For some, the annual debate about the underrepresentation of women artists in the art market might feel wishy-washy or tired. Indeed, in recent years, the narrative has largely been the same: despite greater progress, the art world’s historical affinity for white male artists remains intact.
But having that conversation and drawing attention to the facts remains a key part of effecting change, and not just for female-identifying artists. While an artist’s gender and identity should not generally overshadow or define their work (if they don’t want it to), we can’t ignore the persistent pattern of gender inequality when it comes to artists who achieve the most commercial success. With this in mind, we present the Women Artists Market Report 2024 to coincide with International Women’s Day.
A year ago, we debuted the first report of its kind, The Women Artists Market Report 2023, focused primarily on auction data. We found that works by women artists accounted for just 9% of the auction market in 2022. However, we were pleased to find a correlation between greater parity and younger age groups: Among ultra-contemporary artists (artists born in or after 1975), we found that works by female artists accounted for 44% of auction sales; and when we narrowed down further to artists born in or after 1985, female artists advanced, capturing 63% of the market.
For this 2024 report, we’re shifting our focus to Artsy data. In the sections below, we provide a pulse on the current demand for works by women artists, and also shine a light on individual artists who are gaining traction in the market. By delving into the commercial data and year-over-year growth of inquiries, we want to highlight the new names that are changing the balance, driving a more inclusive and fair art ecosystem.
Discover our top findings below or download the full Women’s Artist Market Report.
Big picture
Looking at all commercial activity on Artsy in 2023, we found that 25% of inquiries about artwork for sale were for works by female-identifying artists. As the graph here shows, the works of male artists, on the other hand, were 71%. (The remaining 4% is divided between non-binary artists, collectives and non-gender specific.)
While these numbers are almost inspiring, they are inevitably skewed by the artists with the highest volume of work available on Artsy, many of whom are white men (like Andy Warhol). So we limited the data to focus only on ultra-contemporary artists and found that works by female-identified artists have a higher proportion—35% of all queries. And when we got tight a lot For Gen Z artists (born in or after 1997), we found a promising picture of parity: works by female artists account for 51% of queries.
Although the sample size inevitably shrinks as we approach these younger generations of artists, it is striking to see a parallel to what we found in the auction market last year: the younger the artists, the greater the balance of commercial interest between genres. Now, to the artists.
Requested female artists
Notable female artists with the most commercial interest in Artsy in 2023 include Tracey Emin, Etel Adnan and Helen Frankenthaler. The inclusion of these acclaimed and beloved artists in museums, galleries and auctions is no surprise. However, in the chart above, we show the group of female-identifying artists that has grown the most year-over-year among Artsy pollsters from 2022 to 2023.
Unsurprisingly, given the market’s penchant for novelty, the 20 featured artists are primarily emerging names—the average year of birth is 1982. Seven are based in New York, and four in London. There is a fairly wide spread in terms of nationality, with four American artists, two British artists and two artists of Swedish origin, the rest all from different countries. The majority of artists (13) are white, four artists of Asian origin, two black artists and one Latinx artist.
Eleven of these artists, including the leader of the list, Laura Berger, work primarily in figurative painting. The Chicago-based artist creates ethereal scenes, often monochromatic, filled with translucent images captured in moments of embrace. Meanwhile, five of the featured artists are known for their abstract work, and three—Alicia Adamerovich, Camilla Engström and Zoe McGuire—are also working in otherworldly paintings, including fantastical landscapes and transcendental views of nature.
Fashionable female artists
Every day, Artsy users follow artists to get notified when new work is uploaded to the platform. This barometer of artist popularity and commercial appeal, which is not based on available inventory, is an interesting addition to the query data. When an artist opens a new show, appears in the press, or simply when their gallery uploads attractive works that have just been released, we see the number of followers increase.
This cohort of artists, almost completely different from the previous group, is somewhat younger and more American, with 10 artists born in the USA.
