Reilluminating the Age of Enlightenment is a multi-year research initiative aimed at reintegrating women into the art historical narrative, highlighting their cultural, social, and economic contributions throughout the 18th century. By revisiting this period, the program uncovers the significant role women played across diverse artistic disciplines and in cross-border networks. Each museum partner is selected for its commitment to inclusive research and curatorial practices.

In its first year, the program collaborated with the Rijksmuseum’s “Women of the Rijksmuseum” research initiative, highlighting women artists of the museum’s collection. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts contributed research on women artists’ practices and work during the United States’ colonial and revolutionary eras, as well as during the country’s early history. For this program, AWARE also partnered The Baltimore Museum of Art and the Art Gallery of Ontario for the Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800 exhibition, highlighting women creatives of all disciplines in the Early Modern period in Europe. These collaborations allowed AWARE to publish biographies and research that reflect the multifaceted and often overlooked ways in which women contributed to the visual arts, creating works ranging from embroidery to academic history paintings.

In year two, Reilluminating the Age of Enlightenment, continued its work with the Making Her Mark’s curatorial team and partnered with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin. Philadelphia Museum of Art’s research explores diverse practices, from oil painting to silversmithing, showcasing women artists’ talents and their role in establishing and managing studios. At the Alte Nationalgalerie, research focused on the museum’s collection history, drawing on the exhibition Fighting for Visibility: Women Artists in the Nationalgalerie before 1919, to spotlight women who were prominent in their time across what is now Germany.

In its third year, the program will focus on women artists in Southern and Eastern Europe through collaborations with the Museo di Roma and the National Museum in Warsaw. The focus will be the on transnational networks of women artists and the transmission of artistic practices from one generation of women artists to the next.

This program is supported by the Tavolozza Foundation and Anne-Françoise Gavanon.