Where Are The Women?

Women artists are badly represented in British museum collections. And they don’t fare much better in the contemporary art markets either. “Only eight women are responsible for 12 paintings in the National Gallery: they are outnumbered by around 400 male artists responsible for more than 2,300 works. And while women artists may appear, at first glance, to be a strong presence in Tate galleries – a survey of the entire collection undermines this view. In 2000, Tate owned work by 316 women, and nearly 2,600 men. A total of just under 11% of Tate artists are women, and their works make up approximately 7% of the collection (leaving out the 30,000 Turners).”