The Best Exhibitions This Spring Are Celebrating Female Artists

The last time there was a show in America dedicated to Mary Cassatt, the year was 1999. Given her stature as a grande dame of Impressionism and one of the very few women to have reached a level of fame (and collectibility) comparable to that of Monet, Manet, et al., this should come as a surprise.

“I mean, Cézanne is wonderful, but there have been exhibitions of his rocks,” says Jennifer Thompson, a curator of “Mary Cassatt at Work,” the first U.S. survey of the artist in 25 years, opening at the Philadelphia Museum on May 18. “We have gotten so granular in the way we think about the male artists, but we haven’t done that with the female artists.”

The tide is turning across the country. Starting May 25 in Los Angeles, Mickalene Thomas takes center stage at the Broad in “Mickalene Thomas: All About Love,” which homes in on the past 20 years of her career with dozens of works that highlight her ongoing exploration of female identity and race. A short (for L.A.) drive away, at LACMA, a Simone Leigh retrospective opens on the 26th. “We should have always been celebrating these women at this level, and it’s incredible that it’s happening in such a concentrated way,” says Ed Schad, a curator of the Thomas show. “Now’s the time.”

Above: Mickalene Thomas created Monet’s Salle à Manger Jaune (2012) after a summer residency at Monet’s studio in Giverny.

This story appears in the May 2024 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW

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