This letter is from painter and activist Nancy Spero (1926-2009) to critic and activist Lucy R. Lippard (b. 1937), October, 29, 1971. Find it in the Lucy R. Lippard papers, http://s.si.edu/2lTFSll and also browse the Nancy Spero papers, http://s.si.edu/2mdxKgy.

Perhaps you've heard of Lucy Lippard? On International Women's Day, we're remembering her historic 1971 exhibition 'Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists' at @thealdrich which has been reimagined in this exhibition catalog featuring 23 of the artists included in the original 1971 exhibition alongside a new roster of 26 female-identifying or nonbinary emerging artists, tracking the evolution of feminist art practices over the past five decades.⁠ ⁠ First generation artists include: Cecile Abish, Alice Aycock, Cynthia Carlson, Susan Hall, Mary Heilmann, Audrey Hemenway, Laurace James, Mablen Jones, Carol Kinne, Christine Kozlov, Brenda Miller, Mary Miss, Dona Nelson, Shirley Pettibone, Howardena Pindell, Adrian Piper, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Reeva Potoff, Paula Tavins, Merrill Wagner, Grace Bakst Wapner, Jackie Winsor and Barbara Zucker. ⁠ ⁠ New generation artists incluede: Leilah Babirye, Phoebe Berglund, LaKela Brown, Lea Cetera, Susan Chen, Pamela Council, Lizania Cruz, Amaryllis DeJesus Moleski, Florencia Escudero, Alanna Fields, Emilie L. Gossiaux, Ilana Harris-Babou, Loie Hollowell, Maryam Hoseini, Hannah Levy, Catalina Ouyang, Anna Park, Erin M. Riley, LJ Roberts, Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, Aliza Shvarts, Astrid Terrazas, Tourmaline, Rachel Eulena Williams, Kiyan Williams and Stella Zhong.⁠ ⁠ Read more via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ #52artists #internationalwomensday #feminism #lucylippard #26artists #twentysixartists #feministart #womenshistory #womenshistorymonth https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpi4pOAuini/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hello to the cerebral booklovers among us! '52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone' — with text by Lucy Lippard, @amy_smithstewart & @alixschwartz — is a must-have for any serious art book library, and not a bad gift for the feminists on your holiday list.⁠ ⁠ Published by @gregoryrmiller to accompany the exhibition on view through January 8 at @thealdrich this is the definitive account of Lucy Lippard’s pioneering 1971 feminist art exhibition, with work from a new generation of artists alongside the original participants.⁠ ⁠ Featured today @hyperallergic⁠ Read more about the book via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ #52artistsafeministmilestone #26artists #feministart #lucylippard #52artists https://www.instagram.com/p/CmbxjN6uEmX/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

'52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone' curator @alixschwartz writes on the inspiration for the current exhibition: the fifty-first anniversary of the historic show 'Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists' —once hailed as the first feminist exhibition in the US and curated by Lucy R. Lippard — presented at @thealdrich in 1971. ⁠ ⁠ "What does it mean to reconstruct a historical exhibition, especially one as poorly documented as 'Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists'? To start, history has traditionally favored the powerful, but scholars have a responsibility to excavate its hidden corners, with the goal of forging a more inclusive picture of what happened and what it means. There is also much to be learned from how revolutionary thinkers formulate their ideas, and Lippard has explained that the process of organizing 'Twenty Six' helped her develop what she calls her 'feminist consciousness.' As for the artists, this exhibition offered a big break, and they uniformly speak of the critical role Lippard played in their lives and careers. Last but certainly not least, Lippard and her 26 artists supported each other and their work when few others would, proving that change — artistic, social, political — starts from the ground up."⁠ ⁠ Read more @hyperallergic via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ Exhibition catalog published by @gregoryrmiller⁠ ⁠ @amy_smithstewart @alixschwartz #52artistsafeministmilestone #26artists #feministart #lucylippard #52artists https://www.instagram.com/p/CmZPgd8OtqH/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

