The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is shedding light on the baroque art of painter Michaelina Wautier (circa 1614-1689) through an exceptional exhibition running from September 30 through February 22, 2026. The retrospective brings together approximately thirty works by her hand, some of which have never been displayed publicly before. Nicknamed the 'Flemish Artemisia Gentileschi,' the painter was admired during her lifetime by Brussels' high society before falling into obscurity for several centuries.
This landmark event finally does justice to a virtuoso artist who defied the conventions of her time. The Viennese museum is dedicating an unprecedented retrospective to Michaelina Wautier, assembling virtually all of her identified works to date, several of which have never been exhibited. Organized in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the exhibition benefits from exceptional loans from international institutions and private collections.
The exhibition pathway highlights the diversity of the artist's body of work, including biblical scenes, mythological subjects, portraits, and still lifes, while revealing her subtle sense of humor. Among the standout pieces, the series "The Five Senses" (1650) captivates viewers with its children's amusing and endearing expressions, demonstrating the Flemish painter's precision of observation and sensitivity.
"Michaelina Wautier is one of the most important rediscoveries in art history. The Kunsthistorisches Museum is presenting works that have been neglected or wrongly attributed to others for centuries," emphasizes Jonathan Fine, the museum's director general. The exhibition creates a dialogue between Wautier's work and that of her contemporaries, from Van Dyck to Rubens, illuminating the reasons behind these erroneous attributions. After centuries of oblivion, the baroque painter finally seems to be awakening from her long slumber.
Michaelina Wautier indeed fell into obscurity shortly after her death in 1689, having not painted any works since 1659. This thirty-year silence, still unexplained, likely contributed to her gradual erasure from art history. Over time, several of her canvases were attributed to great masters of Flemish art whose style evoked her luminous and vibrant touch.
"The Triumph of Bacchus" (1659), her masterpiece, could not, according to many scholars, be attributed to a woman: the classical references were deemed too learned, and the male anatomy too finely rendered to be the work of a female artist deprived of living models. Notably, the missing parts of the painting have been restored at the end of the exhibition using artificial intelligence.
Wautier's rediscovery began in the 1960s when curators at the Kunsthistorisches Museum undertook meticulous research and comparison of works, though this remained limited to a restricted circle of specialists. It wasn't until the 2000s that her art began to gain recognition from the general public, notably thanks to the work of Belgian art historian Katlijne van der Stighelen. Van der Stighelen organized the first exhibition dedicated to the artist in Antwerp in 2018, whose market value continues to rise in the art market. The Viennese retrospective now stands as the culmination of a patiently constructed rediscovery.
Born around 1614 into an educated and wealthy family, Michaelina Wautier settled in Brussels in the 1640s alongside her brother Charles, also a painter. At a time when women were excluded from official artistic training, she nevertheless managed to establish herself in the city's intellectual circles and produce a highly diverse body of work.
While she excelled in still lifes, she did not hesitate to transgress the norms of her time by tackling biblical and mythological subjects. She created sumptuous religious compositions, such as "The Education of the Virgin" (1656), combining psychological acuity, spiritual depth, and technical virtuosity. Wautier proudly signed her works with her full name, sometimes adding the mention "invenit et fecit" (conceived and executed) – a bold gesture in an era when female creativity was often obscured.
At the height of her career, she represented herself with brushes and palette in hand in a "Self-Portrait" (circa 1650), in which her frank and determined gaze proudly establishes her status as an accomplished artist. The exhibition "Michaelina Wautier - Painter" continues at the Kunsthistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresien-Platz in Vienna, Austria, through February 22, 2026.
