Women artists from around 1200 to 1850 worked against the backdrop of institutionalized sexism, distinct gender roles, and at times, fierce competition with their contemporary male artists. That is not to say, though, that women were not recognized as 'professional' artists in their own right during this time. This digital humanities project identifies and locates professional women artists working in Europe during the early modern (1200-1850) period. This project began with the question: “How many women artists are enough?” This question was meant to encourage art museums to dispel long-standing, inaccurate historical narratives that lead public audiences to essentialize and generalize conceptions of women’s production and agency when visiting art museums. It also reveals the consequences of lazy, sexist, and misogynistic art historical research practices, since women artists, if not always or consistently recognized with official titles (e.g., paintrix or ‘court artist’), were accepted as common during their lifetime.
Now, to return to the question, “How many women artists are enough?” This question and the complementary statistics I collected as a curatorial fellow offer a guide for ethical collection practices geared toward increased inclusivity and accessibility. It also draws attention to the politics of gender disparity within museum collections and begs the question of whether “How many male artists are enough?” is a more appropriate question. Thus, it may be more prudent to consider collecting works by women artists as a social justice initiative rather than identifying a precise percentage of women artists to determine how many are enough in a collection. According to the Baltimore Museum of Art's chief curator, Asma Naeem, who in 2020 began an initiative to collect works by women artists for one year, expressed how “…the goal is not to reach a percentage but to create a paradigm shift in how we view the ways that systemic biases and social structures have influenced what is defined as artistic excellence” (Voon, 2020).
