the hidden world of women modernists

Here at wonder | wander | world we love visiting museums of modern art. But as Filipino artists we notice that the museums present us with a stable of artists who are mostly white men, with a tiny smattering of white women. Frida Kahlo boldly waves her native colours against the whitewashed background, but there are others who were as bold and influential, but not as universally known.

Baya Mahieddine, Femmes et Oiseaux, 1975.

botanical illustration with Lizzie Harper

Lizzie Harper is a botanical illustrator based in Britain. Her stunning realism evokes classical masters like Franz Bauer and Maria Sybilla Merian. We first found her when searching for watercolour paper reviews!

Frida Kahlo: jewellery a la mexicana

In a biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, fellow artist Lucienne Bloch describes jewellery shopping with Frida as going through markets and thrift stores 'like a tornado...she'd find cheap costume jewellery and she'd make it look fantastic'. This is because Frida Kahlo had a powerful vision of her self in mind.

From Frida: Making Her Self Up,
Victoria and Albert exhibition catalogue

Oei Katsushika : artist, daughter, Hokusai's keeper of secrets

We just celebrated International Women's Day [last March 8] and head into our month long observance of Women's History Month.

Here at wonder | wander | world we are focusing our continued gaze on art in general and women in particular.

Father-Daughter Collaboration

Especially in this one particular case, these famous words of Virginia Woolf, another accomplished artist, is all too true and quite sad.

We offer you the rare and unique O-Ei Katsushika - Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter, and secret collaborator on many works of her famous father, Hokusai.