Paint him out: Katy Hessel’s retelling of art history is Waterstones book of the year
Katy Hessel’s The Story of Art Without Men, which began as an Instagram account highlighting female artists, has been named Waterstones book of the year.
The book was chosen by the retailer’s booksellers, who vote each year for the books they have most enjoyed recommending to customers. As well as book of the year, they also named Bonnie Garmus, who wrote Lessons in Chemistry, as author of the year, and awarded children’s book of the year to Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by AF Steadman.
Hessel is an art historian, presenter and curator who set up @thegreatwomenartists on Instagram after visiting an art fair and realising she would struggle to name 20 female artists. She also presents The Great Woman Artists podcast and writes the great women’s art bulletin, a fortnightly column in the Guardian.
Kate Skipper, Waterstones’ chief operating officer, called The Story of Art Without Men “as essential as it is enjoyable” and said it was “written with wit and ease” and could be “devoured in one sitting or dipped into on a whim”.
“This is a book which will be prized for years to come; a feast for the senses, as well as the mind,” she added.
Hessel said she was “completely overwhelmed” at being awarded Waterstones Book of the Year, but said it was “a testament to all the stories, the untold stories” in her book. “I often think of my book as a kind of party, all these amazing people who have fought everything to be there, and for it to be recognised on this scale is just incredible,” she added.
The book’s title is modelled on The Story of Art by EH Gombrich, a survey of the history of art which was first published in 1950. It didn’t feature any women in its first edition, and its most recent edition includes only one.
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Reviewing Hessel’s book for the Observer, Bidisha Mamata said it was a “positive, beautifully written corrective” and should “become a founding text in the history of art by women”.
“We live in such a culturally, socially, politically changing time,” said Hessel. “For millennia, women have been oppressed and I think it’s so important we make these corrections.
“The goal is for equality; it’s not to shun men out of our history at all. The book does that in a way that’s just celebrating the women. I think we’re in this really culturally interesting time when we have to go overboard in order to make equality and have equality in the future.”
The book covers artists from across the world and, says Hessel, “breaks down the canon in terms of gender, but it also breaks down the canon in terms of the hierarchy of art forms, so we have things like pottery, textile, weaving, sculpture, everything”.
Meanwhile, Bea Carvalho, head of fiction at Waterstones, said Garmus was recognised as author of the year for “the astronomical success of her wonderful debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry”.
The novel is about chemist Elizabeth Zott, who hosts a cooking show that dares women to change the status quo. “Bonnie has written that rare novel which readers of all tastes will adore: funny yet furious, uplifting yet heartbreaking, it is a deft slice of social history, and a triumphant testament to the craft of fiction writing which underlines how powerful and joyful the genre can be,” said Carvalho.
The children’s book of the year, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, is the first in a series and follows Skandar Smith, who has only ever wanted to be a unicorn rider.
Florentyna Martin, head of children’s at Waterstones, said AF Steadman’s book was a “lively and original debut” that with its “fierce unicorn creations and impressive combinations of elemental magic successfully plays with readers’ expectations of the traditional fantasy adventure, shaking up the next wave of storytelling”.
