Tag: Research

Brown, T. W (2019) Why is work by Female Artists still valued less than work by male artists? At: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-work-female-artists-valued-work-male-artists/ (Accessed on 27th of August 2019).  

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Brown states that art by women sells for less than a mans. Only two artworks by women have been in the top 100. Brown goes on to talk about the causes. From bias to caring responsibilities to representation. 

Brown catogorieses two characteristics, supply side and demand side. Supply side means that women choose different things from men. On the demand side of things, is the insistence that women should be allowed to exhibit and viewed in the same light as work by the men. 

(Brown, 2019; Stewart, G).  

The Economist (2019) Why women’s art sells at a discount. At: https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/05/16/why-womens-art-swlls-at-a-discount/ (Accessed on 3rd of September 2019).  

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The economist wrote an article looking at the inequality in the sale prices of art amongst the genders. They found that womens art is cheaper than mens. Research found that men and women both have equal talents, so they came to the conclusion that womens art is cheaper due to the fact that is it done by a woman. 

(The Economist, 2019; Stewart, G).  

Sebag-Montefiore, C (2019) Women battling sexism in photography – a picture essay. At: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/mar/07/women-battling-sexism-in-photography-a-picutre-essay/ (Accessed on 28th of August 2019).  

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This web article details women’s own experiences in photography. One being told they need to be as strong as a man to another thinking she was an assistant. 

The article talks about ‘Balance for Better’ which was created to highlight and collaborate art by women. There are 22 photographers which some raise the female gaze. Which is in contrast with the male gaze, to which Jill Greenberg states “nearly every image we are surrounded by has been filtered through a man’s eye” (Greenberg quoted in Sebag-Montefiore, 2019).  

Sebag-Montefiore also talks about female artists experience around the world, where some where groped and other felt unsafe. 

(Sebag-Montefiore, 2019; Stewart, G).  

Dautlich, A (2017) Women in landscape photography. At: https://www.aprildautlich.com/blog/2017/9/19/women-in-landscape-photography-its-not-1950-anymore-people (Accessed on 23rd of August 2019).  

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April Dautlich gives her own account and thoughts of women in landscape photography. This is a useful source as it shows someone’s own experience. She states that if you look at an best photographer list, the majority are male. She believes that “one’s photographs should be able to be viewed and admired without a gender attached to it” (Dautlich, 2017). She also raised that fact that among Nikon’s ambassadors there were no women. People have spoken against this but the responses were bleak. 

(Dautlich, 2017; Stewart, G).  

Landscape. Women in Landscape Photography. At: https://landscapephotographymagazine.com/2018/women-in-landscape-photography/ (Accessed on 23rd of August 2019). 

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Despite this not being an academic article it does raise some useful points. 

It states that landscape photography is a man’s profession or hobby, yet both sexes can be artistic but it is not represented. The magazine raises possible reasons, for example, the weight of equipment, attire, personal safety, and what is seen as women’s work. These may be valid points but the world has come along way since the weight and size of equipment would have made a difference to women, same with clothing. Caring responsibilities and expectation is still a valid reason in today’s world.  

(Landscape; Stewart, G).  

Steedman, M (2017) Representation of Female Artists in Britain in 2017. At: https://www.freelandsfoundations.co.uk/documents/Representation-of-female-artists-research-2018.pdf (accessed on 11th of September 2019). 

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This is a lengthy and comprehensive guide into the representation of female artists in the UK in 2017. Marijke Steedman brings in a lot statistics which have been useful to my work. It just took along time to get through and a lot wasn’t relevant to my research. 

Overall the report shows improvements from the previous years study. But also brings to note the areas which have worsened. For example there was an decrease in the number of solo shows by women. The number of women studying art is high, however “women are striving for achievement but this is not currently reflected in the number of artists represented”. 

Steedman draws the figure of pay together and concludes that women are in general lower paid. The number solo shows by women at non-commercial galleries is around 22%, which has decreased. Yet the number outside London has increased. 

(Steedman, 2017; Stewart, G).  

Stamps, G. Painting the Picture: Gender Inequality in the Global Art Market. At: https://cultursmag.com/painting-the-picture-gender-inequality-in-the-global-art-market/ (Accessed on 23rd of August 2019).  

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This internet article is short but it does have some good points about the gender pay gap, which will be useful for my essay. Stamps states that the Paycheck fairness act in 2014 failed to be passes again, it’s fourth time. This act was supposed to help the pay gap in America, however it had to be voted for, and lost by 12. 

(Stamps; Stewart, G).  

Jeanpierre, L (2012) ‘On the Origin of Inequality in the Arts’ In: Revve franchise de sociologie (vol. 53, no. 1) pp. 88-106. 

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Laurent Jeanpierre believes that “the artist career can be understood as the interaction between self-development as assessed through comparison of the individual’s successive states as she acquire capital and information about herself and the gradual revelation of individual value via the inter individual contests” 

He believes the income gap can be explained by the large amount of inexperienced workers working for a low income, who often abandon it as a career and the small number who are successful. 

Networking is important to becoming successful, it comes down to who you know. 

Jeanpierre has found three reasons to explain the “talent and inequality in the arts”. The first is difference in quality. The second is the feedback by others. Lastly is the ability to job match. Further in his article Jeanpierre does state that artwork success is uncertain”. 

(Jeanpierre, 2012; Stewart, G).  

Lindermann, D. J, C. A. Rush and S. J. Tepper (2014) ‘An Asymmetrical Portrait: Exploring Gendered Income Inequality in the Arts’ In: The Southern Sociological Society (vol. 3, no. 4) pp. 332-348.

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The journal was useful for me looking at the pay gap between men and women in the art world. The authors looked at the Strategic National Art Alumni project, which accessed the incomes for artists and non artists, and found that the pay gap between the genders were comparable. The project found that women didn’t suffer from a wage decrease due to motherhood. 

However research conducted by the Institute for women’s policy research in 2015 found that there were only two professions where men out-earned women, and they are a stock clerk/order filler and health practitioner support technologists. From my research in other sources, many found a gap in wages among artists. Whether this was a difference in working conditions or this project was wrong. 

The authors of this article believes reasons for the inequality could be anything from discrimination, differences in networks, segregation or family dynamics. The do state that many artists are self-employed and this bring flexibility which would benefit women. The articles brings up various studies and resources which looks gender in the arts. They discuss how men and women work in the arts, for example there is a reliance on networking which benefits men. They look at the actual pay, and state that “female artistic workers earn significantly less than males”. 

Another quote they used is by Katz and Ksansnak, “Cultural attitudes to concerning masculine gender roles are more rigid than this concerning feminine roles” (Katz and Ksansnak quoted in Lindermann, Rush and Tepper, 2014).  

(Lindermann, Rush & Tepper, 2014; Stewart, G).