Still A Man's World in Modern Art

I find it amazing and disturbing the disparity between what modern art created by men garnishes on the open market opposed to what women working in similar genres collects in the same market. The monetary gap is so disparate it makes me ponder what it says about modern society and a woman's place in that society. Let us not forget the struggle and plight women have had to endure in America alone with the suffrage movement. Male chauvinistic attitudes appear to be prevalent in terms of art collecting as well, and the notion of women as being contemplative, talented and diverse as their male counterparts I believe is still widely unacceptable to some men in Western thought. If you don't want to take my word for it, let's take a look at the numbers. I will do a simple comparison and background of similar artist both male and female, and let you decide for yourself.
First up is Irene Zevon, 1918-2006, an American born painter from Ukrainian decent who was heavily influenced by the works of the Cubist Movement and in particular, Fernand Leger, who work with her mentor in the genre in the early 20th Century. Zevon went on to become a famous established artist, mastering mixed media to to work within an abstract figurative style which can be found on display at the Dallas and San Francisco Museums of Fine Art. A look at her "Centrifugal Composition" from 1958 below, shows her mastery of the acrylic medium to create a semi large canvas of vibrant color that plays with lighting and shadows in it's interpreted meaning to the viewer.

Zevon's panting is currently available for purchase at The Benjamin Gallery in Buffalo, NY. The anticipated acquisition price is somewhere between $2,500 and $5,000. At most it will garnish double the maximum acquisition price if a collector is "zealous" about the artist and her work.
Now, let's look at Fernand Leger, 1881-1955, a French artist considered to be one of the pioneers of the cubism movement, who knew of Zevon and could be considered a mentor to her. Leger was more concerned with the rise of industrialism and it's effects on society. His abstract style was symbolic of the everyday busy nature of mass production, and attempted to reference this through abstract depictions of symbols of industrialism such as railroads, trains, buildings, skyscrapers, etc. His "Les Usines" of 1918, shown below, was completed the same year Zevon was born. The piece is beautifully constructed in the traditional medium oil on canvas,  and gives a sense of fragmented industrialism through mastery of color and light . The shiny metallic looking flutes, the robotic hand imagery, all place the viewer in the mindset of a factory, which is the loose translation of Les Usines( the factories; interconnected factories,like a stamping and assembly plant in the auto industry, for instance).

The aforementioned Leger painting sold at auction at Sotheby's last year to a private collector for $14,320,000 USD. It opened at a modest bid of $5,000,000 USD. Amazing! A master artist and a master understudy, and the understudy garnishes a sale price less than 1% of the master's commission. If you do not feel there is a large disparity in the art world due to sex you are sadly mistaken. I feel it will take years of established women artists such as Cindy Sherman opening doors for their female counterparts to change the habits and perceptions of a woman's worth in the art world. Until next time-

S. Marty McLaughlin