Forward Vision

Annie Leibovitz turns her lens on eight of the most influential female artists of our time.

- By Thelma Golden

CINDY SHERMAN At home in Long Island, New York

IN THE TITLE of her seminal 1971 essay, art historian Linda Nochlin posed a question that would challenge the art world fundamentally: Why have there been no great women artists?” A rhetorical question, but no less profound for the way it pushed us to acknowledge the great omissions of art history. Of course there had been great women artists.

SIMONE LEIGH In her studio in Brooklyn

Through the work of pioneering scholars, courageous curators, and brave institutions, we have benefited froma radical re-envisioning of art history that laid bare profound exclusions. This work of a generation has given the opportunity to celebrate those women whose presence and practice were forgotten, to honor their contributions, and to acknowledge these artists who've paved the way for reinvention and reimagination.