This week’s print: True Love. I have been thinking about art theorist Lucy Lippard’s statement “the viewer is used to focusing on details and absorbing an impression . . . with the help of these details.” What happens when things get a lot simpler? Is it ironically more complex? Harder to engage? #artmatters #tccolumbiauniversity #lucylippard (at Dutchess County, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjIjaYBuSja/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

This summer has proven a somber time for reflection on five decades of the feminist movement, given the US Supreme Court’s decision to reverse the constitutional protection of abortion rights this past June. That same month, @thealdrich offered a more empowering commemoration of the heyday of women’s liberation: '52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone' revisits the institution’s 1971 show 'Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists,' once hailed the first feminist exhibition in the United States. ⁠ ⁠ Organized by Lucy Lippard, 'Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists' presented the work of women who had not previously had solo shows. This revival presentation, organized by the museum’s chief curator, @amy_smithstewart and independent curator @alixschwartz expands Lippard’s roster—of mostly white, all cis-female artists—with a more diverse list of 26 additional female-identifying and nonbinary artists born in or after 1980. The comparative demographics are indicative of the past half-century of increasingly intersectional curatorial priorities, though the organizers don’t shy away from acknowledging the complexities and blind spots of feminist politics in both periods.…⁠ ⁠ Read the full @artinamerica review by @wendylvogel via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ Exhibition catalog releasing December 2022 from @gregoryrmiller⁠ ⁠ #52artistsafeministmilestone #26artists #feministart #lucylippard #52artists https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci24bTVJX9U/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A remarkable feature on a remarkable show, on view now @thealdrich ⁠ ⁠ @annbinlot writes: "In 1970, protesters descended on the Whitney Museum of American Art to demand that its (overwhelmingly male) Annual exhibit at least 50 percent works by women, and that half of those women are Black. The Ad Hoc Women’s Art Committee — which included artists Faith Ringgold, Poppy Johnson, and Brenda Miller, along with critic Lucy Lippard — had a sit-in at the museum, and placed tampons and eggs bearing the message “fifty percent” around the site.⁠ ⁠ For Lippard, it didn’t end there. The next year, in 1971, the activist, art critic, and curator organized the groundbreaking exhibition “Twenty Six Contemporary Women Artists” at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut. “I took on this show because I knew there were many women artists whose work was as good or better than that currently being shown, but who, because of the prevailingly discriminatory policies of most galleries and museums, can rarely get anyone to visit their studios or take them as seriously as their male counterparts,” wrote Lippard in the exhibition catalogue. Current Aldrich senior curator Amy Smith-Stewart adds, “Women artists had no visibility in the art world in 1971. Their voices had been silenced, excised, and expunged for centuries.”⁠ ⁠ Fifty-one years later and five years in the making, the Aldrich revisits that pivotal exhibition with “52 Artists: A Feminist Milestone.” On view through January 8, 2023, the new iteration features 26 female and nonbinary New York–based artists born in or after 1980 alongside the original 26 artists."⁠ ⁠ Read the full review via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ Exhibition catalog published by @gregoryrmiller⁠ ⁠ Text by Lucy Lippard, Amy Smith-Stewart, Alexandra Schwartz.⁠ ⁠ #52artists #feministartists #lucylippard #26contemporarywomenartists https://www.instagram.com/p/Celx946uD9A/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

TOMORROW, Tuesday, January 26 at 1PM EST! Paula Cooper Gallery and 192 Books present Marja Bloem, Lucy R. Lippard, Jo Melvin and Lauren van Haaften-Schick, discussing the new book 'Seth Siegelaub: Better Read Than Dead: Writings and Interviews 1964–2013.' The conversation will be live-streamed on PCG Studio (see linkinbio). There is no login or rsvp required. A recording will be posted shortly afterwards. During the broadcast, please email your questions to [email protected].⁠⠀ ⁠⠀ @paulacoopergallery @192books @marjabloem8888 @lucylippard666 @drjomelvin @laurenvhs #sethsiegelaub #lucylippard #lucyrlippard https://www.instagram.com/p/CKe2AkXJcRo/?igshid=1ccdrtcx844ju