Feminist Walking Tour Düsseldorf

08/01/2025

Boots on! Time to hit the streets and learn about the women who have shaped this city.

If you've ever wondered whether this tour is for you I suggest that you use a test one of the previous participants did. Ask yourself how many famous Düsseldorf women you can name (you can post in comments if you like!).

Clara Schumann
Mutter Ey

Who else???

Sign up for the tour at www.fionaleonard.com/feminist-walking-tour

09/11/2024

I’ve been thinking a lot about how the narrative persists that there weren’t that many working female artists throughout history. While it’s true that women had to work harder than men to be accepted, that doesn’t mean they weren’t there.

Born in Frankfurt in 1858, Eugenie Bandell struggled to find an art school that would grant her admission, eventually seeking out private tuition in Hanau where she studied from 1887 - 1898. Her work evolved from the darker style represented by the above self portrait (1894) a brighter more colourful style that evoked the Japanese artists of the time whose influence was evident in Europe at the time.

From 1903 onwards she rented her own studio and worked as a freelance artist, exhibiting widely across Germany, occasionally drawing on the door opening power of a male pseudonym ‘Eugen Bandell’.

She was an active member of female art collectives at the time who were advocating for greater opportunities for women artists in terms of both training and exhibitions.

She died in April 1918.

The bulk of her works was destroyed during a bombing raid of Frankfurt in 1944. Several of Bandell’s remaining works were featured in the Städel | Frauen exhibition in Frankfurt. More information about the exhibition can be found here: https://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/staedel-women

08/11/2024

I recently had the opportunity to see the Städel | Frauen exhibition in Frankfurt which profiled women artists between Frankfurt and Paris around 1900. This was truly one of the most beautiful exhibitions I have ever seen; superbly curated and featuring a phenomenal array of talent.

This exhibition was a reminder of how many women there have been throughout history who were working artists - selling and exhibiting their work at the highest levels. That you haven’t heard of them is a reflection on the gatekeepers who have kept their work out of the public eye, not on the artists themselves.

Included in the exhibition was Helene von Beckerath, a sculptor and painter who trained in Düsseldorf. Born in Krefeld in 1872, von Beckerath studied painting in Düsseldorf with Theodor Rochell before leaving for Paris where she worked both as a painter and sculptor including creating a piece for the Paris World Expo. Throughout her career she exhibited in both Germany and Paris. She died in Frankfurt at the age of 74.

More information about the exhibition can be found here: https://www.staedelmuseum.de/en/staedel-women

12/10/2024

I had the immense good fortune of seeing the exhibition of Camille Claudel at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. It’s wonderful to see the conversation around her work being separated from “student of Rodin” to her being seen as a phenomenal artist in her own right. But also devastating to read about Claudel being committed to an institution by her family and left there for 30 years despite her doctors writing to say that she didn’t need to be there.

A new exhibition of Claudel’s work will be staged next year at the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin from 06.06.25-28.09.25.

10/10/2024

Well, it’s been a while. I’ve been head down writing a book and touring a play and the walking tours have been on the shelf but now things are quieter and I’m back! I’ll be doing a tour on October 27th at 10am. To book follow the link in bio.

06/09/2024

Imagine if there was a museum just dedicated to women artists! I mean, would there even be enough art to fi...

Discover the FAMM, the first museum in Europe dedicated to women artists. Located in the picturesque village of Mougins, this unique museum showcases over 100 works by more than 80 artists from around the world. Explore the diverse artistic journey from the 19th century to today, highlighting the vi...

07/05/2024

If you fancy a stroll and the chance to learn about the amazing women who have helped to shape Düsseldorf, I'll be back out on the streets in a couple of weeks with the Feminist Walking Tour Düsseldorf

For the sake of clarity - yes men are allowed to come along, because a) the tour is open to everyone, b) men can be feminists, c) you don't have to consider yourself a feminist to take the tour (I'm happy to do the feministing for you).

