#americanmuseums

In our previous post, we wrote about racial disparity in the representation of artists at major US art museums. Gender inequality exists in all fields, but the level is also quite astonishing in this sector. According to a studyon the “Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums” published in PlosOne on March 20, 2019, the overall percentage of female artists represented at 18 major US art museums was 12.6%, and 10.8% of that total was white women, leaving only 1.8% for women of color.

Progress towards equality has been slow, as seen in the number of exhibitions featuring female artists (either solo or group shows) in which the majority of artists represented were female, which doubled from 49 exhibitions in 2008 to 104 exhibitions in 2018. However, these still only made up 14% of all exhibitions during the same time period. Indeed, in a New York Times article entitled “Female Artists Made Little Progress in Museums Since 2008, Survey Finds” (published on September 19, 2019), Julia Jacobs observed that the number of exhibitions cannot be used to measure achievement by female artists. This is because mounting exhibitions is easier and less costly compared to direct purchases of art works by the museums for their permanent collections. Between 2008 and 2018, the top 26 US museums acquired 29,247 works by female artists out of a total of 260,470works. This represents only 11% of all acquisitions. Of the 5,800 female artists whose works were acquired over the course of that decade, only 190 (3%) were African-American.

We are looking forward to sharing more works by female artists in the coming month, Women’s History Month. To close out Black History Month, here are some wonderful pieces by African-American female artists from Black refractions : highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem.

Image 1: “Spirit of the Elements,” 1979 by Betye Saar Image 2: “Echoes of Harlem,” 1980 by Faith Ringgold Image 3: “Neck Lines,” 1989 by Lorna Simpson Image 4: “River,” 2011 (first constructed 1972) by Maren Hassinger Image 5: “Untitled (Casual Power), “Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin’) both 2015 by Juliana Huxtable

The Studio Museum in Harlem opened in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City in 1968. The museum is dedicated to advocating for artists of African descent, whether African Americans, members of the African diaspora, or artists from the African continent, by collecting, preserving, and interpreting their work. It has served as a place where artists and community members gather, learn through various programing and an Artist-in-Residence program, and promote works by Black artists who have been severely underrepresented in major US museums.  

A 2019 study conducted by a group of mathematicians, statisticians, and art historians showed that diversity in 18 major US museums is extremely weak (published in PlosOne on March 20, 2019.) 85% of artists represented in these museums are white and 87% are men, while African American artists had the lowest percentage at just 1.2%, Asian artists at 9%, and Hispanic and Latino artists at 2.8%.

In terms of gender and ethnicity, the most predominant groups were white men at 75.7%, white women at 10.8%, Asian men at 7.5%, and Hispanic/Latinx men at 2.6%.  All other groups were less than 1%. In all the collections at these 18 major US museums, 44% of artists are from Europe and 44.6% are from North America. By contrast, the remainder include 8.7% from Asia, 2.1% from Latin America, and .4% from Africa.

The Studio Museum in Harlem stands as an important space for Black artists, offering much needed space, recognition, and voice to truly represent our deep history and culture.  

Image 1: Front cover: with “Lawdy Mamma,” 1969 by Barkley L. Hendricks Image 2: “Cotton Hangup,” 1966 by Melvin Edwards Image 3: “Free, White, and 21,” 1980 by Howardena Pindell Image 4: “Hide ‘n’ Seek, Kill or Speak,” 2004 by Wangechi Mutu