Sotheby’s has released a report on women artists in the global art market.
The share of women artists in the auction market by sales value has more than doubled, from 6.2% in 2018 to 13.8% in 2024.
Women artists accounted for 23.6% of auction lots in 2024. A total of 1,148 women artists were represented at major auctions, which is the highest number of female artists ever recorded in the auction market.
From 2018 to 2024, sales for male authors decreased from $7.95 billion to $4.21 billion over the same period, while women artists achieved a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%.
Collectors are increasingly willing to invest in art by women artists, and auction houses are allocating more resources toward their promotion.
From 2018 to 2024, the representation of women artists grew across all market segments: Impressionists (up 18.2%), Modernism (up 56.4%), Post-War art (up 69.6%), Contemporary art (up 103.2%), and Ultra-Contemporary art (up 290%).
Mega-galleries control 80% of the market for women artists. Thirty out of the fifty most expensive women artists are represented by David Zwirner, Gagosian, Pace, Hauser & Wirth, White Cube, Sprüth Magers, Berggruen, and Mnuchin.
Women artists from the Global South (Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa) are becoming more visible, accounting for 34.4% of the value, 21.5% of the lots sold, and a 20.6% share of women artists at auctions in 2024.
Auctions in New York lead the sales of works by women, making up 62.7% of the sales value and 55.4% of the lots in 2024. London is also gaining momentum. However, earlier achievements in Hong Kong have declined, with sales of female artists there falling by 50.4% in 2024.
The reliance on donations of works by women artists by benefactors (such as TATE and MoMA), rather than proactive acquisitions, suggests that museums may still be under-investing in female artists.
Telegram channel about women in art — murmure.
In the photo: a work by Irina Zatulovskaya.
