Art is created to share the human experience, but the irony is it has been exclusive to female artists. How can art be judged as the best or worth the most if it focuses mostly on white male artists? It has only been a few hundred years since women were allowed to attend art academies and in a very diminished capacity. They were barred from nude figure studies essential for historical paintings, limiting their art education. Women artists were expected to depict scenes of domestic life with submissive females. With the limitations on women artists, it can be argued this is why there haven’t been any women's art canons. They weren’t given the same opportunities as men were. Many male artists came from wealthy families or had a financial benefactor who provided funding to support their careers. Men were encouraged to pursue the arts, while women were confined to domestic life. Men were mostly likely to receive patronage. The art theories were created mainly by white men for white men. Carving a space out for women enforces visual narratives that confront the male gaze and social gender role constructs. Feminists criticize canons because they almost always exclude women and hold traditional ideas about what makes “greatness in art” (Freeland,2003, p.37). Providing equal art education and representation would allow women artists more opportunities and recognition.
The representation of women artists has gotten slightly
better in modern times, but there is a stark contrast. The start of the women’s
rights movement in the early 20th century would influence how the
public viewed women artists. Social conditions have drastically changed to foster
a social environment encouraging more female participation in the arts and
greater recognition of women artists’ achievements (Freeland, 2003, p.37). Artists such as Georgia O’Keefe, Judy Chicago,
and Cindy Sherman have gained national and international fame and prestige from
their artwork. Georgia O’Keefe has her own museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The National
Museum of Women Artists in Washington, D.C., was created in 1990. Despite these
achievements and recognitions, there is a wide gap in art sales and museum and
gallery exhibitions. Eddie Chambers discusses in his article “Who Can Do
Something, Do What They Can” the BBC Radio 4 documentary “Recalculating Art,”
which explores the differences in how women are undervalued in art compared to their
male counterparts. Chambers states, “The highest price achieved by a contemporary
female artist is $12.4 million, while it is $91 million for a man” (Chambers,
2023, p.5). A positive change is that 70% of art students are women, but even
so, it is predominantly men in galleries, museum collections, and auction
houses (Chambers, 2023, p.7). Education is more accessible for modern women,
but few opportunities are available without recognition and representation. The
fight for gender equality in the arts is ongoing with women like the Guerrilla
Girls who, through “artivism,” challenge contemporary art establishments on the
disparity between female and male artists through often humorous acts of artistic
vandalism such as wheat pasting statistics and numbers showing the lack of
female representation on the outside of museums. They are anonymous and wear guerilla
masks. Their “artivism” challenges art establishments and brings the public's
attention to the issues. Things are much better now than in the past for women
artists, but there is still an uphill battle to achieve gender equality in the
arts.
Guerrilla Girls-" You Have To Question What You See" ( Artist Interview)
References
Chambers, E. (2023). “Who can do something, do what they
can.” Art Journal, 82(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2023.2194800
[Tate]. (2018, October 5). Guerrilla Girls-" You have to Question What You See" [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKg7hb2yoo
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