US museum targets gender gap by acquiring only works by women
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, November 29, 2024


US museum targets gender gap by acquiring only works by women
Mickalene Thomas. Installation view of Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure at The Baltimore Museum of Art. Photo by Mitro Hood. © Mickalene Thomas.

by Inès Bel Aiba



BALTIMORE (AFP).- An American museum has come up with a bold way to boost women's participation in the arts: this year it will only acquire works by females.

The Baltimore Museum of Art, in the state of Maryland, is best known for housing the largest public collection of Matisse works anywhere in the world.

Late last year it attracted major press attention with word that in 2020 it would only purchase works by women, drawing both praise and skepticism.

"I think it's a radical and timely decision in 2020, to take the bull by the horns and do this," the museum's director Christopher Bedford told AFP.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the US constitution, which gave women the right to vote.

It also gave the museum pause to do some soul-searching: of its 95,000 works, only four percent are by women artists, says Bedford.

"We're an institution largely built by women leaders," he said.

The museum's first director was a woman. And it is largely thanks to two women -- the Cone sisters -- and their friendship with Henri Matisse that the museum boasts such a rich collection of works by the French artist.

Centuries of discrimination
So the museum will spend $2.5 million this year on works by women. It will also reorganize several of its rooms to showcase the work of women and offer 20-odd exhibits of works by female artists. It will, however, continue to accept donations of art done by men.

The BMA is hardly alone in having such a disproportionate amount of art by men. The fame of artists such as Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun, Frida Kahlo and Louise Bourgeois is an exception to the rule.

A study published last year by the scientific journal Plos-One found that in 18 major American museums, 87 percent of the artists whose works were on exhibit were men.

And from 2008 to 2018, of 260,470 works acquired by 26 big museums, only 11 percent were by women, according to a study by the company Artnet and the podcast "In Other Words."

This is the fruit of centuries-old discrimination that can be either intentional or not, said Bedford.

"And unless you call out that habit and consciously find a way to work against it, then you will never have a properly equitable museum," he said.

'A tiny step'
While the museum's initiative has been welcomed by many as a good first step, not everyone is sold on it.

Teri Henderson, a curator based in Baltimore, said she questions the museum's use of the word "radical" to describe its decision to acquire only art by women for a year.

"I have observed that organizations and institutions use the word 'radical' as a sort of buzzword without actually implementing any programming or effort that is truly radical," Henderson said.

"I do know that one year of collecting attached to this interesting choice of word cannot truly rectify the imbalance in the art world and in museums," she added.

"I do think this year of collecting art by only women could possibly be the first step, but it is a tiny step."

Bedford agreed that this plan is just a start.

"And I'm also hoping that our decision has a reverberating effect across the museum field," he said.

"And that's a consciousness-raising act as well. It's supposed to precipitate an endless action in that direction," he added, promising also to publish the results of this female-only program in a year.

But Henderson insisted that "many gigantic steps" are needed to rectify the male-female imbalance in the art world.

She said that, for instance, museums need to invest in living artists that reside and work in the surrounding areas if they really want to reflect the richness and diversity of today's art.

She gave museums this advice: "Stop buying art that isn't good just because it's made by well-known white artists. Start taking risks and investing in black and brown living artists."

Donna Drew Sawyer, chief executive officer of the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts, said she had several questions about the initiative, including the fact that it drew so much attention.

"Why did a male’s call to action seem to resonate so loudly in this instance when women are the subject and have been calling for the same action forever?" Sawyer wrote in the magazine BmoreArt.


© Agence France-Presse










Today's News

February 7, 2020

Art Basel cancels upcoming Hong Kong show

Kirk Douglas, a star of Hollywood's Golden Age, dies at 103

Caravaggio masterpiece added to upcoming exhibition at the Kimbell

Italy's Uffizi Gallery hails US online tout ruling

The Kunsthaus Zürich devotes an exhibition to Ottilia Giacometti

Exhibition gives a remarkable insight into the work and life of Picasso

Decreeing classical buildings for D.C.

US museum targets gender gap by acquiring only works by women

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art opens the first exhibition of 19th century photographer Lai Fong

Magritte, Lempicka and Grosz steal the show in London

Zilia Sánchez's island of erotic forms

Antony Hudek is the new director of the museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Deurle

Wright & Wright Architects appointed to design new collections centre at Pallant House Gallery

A new monumental sculpture to join LOVE in Indianapolis Museum of Art galleries

Scenographic, conceptual, and curatorial concerns coincide in new exhibition at Kunsthalle Basel

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents exhibition of new works by Kendell Geers

White Cube announces representation of New York-based artist Julie Curtiss

Claes Oldenburg, Robert Motherwell, and Wayne Thiebaud at the Mystic Museum of Art

Nello Santi, conductor with his heart in Italian opera, dies at 88

The North Carolina Museum of Art welcomed 718,102 visitors in 2019

Hemingway and Kerouac typewriters will headline University Archives auction

The Gallery at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design opens an exhibition of works by Ana Vizcarra Rankin

Zimmerli to close during summer of 2020 for building improvements

David Roberts Art Foundation announces plans for expansion to Scotland and UK regions for 2020

Allentown Art Museum celebrates colorful history of Durham Press




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Attorneys
Truck Accident Attorneys
Accident Attorneys
Houston Dentist
Abogado de accidentes
สล็อต
สล็อตเว็บตรง
Motorcycle Accident Lawyer

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site Parroquia Natividad del Señor
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful