ABSTRACT
In the New York City art world of the early 1940s, Peggy Guggenheim hosted a number of extraordinary shows at her gallery, Art of This Century. Guggenheim had developed an eye for modern art while living in Europe throughout the 1920s and '30s. In a press release Guggenheim declared that the show was designed to dispel misconceptions about women. The critical attention garnered by the Exhibition of 31 Women paved the way for a second show in 1945, simply called The Women, which Peggy Guggenheim organized herself. Agreeing to be included in Guggenheim's women-only shows was based primarily on the artists' desire to be associated with this renowned gallery. These women were coming of age during a profoundly transitional time, in which a combination of the changing political climate, the termination of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and the influx and influence of the European vanguard had decisively altered the direction of American art.
