Women Art Dealers: Creating Markets for Modern Art, 19401990

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Women Art Dealers brings together fascinating case studies of galleries run by women between the 1940s and 1980s. It marks a departure from other work in the field of art markets, challenging male-dominated histories by analyzing the work of female dealers who anticipated the global model, worked to promote art across continents, and thus developed an international art market.

Part 1 focuses on the women gallerists behind the promotion of modern art after World War II who participated in important research about the neo-Avant-Garde. Part 2 examines the contributions by women art dealers toward the birth of new markets through establishing the reputation of artistic genres, such as video art and photography, and working at the forefront of advancing contemporary art. Finally, Part 3 analyzes case studies from the southern European art scene, paying fresh attention to several under-researched markets in the region like Italy and Portugal.

Each chapter study provides a historiographic profile of the gallery under discussion and critical analysis is supported with a wide range of visual material including portraits of the women art dealers, photographs of the exhibitions they managed, and printed documentation like catalogues, invitations, and posters that were often used to support artists on display in experimental ways.

Reviews

Important for starting a conversation on how and why women were dedicated to promoting innovative art and artists ... A strong start to addressing gender imbalance in an emerging field of art history. * The Art Newspaper *
At a moment when art worlds are finally addressing gender inequalities, this timely volume highlights the crucial role that women art dealers played in shaping modern art markets. * Olav Velthuis, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands *
This insightful book provides us with 17 detailed portraits of daring and innovative women art dealers and modern art pioneers all around the world, crucially filling a gap in art-market history by focusing on female agency and risk-taking. * Julie Verlaine, Professor of Contemporary History, the University of Tours, France *
With its 19 thoroughly researched case studies, this fascinating book makes an important contribution to the study of the achievements of women art dealers in the latter half of the 20th century, filling existing gaps in our understanding of the vital role women have played in the art market. * Nadine Oberste-Hetbleck, Director of ZADIK | Central Archive for German and International Art Market Studies, University of Cologne, Germany *

Author Bio

Vronique Chagnon-Burke is an art historian, co-founder of Women Art Dealers Digital Archives, co-chair of The International Art Market Studies Association, section editor for the Art Market Dictionary, and former Director of Christies Education in New York (20022021).

Caterina Toschi is Associate Professor of contemporary art history and history of photography at the University for Foreigners of Siena, Italy. She is co-founder of Women Art Dealers Digital Archives and Senzacornice, and Associate Director of the Santa Maddalena Foundation.