Two documentaries about immigrant women artists to watch today

These free screenings shed light on the extraordinary lives of creative women in the face of adversity

In honor of Cuban-born artist Carmen Herrera’s birthday, the documentary The 100 years Show is available for free streaming today. From Cuba to New York and Paris, Herrera’s life has spanned continents and art movements. Her hard-edged canvases emerged at the same time that Ellsworth Kelly, whose period in France overlapped with Herrera’s in the 1950s. She also started making her abstractions when Frank Stella began doing his famed black paintings. Differently from her male peers, celebrated by their innovative approach, she did not find a welcoming reception in New York City, where she has been living since 1954. As both a woman and an immigrant, Herrera faced a great deal of discrimination. Yet she persisted, and continued to paint for the next six decades, rarely exhibiting her work publicly. She sold her first painting in 2004, at 89. Since then, she has been was the subject of major art shows and is finally getting recognition.

Another artist being honored this weekend is Eva Hesse, the German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics in the 1960s. In memoriam of her death 50 years ago, the documentary Eva Hesse celebrates Hesse’s enduring relevance and and her path from Hamburg, in Germany, to New York City. Along with her sister, she escaped Nazi Germany in one of the last Kindertransport trains. She eventually settled into Manhattan’s Washington Heights and, later on, had a far-reaching career in the 1960s and beyond, as a pioneer of post-minimalism in sculpture and drawing.

Watch the documentary EVA HESSE now.