Who are the most famous artists you can think of? Chances are most of them are men. However, this is no surprise given that a 2019 study of 18 U.S. museums revealed that 87% of artists featured in their collections are men. In a bold step to rectify the imbalance, the Baltimore Museum of Art will only purchase works made by female-identifying artists for the next year.
The initiative is a part of the museum’s larger initiative, 2020 Vision, a series of 22 exhibitions featuring female artists. The museum contains 95,000 works, including the world’s largest collection of works by Henri Matisse, but only 4% of the collection comes from female artists.
The museum says the issue is pervasive, even at small, local galleries where 10% of galleries don’t feature a single female artist. Hopefully, this commitment by the Baltimore Museum of Art will raise awareness about the lack of female representation in museums and encourage other galleries to follow suit and feature works by more diverse artists.
