The highest price at auction for a work by the French sculptor Germaine Richier is £1.2m, compared with £91.6m for Alberto Giacometti, who studied alongside Richier in Émile-Antoine Bourdelle’s studio in the 1920s. Such disparity between artists of similar expertise is all too common in the art market, and something that Bonhams is hoping to redress next month by including more female artists in its post-war and contemporary sale.
Of the 49 lots to be offered on 11 February, 10% are by women—far from an equal ratio, but a great deal higher than the market average. In 2012, for example, only 6.5% of works offered at auction were by female artists.
A sculpture by Richier, Le cheval à six têtes (1954-56), is the most expensive of the five works by women on the block, with an estimate of £200,000 to £300,000. Ralph Taylor, the senior director of post-war and contemporary art at Bonhams, says the gap between her record and Giacometti’s is “pronounced”.
“In her career, Richier explored many of the same themes and techniques as Giacometti in her bronzes and yet her highest result at auction is only 1% of his record,” Taylor says. “No one can make a convincing case that Richier is merely 1% of the quality of Giacometti so it’s for collectors to explore where the genuine value potential lies.”
The other works by female artists in the sale carry more modest estimates. A watercolour by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is expected to sell for £25,000-£35,000; a punched plastic work by the self-taught Italian artist Dadamaino carries an estimate of £35,000 to £45,000; a sky-blue painting by the Sicilian Carla Accardi is estimated at £25,000 to £35,000, as is a wooden sculpture by the US artist Louise Nevelson.
The auction reflects a groundswell of opinion that female artists should no longer be under recognised and undervalued compared with their male counterparts. The latest installment of the Artist Rooms project, first launched by art dealer Anthony d’Offay in 2008, will put women centre stage. Tate Modern is to dedicate the first of its permanent Artist Rooms to the late Louise Bourgeois, while Phyllida Barlow was named the 40th artist to join the project earlier this month. Meanwhile, the Saatchi Gallery chose to mark its 30th anniversary with an exhibition of women artists, called Champagne Life (until 6 March).
In the US, the Rubell Family Collection is hosting an all-female line-up (No Man’s Land, until 28 May) and Dallas Contemporary is presenting Black Sheep Feminism: The Art of Sexual Politics (until 18 March).
