The Misogynists

A riveting exploration of six giants of modern art, revealing how misogynistic beliefs shaped their work and smuggled dangerous ideas into museums worldwide

A Publishers Weekly Top 10 Art Book for Fall 2026, and one of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2026

Delacroix, Courbet, Degas, Renoir, Gauguin, and Picasso have long been considered essential figures in the history of modern art. But these six men were also unrepentant misogynists. In The Misogynists, art historian and professor Allison Leigh delves deep into the lives of these figures to show how they truly felt about women, how those beliefs worked their way into their art, and how these facts have been brushed aside by collectors, curators, and critics.

These six were wildly influential artists in their time and remain widely known—and loved—today. Their paintings are the jewels of permanent collections in the world's most important art museums, and you can find reproductions of their works on all manner of merchandise, from T-shirts and socks to magnets and phone cases. They also exploited and degraded women in ways that shocked their contemporaries. And their sexist views infused the artworks, allowing dangerous ideas about women’s proper roles and overall value to pervade our temples of culture. 

Blending extensive research and intense observation, and drawing on letters, contemporary criticism, scholarly biographies, and the work of gender theorists, psychologists, and philosophers, Leigh crafts a thoroughly readable, engrossing mixture of historical narrative, art criticism, and social analysis. The Misogynists is an essential reconsideration of the modern canon and the narratives that continue to shape how we see—and value—art today.