The art world is finally getting around to giving women artists a better share of recognition, with greater representation in exhibitions and auction records being broken almost daily. Why not celebrate women artist this holiday season with books written by women about them and their work? We’ve rounded up fiction, non-fiction and children’s books that enlighten, intrigue and may just introduce you to a new favorite artist.
The Lost Masterpiece
by B. A. Shapiro
Was it talent, romance, connections, or passion that drew Berthe Morisot into the realm of the French Impressionists? All played a part, but it was her own brilliance that put her works into collections like the Louvre’s and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s. This USA Today bestselling novel brings one of the most beloved periods in art alive and peppers it with plot twists and cameos from Manet, Degas and more.
The Portraitist: A Novel of Adelaide Labille-Guiard
by Susanne Dunlap
Even the French Revolution couldn’t extinguish the fervor of Adelaide Labille-Guiard, a woman painter and teacher of other women artists during the late 1700s in Paris. Those in New York will know Labille-Guiard from her extraordinary “Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788)” at The Met. Find out about the woman holding the palette and brushes in this work of historical fiction.
Portrait of a Woman: Art, Rivalry, and Revolution in the Life of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
by Bridget Quinn
If you want a more detailed history of Labille-Guiard, let art historian Bridget Quinn be your guide. She spent years researching the French artist and brings context and depth to the story of her life. With sights, sounds and realities of Parisian society of the time, an unapologetic feminist slant and reproductions of the artist’s paintings, a vivid picture of this extraordinary painter and teacher comes to life.
Reframing Women Printmakers
by P.L. Henderson
Author P. L. Henderson has written about cotemporary women painters, women who create fiber art, and now women printmakers. Some of the most renowned printmakers of the past century have been women, like Yayoi Kusama, Käthe Kollwitz, and Barbara Kruger, and you’ll meet them all in the pages of this informative and inspiring book. Reproductions of works and contributions from contemporary masters like Kiki Smith bring the artists even closer. It’s a way to delve into another realm of art where women have been all along.
I Am You
by Victoria Redel
The Dutch Golden Age comes to life in this portrait of a fictional woman painter in Amsterdam in the 1600s—the age of Rembrandt and Vermeer. Surrounded by friends, families, jealous rivals and obstacles, she finds a way, as did all women artists of previous centuries, to surmount the problems, embrace her passions and find her way. This is an Amazon Editor’s Choice, and it’s been called “transportive.” Perfect for a winter getaway.
Gabriële
by Anne Berest and Claire Berest
This New York Times editors’ pick for best historical fiction of 2025 is a story based on facts about their grandmother as remembered and reconstructed by two sisters. Recreating an era filled with adventure, bold ideas and political peril, it tells the story of Gabriële Buffet-Picabia. An art critic, writer, adventurer and muse, she was part of the group that spearheaded Dada, one of the most inventive, confounding and engaging movements in art in the last century.
Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony: La Grande Vallée Suite
by Lisa Rogers (Author), Stacy Innerst (Illustrator)
This beautifully illustrated award-winning book for young readers focuses on one important body of work by the famed Abstract Expressionist painter: La Grande Vallée Suite. It tells the story of Mitchell, an American expat living in France, building a series of vibrant, emotionally charged paintings that don’t look exactly like anything, but express everything she feels about the beauty of the countryside. It’s an introduction for young minds to an important artist and a monumental movement in art.
Art Herstory Notecards
From Art Herstory’s Erika Gaffney
Since gifts and occasions are better with a card, consider Art Herstory’s beautiful collections which reproduce paintings by female Old Masters. They’re lush, elegant and expertly curated by Erika Gaffney, Art Herstory’s founder, creative director and a scholar and expert on women artists. Purchases support Art Herstory’s dedication to telling these women’s stories, and with each card, you’re helping spread the word. You can find them in many museum gift shops, but visiting the website also opens a trove of extraordinary writing by curators and art historians.
Top photo: Bigstock by alexraths
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