Women Artists at The Art Institute of Chicago

Working in the art industry for over a decade means that I am very familiar with the evolving discourse surrounding historically underrepresented groups in the canon of art history. I distinctly remember the industry’s reaction to a study published by the Public Library of Science in 2019, which found that in the permanent collections of America’s Museums, 85% of artists are white, and 87% of the artists are male. Institutions were falling over themselves to make amends and pledging to acquire more works by historically underrepresented groups. A later study of 31 US museums found that the underrepresentation of these groups was still abysmal, with female artists making up 11% of acquisitions between 2008 and 2020, and only 14.9% of solo and group exhibitions. The Art Newspaper goes on to explain, “The situation is compounded for Black American female artists: comprising 0.5% of museum acquisitions, they are “underrepresented by a factor of 13” compared with the demographics of the US population.”

So when I recently took my children to The Art Institute of Chicago for the first time, I wanted to ensure they saw women artists represented in the museum. Ever a planner (especially when traveling with an entourage of small children), I searched “Women Artists at the Art Institute of Chicago.” I was dismayed to find that the meta-description of the “Women artists” page highlighted Van Gogh, Picasso, and Warhol (screenshot receipt below). Given Picasso’s notorious chauvinism, his inclusion in the description of the Women Artists page was a particularly puzzling choice.

At a minimum, the meta description for the women artists page should highlight the women artists in the permanent collection. A bolder request would be to include a woman and/or person of color in the general meta-description that is used for the institution as a whole. However, allocating 1/3 of the meta-description triumvirate wouldn’t exactly be representational of the permanent collection at The Art Institute of Chicago.

While not a perfect methodology, the Art Institute of Chicago’s website lists that there are 4,029 artwork results when using the search filter for artworks on view. Of that, 214 artwork results on view are women artists— roughly 5%. Keep in mind that 68 “women artists” artworks on view are individually counting the miniatures by Narcissa Niblack Thorne, and 14 are pieces by Georgia O’Keeffe. There are 124,849 artwork results in total, of which 8,161 artwork results are women artists— about 7%. At this juncture, I am really hoping there is a malfunction with the search filters.

So in honor of Women’s History Month, here is a short list of the women artists you should make time for when you next visit The Art Institute of Chicago:

• Gertrude Abercrombie (American, 1909–1977): Arts of the Americas, Gallery 262

• Georgia O’Keeffe (American, 1887–1986): Arts of the Americas, Gallery 265

• Maria Montoya Martinez (San Ildefonso, 1886–1980): Arts of the Americas, Gallery 265

• Mary Cassatt (American, 1844–1926): Arts of the Americas, Gallery 273

• Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928–2011): Modern and Contemporary Art, Gallery 291

• Joan Mitchell (American, 1925-1992): Contemporary Art, Gallery 291

• Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, born 1929-): Contemporary, ArtGallery 291

• Marlene Dumas (South African, born 1953 -): Contemporary Art, Gallery 295

• Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954-): Contemporary Art, Gallery 296

• Eva Hesse (American, born Germany, 1936–1970): Contemporary Art, Gallery 297

Additionally, the exhibition, “Radical Clay: Contemporary Women Artists from Japan,” features art from 36 women artists and is open through June 3, 2024. The exhibition is curated by Janice Katz, Roger L. Weston Associate Curator of Japanese Art.

Furthermore, there is an upcoming Gallery Conversation at AIC (details below). If you find yourself frustrated by the assorted statistics in this post, show up to this event, and other events like them. Showing up is one of the best ways to demonstrate to institutions that we want to see more art by historically underrepresented and marginalized groups. You can also check out Art Herstory for exhibitions and relevant news.

Gallery Conversation: Female Makers in Dialogue

Monday, March 18 2:00-2:45

“Join Annelise K. Madsen, Gilda and Henry Buchbinder Associate Curator in Arts of the Americas, for a conversation exploring women artists in the early 20th century and the ways their works speak to one another and the rich history of U.S. modernism.”

Shop Girls, c. 1912

Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones (American, 1885-1968)