Do woman have to be naked to get into the Met Museum, asked the feminist art group Guerrilla Girls in their iconic 1989 poster, which referenced the fact that fewer than 5% of artists on display were woman yet 85% of the nudes were female.
A quarter of a century on and the issue of women artists being underrepresented by museums and galleries has failed to go away.
Eileen Cooper, the first female keeper of the Royal Academy (RA), wrote in the summer edition of RA Magazine that national collections should display more works by women artists.
In the article, Cooper said that only 31% of commercial galleries in London presented work by women artists in 2011-12. She also wrote that, of works by living artists acquired by Tate last year, just 21% were by women. A similar percentage of Royal Academicians are female.
Referring to the RA's exhibition programme, Cooper wrote: "I am sure that there are worries that putting on an exhibition of a female artist, who may be less well known, is not financially viable but that creates a vicious circle."
Does the sector need a quota to ensure equal representation of women artists? Or is positive discrimination counter to curatorial values?
Vote in the poll and have your say in the comment box below.
A quarter of a century on and the issue of women artists being underrepresented by museums and galleries has failed to go away.
Eileen Cooper, the first female keeper of the Royal Academy (RA), wrote in the summer edition of RA Magazine that national collections should display more works by women artists.
In the article, Cooper said that only 31% of commercial galleries in London presented work by women artists in 2011-12. She also wrote that, of works by living artists acquired by Tate last year, just 21% were by women. A similar percentage of Royal Academicians are female.
Referring to the RA's exhibition programme, Cooper wrote: "I am sure that there are worries that putting on an exhibition of a female artist, who may be less well known, is not financially viable but that creates a vicious circle."
Does the sector need a quota to ensure equal representation of women artists? Or is positive discrimination counter to curatorial values?
Vote in the poll and have your say in the comment box below.
