There is no secret that there is a lack of female artists exhibited in modern museums and galleries. If we look at museums in the US, only 13% of the art on display is made by women, which would be an acceptable number if we lived in the 19th century. But in 2019, there is no excuses to why it shouldn’t be divided 50/50 between art made by men and art made by women.
We have seen that museums have started redressing the gender imbalance in their collections over the past years. And some of them are taking actions into their own hands trying to make a difference. In 2016, Tate Modern in London opened their massive extension and dedicated half of the new gallery to female artist, increasing their percentage from 17% to 36%. Which is a great start into art diversity, now we just need every museum and gallery across the world to do the same.
The problem has never been that there’s shortage of women artists, there’s been hundreds, probably even thousands over the centuries. But they end up not being discovered until after they’ve died, because museums didn’t see it as necessary to collect their art, which snowballed into a ruthless circle of exclusion. Their art doesn’t get catalogued, documented and ends up being ignored by art collectors and galleries.
Private collectors and galleries are no different. Female artist ends up being overlooked, and not put forward for important exhibitions and auctions, which makes it both hard and unattractive to try to pursue a career in art for women.
But it is not just up to the museum directors and gallery owners, but also the museum-going public. Over the past ten years, public spending on museums have decreased drastically, especially for the ones with free entry. They’re reliable on revenue from public spending’s in addition to government funding and tend to play safe, putting on shows they know will be popular and profitable. And to stage a show where there’s only female artists no one has heard of before, is a risk they’re usually not willing to take. Museums aim to give the public what they want and tend to focus on the same group of artists.
The audience is important, especially when governmental support keep reducing. The art ends up being pressured to be more business-like and meet the needs of the audience. And is it a big risk to go bring female artists into the museums and galleries for more diversity? Yes. Is it necessary? Absolutely.
Trolljegeren10
https://www.pexels.com/photo/male-and-female-signage-on-wall-1722196/
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