Whitney Chadwick's book is one of the most comprehensive works on art history from the Middle Ages to the present, examined through a feminist lens. It examines women who chose painting, sculpture, or related fields as professions, as well as the ideologies that shaped women's creativity and its representation. Chadwick traces the evolution of art (and art criticism) as a narrative, initially aimed at men and relegating women to the role of mere objects, and then evolving into contemporary art history, where the artist plays the role of independent creator. This edition is supplemented by a concluding chapter on the development of feminist art theory from the 1970s to the 2010s.