What’s it about?
Katja Behling and Anke Manigold present a collection of short biographies of early female painters. First, an introduction explains a location (Hiddensee, Zurich, Vienna, etc.), then the artists who lived there around 1900 are presented: Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Clara Rilke-Westhoff are just four of thirtyone women.

How was it?
The authors are quite repetitive when it comes to the narration of the biographies. This makes it difficult to differentiate between the artists when you read several biographies in one go. They also mention many other artists and styles but just describe them: For a book about painters you notice a huge lack of pictures – they would have made it more vivid and memorable.
It is a good book to get a first glimpse on those artists – not more not less. I will use it for orientation to look for more comprehensive biographies. ( )