A Phillips Woman on Women Artists: Racquel Keller

13In honor of Women’s History Month and The National Museum of Women in the Arts #5WomenArtists challenge, we’re highlighting some of the spectacular women on our staff and the female artists who inspire them.

Racquel Keller, Museum Shop Supervisor, Art Instructor, and Working Artist

Do you have a favorite woman artist from The Phillips Collection, or a favorite female artist whose work has been on display at the museum? 

RK: One of my favorite women artists from The Phillips Collection is Sally Mann. I love the element of southern gothic storytelling that her black and white landscape photographs evoke and am always glad to see Untitled (From “America Now & Here: Photography Portfolio 2009”) on our gallery walls. 

Who is your all-time favorite female artist? Do you remember the first time you saw her work? How does she inspire you? 

RK: Wow…my all-time favorite female artist? There are so many amazing women artists that it is hard to choose. I will say that Käthe Kollwitz is the one whom without fail seems to reach out of the paper and grab me. Every single time I see one of her works I am freshly taken in by the raw, stark emotion laid bare for the world to see. When I look at her work I think she must have been someone who could not have survived life without creating. I can’t remember the exact first time that I saw her work, but I remember being awestruck by the power and self-assured nature of her hand. Until that time, the only examples of women artists that I had been exposed to were artists who painted softer subjects such as domestic scenes. Kollwitz’s sure hand inspires me to approach every work with clarity and confidence. 

Name five women artists: 

RK: Louise Bourgeois 

Sarah Bernhardt 

Maria Sibylla Merian 

Francesca Woodman 

Kara Walker