American Herstory, a new column promoted by ArtDealerStreet.com
Women in Art: Rethinking History Is it possible to rewrite the history of art by acting retrospectively? Can the visibility given today to female artists of the past truly compensate for centuries of neglect? And what about the women entering the art world today—benefiting from the strides made by previous generations—can they truly say they are fully integrated and valued by the market and institutions?
These questions were already part of the debate in the 1970s. Just think of the well-known essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? (1971) by American art historian Linda Nochlin, the AIR gallery group (1972), one of the first in New York to give visibility to female activists and artists, or Mary Beth Edelson’s work Some Living American Women Artists (1972). The latter reinterpreted Renaissance painting by replacing the faces of the disciples in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper with those of several American female artists.
These are just a few examples of a reflection that continues to this day, fifty years later. But how much has really changed in the art world?
The figures from international auctions, for instance, still show a disproportionately small percentage of sales for works created by female artists. The situation becomes even more dire when the variable of belonging to minority groups is factored in. According to the 2022 Burns Halperin Report, only 0.5% of acquisitions by 31 U.S. museums are works by African American female artists.
This is compounded by an additional issue, common to contemporary art produced by both men and women: a handful of big names dominate the market share. In the case of African American female artists, for example, prominent figures such as Julie Mehretu – currently considered the highest-priced African woman artist in the world – risk leaving little room for visibility and recognition for others. Nevertheless, the growing efforts of some museum institutions to highlight and give space to these often overlooked figures must be acknowledged. Initiatives that deserve praise, but are not enough to compensate for a system that still appears deeply imbalanced. At this point, one might ask: how can the market and institutions find a balance that values not only the already established voices, but also the lesser-known ones? And, more generally, what strategies could be adopted to ensure real inclusivity in art, going beyond symbolic representation?
Our column aims to take stock of this era of transformation, with special focus on the U.S. art scene. Today, it is often emphasized that American art history, as well as Western art history in general, should be seen as just one of the stories to be told, and that the U.S., with New York City at its center, did not represent the only hub from which all artistic research and practices emerged. Nonetheless, precisely because it is in the United States that the major clashes took place, leading to the rise of movements advocating for minority rights, it is essential to start here in order to address the current state of art.
Sources: Halperin, J. & Burns C. (2022, December 13). The Burns Halperin Report. Artnet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/full-data-rundown-burns-halperin-report-2227460
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