Overview
In 2013 Georg Baselitz declared that ‘women don’t paint very well’. Whilst shocking, his comments reveal what Helen Gørrill argues is prolific discrimination in the artworld. In a groundbreaking study of gender and value, Gørrill proves that there are few aesthetic differences in men and women’s painting, but that men’s art is valued at up to 80 per cent more than women’s. Indeed, the power of masculinity is such that when men sign their work it goes up in value, yet when women sign their work it goes down. Museums, the author attests, are also complicit in this vicious cycle as they collect tokenist female artwork which impinges upon its artists’ market value. An essential text for students and teachers, Gørrill’s book is provocative and challenges existing methodologies whilst introducing shocking evidence. She proves how the price of being a woman impacts upon all forms of artistic currency, be it social, cultural or economic and in the vanguard of the ‘Me Too’ movement calls for the artworld to take action.
Full Product Details
Author: Helen Gørrill (Royal Academy of Arts, UK)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.80cm
Weight: 0.620kg
ISBN: 9781501359033
ISBN 10: 1501359037
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 06 February 2020
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
The content of Women Can't Paint will shake the foundations of an institution where the glass ceiling is not only ?rmly in place, but as Gorrill presents, is descending. * Technical Communication * A detailed analysis of how women are sidelined in the art world - and how they can fight back... a sound expose of the systematic vilification of art by women. * Times Higher Education *
Written with infectious zeal, Women Can't Paint is a resounding riposte to those scholars, artists, curators, collectors and institutions who yet attempt to hide their chauvinism behind the veneer of 'quality'. Packed full of substantial facts and figures, the book insists that readers examine the ways in which value in the arts has been constructed to exclude women, artists of colour and work that resides beyond the limits of a very narrow and Eurocentric canon. While it is possible that Gorrill's polemical study will anger some, it is highly probable that it will empower many others to make changes long overdue. * Marsha Meskimmon, Loughborough University, UK *
Author Information
Helen Gørrill holds a PhD in the gendered economic and symbolic values in contemporary painting. She is an artist, academic and author, lecturing in visual culture and (in)equalities.