The Feminist Walking Tour introduces participants to 30 women from all different walks of life including politics, art, business and popular culture. The tour also explores how the stories that we tell about our history help to shape the way we understand the world. And it encourages participants to

19/04/2024

Public art is something we talk about on the tour. Once you get to know the street artists working in your city then you start living in an art gallery.

17/04/2024

Such a joy to host a tour for the team from Amazing women challenging the way that society talks about Menopause and older women in general.

22/03/2024

Have you read this book? Please read this book. If you want to understand why the world is the way it is, then this book is a must. The world *gestures wildly* makes so much more sense now…

Huge thanks to Elinor Cleghorn for the phenomenal amount of research that has gone into the making of this book.

16/03/2024

Düsseldorf's own, Anne of Cleves, has returned to the walls of the Louvre after a beautiful restoration of Hans Holbein's portrait.

08/03/2024

If you take away one thing from all of the messages being posted on International Women's Day, let it be this one. If you value democracy, this is the graph you need to understand. Around the world there is a drastic divide by gender in terms of who votes conservative. Most notably, this is happening in voters under 30. The demographic of "increasingly conservative voters" is "Men".

Specifically:

* women aged 18 to 30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than their male contemporaries.

* Germany also now shows a 30-point gap between increasingly conservative young men and progressive female contemporaries

* in the UK the gap is 25 points

* In Poland last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 backed the hard-right Confederation party, compared to just a sixth of young women of the same age.

The report also cites - Korea, China and Tunisia. Same story.

Ever wonder why conservative governments crack down on women's rights?

You can read the full article here: https://www.ft.com/content/29fd9b5c-2f35-41bf-9d4c-994db4e12998

04/03/2024

if you see nothing else this year, please go and see this exhibition at K20. Hilma af Klint is an absolute legend. I saw this exhibition last year at the Tate Modern in London and it was superb. I actually had one of my favourite ever exhibition moments, when a woman walked into one of the exhibition rooms gasped and then threw her arms out wide as if to embrace every picture on display. It was one of the most spontaneous, joyous things I've ever seen.

In case you've never heard of her, af Klint is a Swedish artist who was one of the first great abstract artists - a contemporary of Mondrian and Kandinsky. Her works explore deep spiritualism and feature a rich and unique visual language. She died in 1944 and had requested in her will that her work not be exhibited until 20 years after her death. It wasn't until the mid 1980s that her work gained international recognition.

03/03/2024

Gorgeous Sunday out walking the Altstadt in Düsseldorf including a stop at the newly refurbished Schumann Haus. So lovely to see the renovations and the new mural which puts Clara front and centre!

29/02/2024

This is such a lovely story. While Felix was touring the world, (and landing his first paid job in Düsseldorf) his very talented sister was forbidden from performing outside the public home or publishing under her own name. So good to see her finally getting the recognition she deserves.

Sheila Hayman uncovers the story of the pioneering composer whose talent was overshadowed by her brother Felix due to a long history of sexism in the classical music world

24/02/2024

Given that I’ve been running the Feminist Walking Tours for two years now, I thought I would go looking for a couple of new women to add to the collection. In the course of my research I came across this book which is an absolute treasure trove of women I had never heard of. It’s so wonderful that out of the 30 women I cover, there were only about four overlaps. So you can come on my tour AND buy this book! It’s available from the Thalia website and I guess from Mayersche bookstores.

The next walking tour will be held on 10 March. Places still available. You can book your place here: https://www.fionaleonard.com/feminist-walking-tour

11/02/2024

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the health department advising that my biannual mammogram had been booked for me...at 7pm on Valentines Day. My first response was to be pissy that the German Govt didn't consider that I might already have plans (I don't but still...). But then I started thinking about how getting a mammogram was a pretty decent act of love towards both myself and those I care about. And all in all, not a bad way to spend a small chunk of that day.

So, as an act of love, may I humbly suggest that this year, if you're looking around for a Valentine's Day gift for your loved ones, you schedule a screening for your cancer of choice - breast/colon/prostate etc.

And maybe if you're feeling particularly inspired, throw a small donation at an organisation like Love Your Sister that is doing good work trying to keep your loved ones alive so you get to see them next Valentine's Day. ❤

With love...