I have chosen to look at this arts issue because I feel that women's art work is valued less than men's and that female artists are less recognised than male artists. One good way to overcome this issue would be for schools to teach more about female artists throughout history. By doing this, it would help give female artists more recognition and mean that people in the future can name as many women in art as their male counterparts.
I started by conducting my own research involving friends and family. I asked ten people to name five male and five female artists. Only three of the ten could name one female artists - two of these named Frida Kahl and one person named Carrie Mae Weems. However everyone could name at least four male artists quickly from memory when asked. All ten people agreed that female artists do not have enough recognition for their artwork the same way male artists do.
In an article I found online on The Art Newspaper there was further evidence to prove my theory. In a survey that was made to see whether female artists' artwork was valued less than male artists, people were asked to view an artwork then guess the gender of the artist. They then had to rate the work on a scale of 1 to 10. Those who guessed the art was made by a female artist gave it a lower mark consistently than those they guessed had been made by a male artist. This proves that the art world is biased towards male artists and female artists don't get the recognition they deserve as a result of their gender.
In a second survey, 200 participants were asked this time to rate the same paintings but the paintings now has a randomly generated male or female artists name beside them. Still, paintings with a female name beside but were consistently given a lower mark than the paintings with a male name. Also on the same site, there are valued for paintings sold at auction. The report used a sample from 1.5 million auction transactions between 1970 to 2013 in 45 countries for 62442 artists. It found that the average price for a man's painting was $48212 but for women it was $25247.
Looking at these pieces of evidence they all show female artist's artwork is indeed valued less. I also think that because women's artwork is value less it has led to their artwork being less recognised and enforcing the gender bias. Women throughout history have not had the same rights and freedoms as men and I blieve this has affected hiw people think. Biased views have been passed on for many generations although fortunately women have more rights and freedoms today. These equal views should allow women to become more successful in the artworld.
A group of women who created artwork to gain more recognition and equal rights for female artists were the Guerilla Girls. In 1984 a group of anonymous American female artists created propaganda posters about gender equality in the art industry. They wanted to show that women can be more than just models in paintings by men and to expose sexual discrimination in the art world.
Another female artist in history who tried to enforce change was Artemesia Gentileschi. She was a young artist producing professional standard work by the age of fifteen and initially worked in the style of Caravaggio/ She was the daughter of an Italian painting Orazio Gentileschi who taught her about the world of art. Being a female artist in the 17th century was not common. At the age of 17 she was abused by a painting teacher. She tried to take him to court and endured a seven month trial where she was told to prove she was telling the truth whereas her abused did not have to provide evidence. The law was on his side as a man and he was let off. Gentileschi used her art to show the unfair treatment of women not just in the art world but life in general. Her artwork has only recently come to light despite being as good as her male counterparts.
However, there are times when women do get the recognition they deserve. Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who was known for her many self portraits and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Her unique style of painting became extremely popular around the world and today she is one of the most popular female artists. Many people nowadays are able to identify her work over that of her husband, Diego Rivera.
Therefore, I believe that women artists do not have enough recognition for their work. A lot of female artists throughout history have had to fight for equlaity and endure harsh treatment just to get recognition for their work. Even though women have worked hard to get their message across and share their artwork, they are still not treated equally to men.
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