Geometric abstraction
In the school curriculum
30.05.2017 | AWARE
Browse by Themes
Marcelle Cahn, Sans titre, 1981, collage on board, 28.2 x 21.4 cm, © Courtesy Galerie Lahumière
Straight lines, circles, diamonds, and triangles established themselves in their own right as an integral part of the iconography of abstract art. From the Cercle et Carré group (founded in 1919), which included Sophie Tauber-Arp, to Vera Molnár’s digital compositions in the 70s, women artists have taken part in the experiments of geometric abstraction since the early 20th century. Using oils on canvas, paper collages, or digital tools, a number of them turned toward this minimalist aesthetic, such as Agnes Martin, an American painter whose work was rediscovered a few years ago, and to whom Guggenheim New York has just devoted a retrospective.
1912 — Canada | 2004 — United States
Agnes Martin
1895 — 1981 | France
Marcelle Cahn
1924 — Hungary | 2023 — France
Vera Molnár
1923 — 2021 | France
Geneviève Asse
1889 — 1943 | Switzerland
Sophie Taeuber-Arp
1910 — 2005 | France
Aurélie Nemours
1931 | United Kingdom
Bridget Riley
1899 — 1986 | Denmark
Franciska Clausen
1935 — 2018 | France
Geneviève Claisse
1924 — 2014 | Italy
Carla Accardi
1915 — Romania | 1997 — France
Natalia Dumitresco
1915 — Cuba | 2022 — United States
Carmen Herrera
1923 — 2010 | Czech Republic
Bĕla Kolářová
1890 — 1958 | United Kingdom
Marlow Moss
1950 | Estonia
Sirje Runge
1930 — 2005 | Belgium
Marthe Wéry
1936 | United Kingdom
Gillian Wise
1914 — Philippines | 1994 — France
Nena Saguil
1950 | New Zealand
Kura Te Waru Rewiri
1891 — 1978 | United States
Alma Woodsey Thomas
1900 — 1981 | Italy
Bice Lazzari
1936 | Palestine
Samia Halaby
1911 — Denmark | 1984 — France
Sonja Ferlov Mancoba
1929 — 2015 | Norway
Inger Sitter
1930 — 2004 | Italy
Dadamaino (Eduarda Emilia Maino, dite)
1885 — 1963 | United Kingdom
Helen Saunders
1927 | United States
Lillian Schwartz
1940 | United-States
Mary Heilmann
1903 — Poland | 2000 — Germany
Gertrud Arndt
1896 — 1983 | United States
Charmion von Wiegand
1964 | China
Qing Lu
1910 — 1974 | Denmark
Else Alfelt
1885 — Ukraine | 1979 — France
Sonia Delaunay
1926 — 2013 | United States
Ruth Asawa
1940 — 2015 | Spain
Elena Asins
1927 — 1977 | Bolivia
María Esther Ballivián
1946 | New Zealand
Liz Coats
1889 — 1970 | Peru
Elena Izcue
1921 — 2009 | Argentina
Ana María Moncalvo
1923 — United States | 2016 — France
Shirley Jaffe
1936 — Jamaica | 2017 — France
Hessie (Hessie Djuric, née Johnston, dite)
1929 — Mandatory Palestine | 2022 — Israel
Gedula Ogen
1956 | Switzerland
Silvia Bächli
1925 — 2019 | Japan
Tsuruko Yamazaki
1907 — 1969 | United Kingdom
Mary Martin
1941 — 2009 | Germany
Hanne Darboven
1945 | United States
Valerie Jaudon
1911 — Switzerland | 1990 — France
Isabelle Waldberg
1955 | Iran
Shirazeh Houshiary
1940 — 2007 | United States
Elizabeth Murray
1943 | Mexico
Edda Renouf
1926 — 2015 | France
Claude de Soria
1960 | Brazil
Beatriz Milhazes
1948 | Lebanon
Afaf Zurayk
1928 — 2021 | Canada
Rita Letendre
1926 — 2012 | Iran
Mansoureh Hosseini
1908 — Syria | 2005 — Jordan
Madiha Umar
1959 — 2006 | Australia
Bronwyn Oliver
1899 — 1995 | Japan
Eiko Yamazawa
1925 — 2019 | Norway
Aase Texmon Rygh
1957 | United States
Emmi Whitehorse
1935 | United States
Kay WalkingStick
1921 — Iraq | 2015 — Israel
Claire Yaniv
1928 | Brazil
Yvette Achkar
1917 — 2015 | Uruguay
María Freire
1961 | Germany
Katharina Grosse
1923 | Canada
Françoise Sullivan
1904 — 1992 | United States
