Alexa Greist - Böcker

Winner, Canadian Museums Association Award for Outstanding Achievement (Research) Winner, Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender Collaborative Project Award Second Prize Winner, Alcuin Society Book Design Awards (Prose Illustrated) Silver Medal Winner, IPPY Award (Fine Arts) Honorable Mention, George Wittenborn Memorial Book Award Gathering together just over 250 objects, including paintings, prints, scientific illustrations, textiles, sculpture, metalwork and furniture, Making Her Mark illuminates the astonishing diversity and breadth of women's contributions to art of the pre-modern era (c. 1400–1800). In this important re-examination of early modern European art, an international team of scholars and curators assess the critical concepts that have shaped Western culture’s understanding of what constitutes great art. In its recalibration of gender imbalances, this impressive volume offers an alternative view of the history of European art and sheds light on the collaborative nature of the creation of individual works and the interconnected histories of literature, politics, religion, science, and economics. Ambitious in its scope, Making Her Mark is a bold corrective to the historical assumption that female artists of the past were rare and that their work was unremarkable. The result is a dynamic introduction to scores of women artists whose names are entirely new and a long-overdue reassessment of the art, culture, and history of early modern Europe.

Second Prize Winner, Alcuin Society Book Design Awards (Pictorial)One of Canada’s best-known printmakers, David Blackwood (1941–2022) put onto paper an enduring vision of Newfoundland, where he was born and raised. His hauntingly beautiful images draw from personal and communal memory, local tradition, and dreams and legends to capture a way of life that had already begun to vanish during his youth. Tracing Blackwood’s career from his days as an art student at the Ontario College of Art to his final drawing, David Blackwood: Myth & Legend brings together more than eighty drawings and prints, alongside proofs, copperplates, and archival materials to provide a unique insight into Blackwood’s creative process. Essays by AGO curator Alexa Greist and Amy Marshall Furness, the archivist who has stewarded the acquisition of Blackwood’s extensive personal archives, round out the volume. This stunning combination of work spans Blackwood’s entire career and reveals the creative evolution of one of Newfoundland’s, and Canada’s, most beloved artists.David Blackwood: Myth & Legend accompanies a retrospective exhibition at the AGO opening in October 2025. Touring dates and locations to be announced.