Modernism Wears a New Face at Frieze Masters, Women Rewrite the Canvas

For decades, art history’s story of modernism has leaned heavily on European men, but Frieze Masters is flipping the script. This year, the French nonprofit AWARE carved out a dedicated space called “Modern Women,” spotlighting ten remarkable female artists who worked between 1880 and 1980. Their works reveal a 20th century shaped by far more than the usual suspects. AWARE’s curators chose artists whose careers challenge the old narrative—some were celebrated in their time, only to be sidelined later. Themes like abstraction and the female gaze run through the booths: Anna-Eva Bergman’s shimmering landscapes and Vera Molnár’s computer-driven experiments push the boundaries of form, while Faith Ringgold and Maria Lai use textiles to question the line between art and craft. Self-portraits and intimate scenes by Ethel Walker, Émilie Charmy, and Lisetta Carmi invite viewers to see women through women’s eyes, shifting the conversation on gender and visibility. In this gallery of rediscovery, forgotten brilliance steps back into the light, quietly redrawing the map of modern art. #WomenInArt #ModernismRevisited #FriezeMasters #Culture