Great women artists: why do we have to ask?

When examining art and its creators, the age-old question remains: why are there no great female artists?

If someone searches for history’s most famous artists, familiar names like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Vincent Van Gogh will appear. While there are indeed famous women artists that appear as well, such as Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keeffe, it is not nearly to the same extent. The search also often discounts current artists, such as Yayoi Kusama and Cindy Sherman.

The reality is that there are many great women artists. Having to ask the question at all is the implication that an artist’s gender has an impact on what they create and how it is executed.

For example, Georgia O’Keeffe’s works were very often sexualized due to the persistent need to label her as a female artist. She once said, “Men put me down as the best woman painter… I think I’m one of the best painters.”

O’Keeffe’s prominent flower paintings continue to be eroticized today, even after she herself rejected these interpretations.

"Having to ask the question at all is the implication that an artist’s gender has an impact on what they create and how it is executed."

The issue is often related to the lack of credit and acknowledgment, ranging from works by women being misattributed to men, to women artists being left out of textbooks altogether. It is not a question of talent, yet women’s names are often excluded from examinations done on past and current artistic movements.

A recent 2022 study conducted by art historian Katy Hessel found that only 30 percent of 2,000 British adults could name three women artists. The survey was done in honor of International Women’s Day, celebrated officially on March 8.

The erasure of female artists is not just at the fault of those who are unfamiliar with the topic, but of those who study art history and have roles in running museums as well.

As of 2019, only 11 percent of acquisitions at 26 American museums were works by women, according to artnet News. Their research for the study spanned a decade, starting in 2008 and ending in 2018.

The more recent interest in bringing women artists to the forefront is significant, not just because it is a question of disregarding talent, but because of what women portray in their work.

An example of this is Mary Cassatt, the only American artist officially associated with Impressionism, a movement born in the early 1860s. Her piece titled In The Loge is one of many to portray women in a theater box.

However, Cassatt’s work is noted for the woman’s role as the observer, as opposed to solely being the object of observation. This interpretation of the male gaze is further emphasized by a man in the background, watching her with his own binoculars.

"The more recent interest in bringing women artists to the forefront is significant, not just because it is a question of disregarding talent, but because of what women portray in their work. "

The exclusion of women artists manifests itself in other ways, such as most art students identifying as women and still being underrepresented in museums. Additionally, artists represented permanently in 18 well-known museums in the United States are not only 87 percent men, but also 85 percent white.

The arts, as well as how it is taught and studied, is one of many fields that is notoriously exclusive. The question should not be whether there are any women artists worthy of discussion and fame, but rather how long they will be considered inconsequential, a concept that should not be exclusive to International Women’s Day.