At the top of the list is one of the most promising new stars in painting today, Grace Carney. The Minnesota-born, New York-based artist is increasingly known for his large-scale paintings, both confusing and fascinating, in which abstraction gently blends with the human form through a masterful handling of paint and color. Carney gained representation with PPOW last year and recently closed his first solo exhibition at the Tribeca gallery.
Generation Z female artists
Inspired by the parity we’re seeing among Gen Z artists gaining traction in the art market mentioned above, we’ve taken a closer look at the youngest generation of adults—here, the 1998 average—who are currently garnering the attention of the art world.
Notably, all the artists on this list focus at least to some extent on figurative painting. More interesting, however, is the strong representation here of artists from the African continent, compared to the subsets above. These include Congolese artist Cinthia Sifa Mulanga, who was featured in The Artsy Vanguard 2023–2024 and is known for her collage paintings featuring women and objects occupying striking architectural spaces; South African artists Zandile Tshabalala and Muofhe Manavhela, each with distinctive approaches to figurative painting; and Ghanaian artist Araba Opoku, whose striking acrylic paintings incorporating nature, abstraction and figure have caught the eye of galleries kó and Gallery 1957.
Late Women Artists
Of the various subsets of the market explored in this report, the late female artist is arguably the most stable, with names such as Louise Bourgeois, Joan Mitchell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Leonora Carrington, Alma Thomas and Agnes Martin becoming favorites at auction. in homes, as well as in blue-chip galleries and institutions. In this chart, focusing on Artsy’s growing survey of works by late female artists, we see several other artists who have achieved great auction results in recent years, including Leonor Fini, Ruth Asawa, and Elaine de Kooning.
Factors contributing to renewed interest in such artists include exhibitions in galleries and institutions, as well as their inclusion in biennials and major cultural events. Magdalena Abakanowicz, for example, was celebrated in an acclaimed Tate Modern exhibition last year, and her woven fiber sculptures graced the runway at Alexander McQueen’s spring/summer 2024 show at Paris Fashion Week in October. Such spotlights not only increase the recognition and marketability of the artist’s name, but also encourage new discussions about their contributions to art history.
Conclusion
While there are signs of positive change in our data and artists disrupting traditional markets, there is much room for improvement. In addition to the lack of equity between genders, the lack of diversity is also evident. While we are seeing some BIPOC and non-Western artists, most of the artists represented here are white and Western. More research is needed to examine the representation of non-binary or other genders in the art market.
By sharing this data, we aim to add an additional layer to our understanding of the gender dynamics at play in the art market. By taking greater account of existing differences, we can work towards a more inclusive, diverse and inclusive art market that supports more artists.
Methodology
This report is based on an analysis of Artsy’s online market inquiries and follower data from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023. Our study focuses on artist tracking and questions about artworks, which serve as proxies for sales and market interest. The query data we analyzed includes the volume of queries made about artists’ works on Artsy in 2023 and the number of people who asked about artists’ works.
To analyze year-on-year growth, we ensured that artists had at least 10 questioners or followers in 2022 to avoid hyperbolic statements of growth. The only exception is the section on the growth of Gen Z artist pollsters, where we lowered the threshold to account for artists’ newness to the market.
The methodology used seeks to understand the dynamics of today’s online art market by determining trends in the behavior of collectors. We acknowledge that the numbers represented here are influenced by galleries partnering with Artsy, the volume of artist work on the platform, and artists promoted through Artsy’s marketing channels. By analyzing aggregated query data and the different artists that engage users, we aimed to find the female-identified artists that resonated with Artsy users in 2023.
Download The Women Artists Market Report 2024.
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Casey Lesser
Casey Lesser is the Director of Content at Artsy.
Header and thumbnail, left to right: Marina Rheingantz, “Pangea”, 2020. Courtesy of the artist and Zeno X Gallery; Maya Fuji, “Buddy”, 2023. Courtesy of the artist and Hashimoto Contemporary.