Women in the basement: How female artists were systematically underestimated 100 years ago

Her gaze goes into the distance, she seems a bit tired, but still upright and unbroken, that’s how Marianne Fiedler painted the “Portrait of a Black Woman” in 1889. The picture is captivating because of its strength and heaviness, its beauty and objectivity. Even Käthe Kollwitz expressed admiration for Marianne Fiedler, with whom she had studied together. In 1894, Fiedler was one of the first women to f…