European Museums Join Forces to Highlight Women’s Role in Art and History

The Rijksmuseum and the Museo Nacional del Prado have announced a research partnership focusing on women in art and history.

The Amsterdam and Madrid institutions have both stated a commitment to increase the representation of women in their collections. This initiative will see the joint development of an international fellowship programme for post-doctoral researchers, the organisation of expert meetings, and a 2029 exhibition at the Rijksmuseum about female leadership in the Netherlands during the 16th century.

In a statement, representatives of both museums said: “By joining forces, the museums will contribute through new research to a richer and more inclusive understanding of the shared Dutch and Spanish history.”

In 2021 the Rijksmuseum established an interdisciplinary team to increase the visibility of women’s work in the institution. This resulted in 2022’s Women on Paper, which brought together prints, photographs and drawings from artists including Berthe Morisot, Julia Margaret Cameron and Gesina ter Borch. That same year, nine Barbara Hepworth sculptures formed a solo exhibition for the British artist in the museum’s gardens. Last year, Fiona Tan showed her own work in dialogue with the institution’s existing collection in an examination of monomania and mental health. The museum has also established the Women in the Museum symposium series.

The Museo Nacional del Prado didn’t stage a solo female exhibition until 2016’s The Art of Clara Peeters, about the 17th-century still life artist, following this with a joint show dedicated to the 16th-century painters Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana in 2019. However, in recent years the institution has made a real effort to highlight the role of women in its collections, not only as artists but as promoters and key figures.

The Female Perspective project spans research, documentation, exhibitions, publications, audiovisuals, education, digital development, communication and international collaboration. The initiative is described on the museum’s website as “a shift in perspective”, reclaiming female artists’ work that had been attributed to men and reinterpreting religious and mythological scenes from the women’s point of view.

In December, the Prado will open its first major exhibition dedicated to a woman as an artistic patron. Using around 100 artworks, Mariana de Austria will examine how the queen’s image was produced, promoted and disseminated during the 17th century.

The fellowship programme is scheduled to begin in September 2027 and will focus on women’s position in the Habsburg Empire, emphasising shared aspects of the Dutch and Spanish elements of the dynasty. Recruitment for the role begins next month, and the fellow will be able to conduct research in the Rijksmuseum and the Museo Nacional del Prado, as well as contributing to exhibitions developed under the partnership.

The 2029 Rijksmuseum exhibition will examine how art was displayed and perceived during the reigns of Margaret of Austria, Mary of Hungary and Margaret of Parma, who between them governed the Netherlands for almost 60 years during the 16th century.