The common credential for being a famous artist as always been being both white and male, oh and preferably deceased.
Throughout history whenever women have been present in art spaces, they have been scantily clad, draped over soft furnishing, behind an easel as a utility for titillation.
Before jumping right in I would like to share with you who I regard as some of the most exciting female artists:
· Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Nigerian 1983-)
· Lynette Yiadom Boakye (UK 1977-)
· Deborah Roberts (USA 1962-)
(From Left to right)
· Tamara Natile Madden (Jamaica 1975-)
· Margaret Keane (USA 1977 - 2022)
· Yayoi Kusama (Japan 1929-)
(From left to right)
Whenever the topic of fair representation is raised, I hear well-reasoned voices saying, ‘there’s just simply not enough women in art’, It’s purely happenstance and ‘women sadly are not applying to the art courses’. Well…let’s take a look at that shall we.
According to Freelands Foundation, supporters of art education and researches; 63% of undergraduates are women and 66% postgraduates are in creative design arts and design. So surely with these figures it would mean women have a vast presence in our galleries or at least on equal measure to their male peers…Right?... Wrong!
According to a joint investigation by Artnet News and In Other Words, in 2018, a total of 260,470 works of art have entered the museums’ permanent collections since 2008. Only 29,247 were by women.
However, the greater concern is despite, public acknowledgement to this disparity and announcements to embrace alternative histories and working on fair representation within their galleries, there have been few advances made—The number of works by women acquired did not increase over time. In fact, it peaked a decade ago. So, in other words the shameful 2008 stats shared above were in fact progression.
Yet the sad story gets grimmer when we look at the intersectionality of black female artists. The minimal overlap between the two studies reveals the extent to which African American women are badly served by museums: they made up just 3.3 percent (190 of 5,832) of the total number of female artists whose work was collected by US institutions.
Alongside these disheartening figures, some good news has occurred. Jenny Savile sold her 1992 painting ‘Propped’ for £9.5m three times the estimated value making it the highest painting sold for a living female artist. Not to dampen the rapturous applause in your mind's ear, but many say the moment was not given the celebration it was deserving of and was over shadowed by the sale of Banksy’s ‘Girl with a Balloon canvas self-destructs’ sold for £1.04m.
Unfortunately, for Savile, the fanfare of the painting slipping through the frame then shredding to piece was a social media hit. Saville’s accomplishment was diminished to a mere footnote. Just when you think you have an angle on the unfair rules of the game, the game changes.
Artnet News reported 1 in 10 artists represented in galleries in Europe and North America are women the top 10 most expensive paintings sold in history are painted by men. I am going to step out on a limb and see if it will break… Could we be looking at institutional sexism. Yes, I said it. While a percentage of readers clutch on to their proverbial pearls, I think I will explore this further.
It wasn’t until 1860 that The Royal Academy of Arts allowed the admission of women and this surprise submission was just that. Laura Herford submitted her work under the name of LH and the assumption was that she was a man. It being tricky to row back, meant that Laura Herford opened the door for other females to enter. Although the door was a merely ajar it was the beginning. To throw a further spanner in the works two of the 36 founders of The RA were women. The presence of that silent minority is a problem in itself, as it only gives cover to the nefarious intension of the true power.
So, has the ongoing practice of ‘men only’ created a legacy when it comes to representation within our galleries and is a course correction the way forward? Without the course corection is it even possible to achieve a levelling up?
DOES THIS ALL MATTER?
Between 2008 and 2019 the total sale of art was 196.6 billion, 4 billion of which was created by women, just 2%. Even more shocking, this 4 billion was generated only by five artists.
Francis Morris director of the Tate Modern said, - “We really have to stop celebrating creativity depending on how it is monetised by the art market”
It is this qualified celebration which has, and is, inhibiting the growth and evolution of art and not just representation within art, but art its self
IS IT CHANGING?
Now that there is an intentional shift to celebrating historical female artists like Artemisia Gentileschi, Augusta Savage, Elisabeth Vigèe Le Brun and Lois Mailou Jones, is this a welcomed act of positive discrimination? Should women simply make more of an effort to level up with the men, despite the disadvantage created by men for men? Why do we need women in art? Isn’t art just art, no matter who produces it?
What of those who say all art matters and fear being displaced by women?
According to Time Magazine the top 10 most famous artists of all time consist of ten men and zero women. If you feel this is progression your virtuous patience is greater than my own. Of course this list is subjective, but is does largely corroborate with the many voices that have dared to draft this list.
Most of us are familiar with these names or at least 80% of them:
· Michael Angelo
· Rembrandt
· Vermeer
· Jean Antoine Watteau
· Eugene Delacroix
· Claude Monet
· Georges Seurat
· Vincent van Gogh
· Edvard Munch
So if I could set a challenge for today, without the aid of Google, Safari, Firefox or Bing write down five famous female artists, and put them in the comments.
Finally, Despite all the plans being drafted by The Tate, The British Museum and others, the odd acknowledgement calendar dates, that celebrate minorities, it is clear most are tired of waiting for hearts and minds to change, but most importantly the evolution and growth of the art worlds suffers. Historians say that art shows the measure of civility and intelligence of a society. So, what does this then say about our evolution?
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