If we trace the history of art, there were of course exceptional women artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabeth de Vigée, but they are little known. 

At the turn of the 20th century avant-garde women artists such as Sonia Delaunay and Natalia Gonchorova appeared, with  access to the academy of fine arts in their countries of origin. Then the Bauhaus school admitted women and allowed the advent of artists such as Sophie Taeuber and Anni Albers. From the 1930s onwards, the use of photography – a new medium – allowed women to free themselves from the constraints of the studio and to be more financially free. In the early 1960s Niki de Saint-Phalle made the founding act of feminism with her legendary shots. 

The body art of the 1970s allowed women artists to reappropriate their bodies and challenge the socially constructed role of the female gender. In order for these women artists to be recognised, they had to write and speak out, as did the Guerrilla Girls who, since 1985, have been fighting for the equal representation of women in museums. And since the 1990s, intimate issues such as rape, harassment and abortion have become political issues that women have taken up. 

Dive deeper into these histories, and join a discussion on how we change the narrative about women’s part in the art history canon over lunch with Beatrice Taevernier, expert and founder of B-Arty consultancy and VIP representative of Art Basel. 

Beatrice Taevernier created a company in 2016 called B-Arty through which she offers consulting services in buying and selling artworks and organises artistic meetings and events. She is currently VIP representative of Art Basel (Basel, Miami, Hong-Kong) for the Benelux and Romania and of Masterpiece London for the Benelux. 

After obtaining her law degree at the KU-Leuven, Beatrice Taevernier worked successively as a lawyer, Legal Director of the Brussels Stock Exchange, which became Euronext, and as a project manager at the Superior Council of Justice. Finally, after passing the exam for access to the judiciary, she was appointed as president of the Dutch-speaking financial correctional chamber at the Court of First Instance of Brussels. After having dealt with one of the biggest cases of corruption in public auctions, she decided in 2015 to reorient her career towards art and to make her passion her profession.

Timing:

Welcome: 12pm

Conference : 12:15-1:30pm

Walking Lunch: 1:30-2pm