anonymous donor. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Marguerite Gérard (Grasse 1761-1837 Paris), Prelude to a Concert, ca. 1810; Oil on canvas, 22 1/4 x 18 3/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Anna Claypoole Peale (Philadelphia 1791-1878), Nancy Aertsen, ca. 1820; Watercolor on ivory, 3 1/2 x 2 7/8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Sarah Miriam Peale (Philadelphia 1800-1885), Susan Avery, 1821 & Isaac Avery, 1821; Oil on canvas, 35 1/4 x 27 1/2 in., 35 1/4 x 27 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum Purchase: The Louis Pollard Price Acquisition Fund. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Julie Mihes (Breslau 1786-1855 Vienna), Madonna and Child, 1823; Oil on canvas, 39 1/4 x 33 1/4 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum purchase: Members’ Acquisition Fund. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Lilly Martin Spencer (Exeter, England 1822-1902 New York City), Still Life with Watermelon, Pears, and Grapes, ca. 1860; Oil on canvas, 13 1/8 x 17 1/7 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Lilly Martin Spencer (Exeter, England 1822-1902 New York City), The Artist and Her Family at a Fourth of July Picnic, ca. 1864; Oil on canvas, 49 1/2 x 63 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Given in memory of Muriel Gucker Hahn by her loving husband, William Frederick Hahn, Jr. Conservation funds generously provided by the Florida State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Rosa Bonheur (Bordeaux 1822-1899 Fontainebleau), Sheep by the Sea, 1865; Oil on cradled panel, 12 3/4 x 18 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Berthe Morisot (Bourges 1841-1895 Paris), The Cage, 1885; Oil on canvas, 19 7/8 x 15 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Anna Ancher (Skagen, Denmark 1859-1935), Fisher Woman in Profile, 1892; Oil on panel, 12 7/8 x 9 5/8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Jo Francis and John Fuegi. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Louise Abbéma (Étampes 1853-1927 Paris), Portrait of a Young Girl with a Blue Ribbon, ca. 1895; Pastel on canvas, 18 x 15 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Mary Cassatt (Allegheny City, Pennsylvania 1844-1926 Le Mesnil-Theribus, France), Mother’s Kiss, 1890–91; Drypoint and aquatint on paper, 13 3/4 x 9 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of John and Linda Comstock in loving memory of Abigail Pearson Van Vleck. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau (Exeter, New Hampshire 1837-1922 Saint-Cloud, France), The Shepherd David, ca. 1895; Oil on canvas, 60 1/2 x 41 3/8 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.

Eulabee Dix (Greenfield, Illinois 1878-1961 Waterbury, Connecticut), Me, 1899; Watercolor on ivory, 2 1/2 x 2 1/8 in. oval; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Mrs. Philip Dix Becker and family. © 2019 national museum of women in the arts.