Domestic Goddess

2015 Oil on Italian Linen 100x120cm

The Arthur Guy Memorial Painting Prize 2015, Finalist

There are lots of women in the great art galleries of the world. Just not many women artists. 

In 2012 about 62% of art and design students in the UK were female. But an audit of London galleries found that just 31% presented work by women. In LA and New York galleries the number was 32.3%, while at the Tate only 21% of the works purchased from living artists were made by females. 

The first woman to be appointed to the role of Keeper of the Royal Academy, Eileen Cooper, says the students of both genders emerging from art schools were as strong as each other, but somehow women’s voices are seen as not interesting. It becomes a vicious circle: “Because women artists aren’t as widely collected by the museums they aren’t as widely known or promoted as much.” 

Incredibly in an age when the issue of gender equality is legislated, it seems the only way for more women to get into galleries is to be featured in the work.