Baltimore Museum of Art to Only Purchase Works by Women in 2020

A study published earlier this year showed a major gender gap in works displayed at the nation’s art museums. The study, led by researchers at Williams College in Massachusetts, examined the holding of 18 major art museums in the United States. They found that 87 percent of the holdings were artworks created by men.

The Baltimore Museum of Art has 95,000 works of art. Just 4 percent were created by women. Now the museum is taking a major step to address the imbalance.

Christopher Bedford, the director of the Baltimore Museum of Art, told the Baltimore Sun that “you don’t just purchase one painting by a female artist of color and hang it on the wall next to a painting by Mark Rothko. To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.”

Indeed, the museum is doing so. The museum announced that for the 2020 calendar year, it will purchase only works by artists who identify as women. (The museum will still accept works of male artists if they are donated to the museum.)