As soon as International Women’s Day is over, the topic of equal rights goes quiet. Yet, promoting female artists is an ongoing task that goes far beyond this one day. The good news? Women artists are being collected more than ever before. But despite the progress, there are still challenges, from institutional recognition to price disparities in the art market.

We spoke to collectors and art experts about why focusing on women artists is important and what still needs to change.

Alexia Stuefer: A Feminist Approach to Collecting

 

Your collection strongly focuses on female artists—can you tell us more?
Feminism is at the heart of my collection. It includes women artists from all eras, regions, and media, emphasizing multidimensionality. It’s time to make it clear: women have always been part of art history.

 

What inspired this focus?
The idea struck me while driving—I wanted to highlight works with a feminist timbre. Feminist art is often seen too one-dimensionally, but I wanted to embrace its complexity. The response to my collection has ranged from rejection to enthusiasm—reflecting the very debates that feminist art provokes.

What’s your take on the visibility and market position of female artists today?
The top-tier market is still dominated by men because the art world follows patriarchal structures. Large-scale oil paintings by male “art stars” remain the most prestigious. While change is happening, it’s slow. But history shows that art resists being controlled, and now is the right moment to focus on female artists across periods.

 

Which female artists are you most excited about?
There are so many that listing them all would be impossible! We’re living in an exciting time where incredible art is being created—and, crucially, it’s more accessible than ever.

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Michelle Cotton: The Institutional Perspective

Michelle Cotton, Artistic Director of Kunsthalle Wien, Photo: Kunsthalle Wien

 

What are the biggest challenges for female artists in gaining institutional recognition?
For Radical Software: Women Art & Computing, I created my first all-female artist list—because historical imbalances needed addressing. While we don’t often talk about “female artists” as a category today, challenges remain. I know a lot of young artists struggle with the demands placed upon them early in their career, for example to be ever-present and visible professionally and socially. The expectation that artists hold down a daily studio practice or travel for residencies, meetings, site visits, juries, talks, installs, openings and fairs is often also in conflict with the realities of relationships or family life and I know these choices often weigh heavily on female artists.

 

How does Kunsthalle Wien support gender equality?
Supporting artists and striving for gender equality are key objectives for the institution.

 

Can you recommend female artists or exhibitions to watch?
Too many to list but I think that the artists featured in our recent and upcoming exhibitions is already a good starting list! It’s an exciting moment, with many contemporary art institutions in Europe now led by women—a major shift from 15 years ago and I find it a very positive and promising development.

 

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Collector Michal Borowik: Supporting New Narratives

 

What draws you to collecting work by young female artists?
My collection is guided by intuition and a curiosity for narratives that challenge dominant perspectives. The art world has long overlooked female artists, particularly emerging ones, yet many of them explore identity, body politics, and historical memory in urgent and powerful ways. Supporting their work isn’t just an aesthetic decision—it’s about fostering a more inclusive artistic landscape.

 

Is there a common theme in their work?
Rather than a single aesthetic, I see a shared sensibility in their ability to question norms. Agata Słowak navigates between the intimate and the political, confronting issues of gender and sexuality, while in different ways, exploring corporeality and interpersonal relationships, often in ways that challenge traditional representations of the female form. This willingness to push boundaries connects many of the female artists in my collection.

 

What still needs to change?
The art market still undervalues female artists. Institutions must reassess collections and exhibition programming to ensure they aren’t treated as an exception or a trend. Collectors, curators, and gallerists have a role in championing their work—not just through acquisitions but through sustained engagement. And we must address pricing disparities: There is a tendency to frame female artists’ work as personal rather than universal, which limits its perceived significance. Women’s work consistently sells for less than their male counterparts, even when their careers are equally established.

 

Who are some emerging female artists to watch?
Agata Słowak’s raw emotional intensity feels increasingly relevant. Karolina Jabłońska brings folklore and subconscious narratives into contemporary painting. Katarzyna Górna, whose exploration of memory and female identity resonates deeply. From a broader Central and Eastern European perspective, Kataryna Lysovenko and Ala Savashevich critically engage with historical narratives through a feminist lens.

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Sophia Vonier: Rethinking Representation

You once stated that you aim to represent 80% of women artists in your gallery program to counteract gender inequality—why does it still persist in the art world, which is widely regarded as self-critical and “woke”?

A few years ago, exhibitions featuring only male artists were not even criticized. Back in my student days, I once visited a gallery with my university professor, who asked the gallerist why the group exhibition only included male artists. The gallery owner replied, “We make the selection based on quality.”  That sentence burned itself into my mind, and little did I know I would hear it over and over again. It awakened something combative in me. Quality has no gender.

Young female artists are being bought more often nowadays—can you confirm this trend? 

Interest in the work of young female artists has grown in recent years. Institutions, biennials, and collectors are increasingly focusing on marginalized positions. That is undoubtedly progress, but it should not obscure the fact that the art market is still heavily dominated by male artists, particularly in the upper segments.

A lasting shift requires more than short-term attention: it takes long-term support, targeted acquisition policies by museums, fair pricing structures, and, above all, a critical examination of the art historical canon, which has sidelined female perspectives for centuries.

Which emerging female artists excite you right now, and why?

I find it fascinating how female artists today challenge traditional art historical narratives and develop new aesthetic and conceptual strategies. Many artists impress me, and that’s not necessarily tied to whether I work with them or not. A new addition to my program is Madita Kloss, who, with a powerful gesture and expressive visual language, takes elements from art history and pop culture, transforms them, and places them in a contemporary context.