Six centuries of history through the eyes of women from the Museum Gouda collection. More than 30 milestones marking the ongoing ebb and flow of women’s emancipation. These stories, often forgotten or hidden, are told in “Unheard – Collected Women.”
In 2024, curator Jorien Soepboer conducted research on more than thirty women featured in the Museum Gouda collection. From the daring Countess Jacoba of Bavaria and the pioneering calligrapher Maria Strick, to the influential artist Charley Toorop, glass engraver Johanna Breebaart, who used her talents to support the 19th-century women’s rights movement, and the contemporary Gouda-based artist Rkia Majourhate.
Gaps in a Man’s World
From housewives to artists, women have always played an undeniable role, despite the limited recognition they received in their time. Women across all social strata enjoyed considerable independence in the early modern period, yet they left few tangible traces behind. In the archives, most women are referred to solely as housewives, wives, mothers, or daughters of a man. How did they position themselves in a world often dominated by men?
Women's Work
In the wake of the French Revolution of 1789 and the Enlightenment, women temporarily gained more freedom, but a conservative backlash followed in the 19th century. Women were explicitly confined to the domestic sphere. This inequality led to the first tangible women's rights movement in the late 19th century, resulting in women's suffrage.
’s Waves of Emancipation Between the two world wars, a new era seemed to have dawned. Women were making inroads into politics, science, music, and literature. But in the 1950s, women were once again confined en masse to the ideal image of the graceful wife behind the kitchen sink. This led to a second wave of feminism in the late 1960s. As director of Museum Gouda, Josine de Bruyn Kops (1940–1987) played a significant role; she was the first to implement a feminist policy and acquire works by female artists.
Courtesy of
The research on the women in the Museum Gouda collection was made possible by the Curators’ Grant from the Cultuurfonds.
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