The art world has been a men’s club. Now, it’s changing

Male creators, put simply, have been noticed. Given the gift of attention. But now we’re entering an era of matronage, yes matronage, and what a glorious concept it is.

Male artists have been noticed for so very long, and now it’s the women’s turn. Picture: istock

For hundreds of years fortunate men of alchemical creativity have enjoyed the confidence-bestowing cushioning of patronage. They’ve benefited from the munificence of other generous men who’ve wanted them soaring by providing the financial means to create, as well as the institutions and gallery spaces to showcase their work. The result, a canon cemented into art history with scarcely a female in it. Male creators, put simply, have been noticed. Given the gift of attention. Helped by other men to create expansively, in economic freedom, which has aided in perpetuating that alluring talisman of the male genius. There’s a reason why we rarely hear of female geniuses in the art world.

Consider Artemisia Gentileschi, Hilma af Klint, Frida Kahlo, Mary Cassatt, Clarice Beckett, Ethel Carrick – all female artists whose talents were downplayed, sometimes even attributed to male artists. Women throughout history have had limited access to painterly training or opportunities to exhibit. Have been expected to do something else: support men. Female artists have been written out of history, marginalised or ignored by curators, critics, other artists (sometimes their partners), galleries and historians.

A 1943 self-portrait by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Beaumaris artist Clarice Beckett.

That system of patronage extends beyond money to those who talk about art; to reviewers whose work feeds into who gets selected and promoted. This clubby arrangement works in other artistic arenas too, like composing and filmmaking. When so many of the gatekeepers are male, it’s very hard for women to cut through.

But now we’re entering an era of matronage, yes matronage, and what a glorious concept it is. It’s about women of independent means supporting female creatives – a new ecosystem of artistic endeavour. Women are increasingly wealthy in their own right and there’s a new breed of female philanthropists who want to give something back; reach out a hand to lift their own kind up after centuries of neglect.

As a female creator, it’s incredibly moving. It’s like an underground railway of women helping other women. Which brings me to an exhilarating exhibition at the Ngununggula art space in Bowral. Seven emerging Australian female painters have been given the means to create by a circle of women philanthropists, who wanted them to work on a series of paintings without the added stress of having to scrape together a buck. The theme for the show is, most beautifully, “Tender”, that word of grace that women are lured to; sexually, emotionally, creatively. “I think it’s really empowering to do a show dedicated to women,” the gallery’s director, Megan Monte, explains. Monte doesn’t know of another model of philanthropy like it in Australia.

Sarah Drinan and Dionisia Salas exhibited in Tender, Ngununggula art space in Bowral. Picture: Mim Stirling

Painter Dionisia Salas: “The history of art says women who paint can’t be mothers. In terms of my canvases, I’m about scaling up, as a mother. About them becoming wetter. It’s such a place of possibility. As a mother, things pour out of you. They pour at you.”

Painter Amber Wallis: “I’m really interested in invisibility, as a woman ... There are deep themes of tenderness. Notions of care. Sexuality. Trauma.” Male creators do not tend to talk like this; it’s a new language for art.

Our big galleries are cottoning on to the seismic changes underway in their world; the lucrative hunger for female painters and their back stories. And as more women become independently wealthy, more female artists will flourish. Will be reviewed, platformed, feted, added to the pantheon. Painter India Mark sums up the collective’s response to the show’s theme: “The word that comes to mind when I think of tender is … care.” This luminous exhibition is all about the gift of caring. Of noticing. Male artists have been noticed for so very long, and now it’s the women’s turn.