Cherche la femme?
ARTinvestment.RU   23 мая 2012

The relative coolness of the art market in relation to the work of the fairer sex thinks Economist

Louise Bourgeois Spider. 1996 Source:

ten most expensive works of postwar and contemporary art of female authors

ten most expensive works of postwar and contemporary art male authors

In early May, the company Christie's earned at the auction of postwar and contemporary art in New York, 388.5 million dollars - an absolute record for the auction house and the all-time record in this segment. But few noticed another, less dramatic, but nonetheless an interesting record: for sale were displayed 10 works by eight artists - thus, the ratio of the work of men and women in these trades was five to one, while in the evening auction at Sotheby's a similar theme dominated men with a score of 11 to 1.

Despite the fact that women in the Christie's auction came, they brought a total of only 17 million dollars - less than 5 percent of total revenue in the evening that is less than half the price of only one of Yves Klein (Yves Klein), sold in the same evening. Once again, the pattern was true that with the image of women stand expensive, but works by women - much more modest.

However, the prospects of women artists are gradually improving, according to the resource Artnet. If we compare the ten most expensive postwar work of men and women, or rather, even the first lines of these ratings, it may seem that men are, as always, on a horse - in fact 86.9 million for the painting of Mark Rothko, "Orange, Red, Yellow" no comparison did not come with a modest 10.7 million dollars earned by the principal lady-record holder, Louise Bourgeois (Louise Bourjois), more precisely, a huge bronze sculpture of "Spider". However, the authors of the male, constituting the top 10 most expensive postwar works today continue to live and work, only two, whereas in the women's top ten for five states are active to this day.

According to Amy Kapelatstso (Amy Capelazzo), head of postwar and contemporary art Christie's, with the change of generations related to the artist is gradually changing. Most recently, says Kapelatstso, women artists hardly be taken seriously. Need, according to a specialist, a restoration-rehabilitation period - and the prices of the women catch up with prices for the creation of men.

Among the ten most expensive works of postwar artists, men dominated the work of American artists of the style Pop Art and figurative British authors, while among the most expensive works of women (in particular - deceased) are dominated by abstract works. Turnover among the leading ladies, Joan Mitchell (Joan Mitchell), an abstract expressionist, who lived most of his life in France. Since the mid-1980s, Mitchell's work have brought 199 million dollars, followed by the hunt by collectors from Russia, Korea, France and the United States.

But still alive member ratings represent the diversity of artistic techniques and genres. Cady Noland (Cady Noland), which is the author of the most expensive living female artist (6.6 million) - a figurative sculptor, exploring the unattractive underside of the American dream. She has more than 10 years her works, so that the specialists have crept suspicion: if she did not stop making art altogether. Yayoi Kusama But (Yayoi Kusama), 83-year-old Japanese woman, is actively working for the past 50 years. Auction sales Kusama has competition among living artists. Black and White "Network Infinity" Kusama bring sellers the highest profit of her work, while the numerous colored engravings provide a frequent presence at the auction. In July, Kusama together with Louis Vuitton will release a line of clothing and accessories: one more step towards strengthening the market position of the artist.

Cindy Sherman (Cindy Sherman), fotodiva from New York whose self-portraits in various guises is often interpreted as a feminist, last year became the author of the most expensive photograph in history: her work in 1981 from the series "Turns" earned 3.9 million dollars. And while later with the first line of photographic podium Sherman drove the German Andreas Gursky (Andreas Gurski), the artist is still one of the few women whose work at the price it is competing with the works of the stronger sex - probably partly because the picture is not so long been officially granted the status of art and this area is not so jealously guarded the authority of generations of male geniuses.

Interestingly, auction records of the three distinguished ladies - Noland, Sherman, and Kusama - made possible by Philip Segal (Philippe Segalot), an adviser on art Mayassa Sheikha Al-Thani, 29-year-old daughter of the Emir of Qatar, has received Western education. Perhaps, I say a sense of female solidarity, but it's more likely that young buyers and their advisers have considered itself an evident need to include in a collection of works of women. I have the feeling that the future is a big change in relation to "women's creativity».

Almost 50 years ago, Contemporary Art challenged modernist myth that talent and originality - primary portion of masculinity . Artists who did not hide their homosexuality, such as Andy Warhol (Andy Warhol) and Francis Bacon (Fransis Bacon), became the leaders of the new art. Gradually, like a change of attitude affects women. In the 1960s, women did not even try to achieve great results in the market, plunged into work and building up the intellectual and creative luggage, which would have seriously considered, which led them to the austere abstract art and conceptual art. In 1980 the ladies gradually grew bolder and began to develop new techniques for themselves and genres, and although the museum world has already recognized them from the standpoint of the market, alas, they are still novices and dark horses.

Prepared by Mary Estrova, AI

Source : economist.com , artinvestment.ru