Cicely Kirby-Smith

Although you may be unfamiliar with the term ‘photomontage’, you’ve likely come across it, or unknowingly participated in creating one. The term ‘collage’ has a much wider reach — and, though the two art forms are related, photomontage refers to a collage that solely uses images, as opposed to a wider ensemble of mixed materials.

In 1971, feminist art historian Linda Nochlin posed the rather provocative question, ‘Why Have There Been No Great Woman Artists?’. The term ‘Great’ is crucial in both the essay’s title and contents, as Nochlin was not outright denying the existence of women artists, but instead questioning why, in the history of art, women artists hadn’t been hailed as ‘Great’ in much the same way as their male counterparts. Throughout the essay, the term ‘Great’ slides into synonymity with ‘Genius’, which...