In our previous post, we wrote about racial disparity in the representation of artists at major US art museums. Gender inequality exists in all fields, but the level is also quite astonishing in this sector. According to a studyon the “Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums” published in PlosOne on March 20, 2019, the overall percentage of female artists represented at 18 major US art museums was 12.6%, and 10.8% of that total was white women, leaving only 1.8% for women of color.
Progress towards equality has been slow, as seen in the number of exhibitions featuring female artists (either solo or group shows) in which the majority of artists represented were female, which doubled from 49 exhibitions in 2008 to 104 exhibitions in 2018. However, these still only made up 14% of all exhibitions during the same time period. Indeed, in a New York Times article entitled “Female Artists Made Little Progress in Museums Since 2008, Survey Finds” (published on September 19, 2019), Julia Jacobs observed that the number of exhibitions cannot be used to measure achievement by female artists. This is because mounting exhibitions is easier and less costly compared to direct purchases of art works by the museums for their permanent collections. Between 2008 and 2018, the top 26 US museums acquired 29,247 works by female artists out of a total of 260,470works. This represents only 11% of all acquisitions. Of the 5,800 female artists whose works were acquired over the course of that decade, only 190 (3%) were African-American.
We are looking forward to sharing more works by female artists in the coming month, Women’s History Month. To close out Black History Month, here are some wonderful pieces by African-American female artists from Black refractions : highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Image 1: “Spirit of the Elements,” 1979 by Betye Saar Image 2: “Echoes of Harlem,” 1980 by Faith Ringgold Image 3: “Neck Lines,” 1989 by Lorna Simpson Image 4: “River,” 2011 (first constructed 1972) by Maren Hassinger Image 5: “Untitled (Casual Power), “Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin’) both 2015 by Juliana Huxtable
Black refractions : highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem Choi, Connie H. [author] New York, New York: American Federation of Arts; Harlem, New York: The Studio Museum in Harle ; New York, New York : Rizzoli Electa, [2019] 231 pages: illustrations (chiefly color), portraits, photographs ; 30 x 24 cm English "Published on the occasion of the traveling exhibition, Black Refractions: Highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem, organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Studio Museum in Harlem" ISBN : 9780847866380 ISBN : 0847866386 HOLLIS number: 99153772228403941
