Katy Hessel

In her new book, this author and podcaster attempts to reclaim the rightful place of women in the history of art. She tells Rachel Ashenden about the inspiration behind a mammoth project and her frustration at the way women artists are treated

Katy Hessel is a trailblazer in revisionist art history. Her debut book, The Story Of Art Without Men, illuminates the women artists whose lives and legacies have been relatively obscured by history of art’s patriarchal recordings. Spanning 500 years and transporting readers across the globe, this major book serves as a captivating rebuttal to male-dominated art history textbooks. It mimics the chronological structure of EH Gombrich’s 1950 book The Story Of Art, except it begins in the 1500s, with the first recording of women’s art.

The Story Of Art Without Men has been brewing since Hessel started her acclaimed Great Women Artists Instagram account in 2015. For the last three ´ years, she has also been interviewing the likes of Marina Abramovic and Lubaina Himid for her insightful podcast of the same name. Emerging from this robust bank of research, The Story Of Art Without Men is made for the ‘millennial reader’, says Hessel, who wrote it, in part, because she herself ‘struggled to read a lot of art books’.

‘I got frustrated that writing around women artists included several male artists’ names . . . I don’t want to see them as the “wife of” or the “muse of” or the “daughter of” or the “sister of”,’ she insists. While not intended as the definitive art history book, The Story Of Art Without Men is about ‘flipping the script’ of the canonical record. Hessel observes that, broadly speaking, the attention dedicated to male artists is similarly unjust at curatorial level. ‘Who cares if Dora Maar dated Picasso for a bit? People curate exhibitions of one year of Picasso’s life, and to be honest, it’s not that interesting.’

As she recalls the research process, it becomes strikingly evident that the 500-plus page book is a project which comes straight from the heart. International in her approach, Hessel has spent the last two years tracking down world experts in various areas of art history (from the Harlem Renaissance to the Glasgow Four) to gather relevant information for the book. Despite the rigour of her research, there is a sense of urgency to continue recording the stories of lesser-known artists. ‘I know how many artists I’ve left out and it kills me,’ she says. ‘When you deal with a subject that is about marginalised people, you really don’t want to do them a disservice.’

She hopes readers immerse themselves in elevating the contributions of women artists, as well as finding kinship with the stories her book tells. To celebrate its publication, Hessel will be discussing the inspiration behind the book in a live online event hosted by bookshop.org on Tuesday 13 September.

n The Story Of Art Without Men is released by Penguin on Thursday

8 September; Great Women Artists podcast episodes are available at thegreatwomenartists.com/katy-hessel-podcast

tv • tv • tv • BINGE FEST

Our alphabetical column on viewing marathons reaches I

Macabre, menacing and monstrous, but also full of mirth, Inside No 9 (BBC iPlayer) is one of the key British drama/comedy triumphs of this last TV decade. A self-reflexive nod to Tales Of The Unexpected but with its own twist that the two writers (Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton) appear in (almost) every episode. All 43 half-hours are available for your demonic delectation during which this duo have been passengers aboard a sleeper train, former double-act buddies and police officers on a stakeout.

Gabriel Byrne has been treading the boards telling his own life story recently, but for some, his finest role was as Paul Weston, the charming but hugely conflicted psychotherapist who found himself in quite the moral pickle each week with his various clients (even the ones he wasn’t punching in the chops or sleeping with). In Treatment (NOW TV) returned with a decent flourish last year featuring Uzo Aduba in the shrink’s chair but Byrne/Weston’s shadow was all-too present for fans of its three earlier seasons. (Brian Donaldson) Other I binges: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Netflix), I May Destroy You (BBC iPlayer), I Hate Suzie (NOW TV)