Women become the new shining light of contemporary art world
ARTS CORRESPONDENT FOR years they have trailed behind their male counterparts; overlooked for high-profile exhibitions and commanding a fraction of the prices at auction.
The outlook for female artists could undergo a transformation this summer, however, as auctioneers claim there is a “real moment of change”.
The flagship contemporary art evening sale at Sotheby’s is to feature its most women ever, with 14 per cent female artists, up from one per cent last year.
In another move to promote women in the art market, a female auctioneer last week became the first to lead an evening sale at Sotheby’s since 1990, commanding record prices.
Helena Newman, global co-head of Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art department, coordinated an evening sale reaching £103million. Under her direction, two of the paintings reached the first and second-highest prices of any work at London auction in the last five years, with Pablo Picasso’s
selling for £43.3million, a new record price for any Cubist work.
The sales follow a concerted effort from galleries to redress a gross historic imbalance for female artists.
Tate Modern has pledged to work towards equality, with its revamped galleries boasting 50 per cent women in its solo exhibitions and a much-improved 17 per cent in total collections.
Frances Morris, its new director, has said: “Women’s achievements in the arts for many years have not been recognised, and one of the things we’ve tried to do in our programme is bring out of the shadows the achievements of people who have been overlooked.”
Isabelle Paagman, senior director at Sotheby’s, said the art world is now in an “extremely positive moment of change”, initiated by institutions and collectors focusing on female artists.
The trend is particularly noticable in contemporary art, experts said, where the work of living female artists is increasingly fetching higher prices.
A spokesman for Sotheby’s said its evening sale, to be held on Tuesday, will feature 14 per cent work by female artists, compared with no more than three per cent for any of the last 10 key contemporary auctions.
This time, Paagman said, the sale will star Jenny Saville’s which is likely to set the world record for a work by the artist. Other artists with pieces on sale include Louise Bourgeois, Joan Mitchell, Yayoi Kusama, Marlene Dumas and Agnes Martin.