TY - CONF

T1 - Gender parity and arts prizes

T2 - 'Only men are capable of aesthetic greatness'

AU - Gorrill, Helen

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - In 2008, the art critic Brian Sewell made the statement ‘There has never been a first-rank woman artist […] Only men are capable of aesthetic greatness’. This paper examines the gender (in)equalities within visual arts prizes alongside Sewell’s statement, noting which regions have the greatest equalities and inequalities in prizes. The prizes examined range across the world, and include: Abraaj Group Art Prize, Bucksbaum Award, Hugo Boss Prize, Jameel Prize, John Moores Painting Prize, Marcel Du Champ Prize, MENA Art Prize, New Contemporaries, Turner Prize, and Venice Biennale prizes. The paper argues that arts prizes have an impact on artists’ economic values, demonstrating that the symbolic value attributed to the nomination of an award or prize has converted into or supported the increase of an artist’s economic capital. Concurrently, the sample is also examined to predict to what extent prizes influence upon museum inclusion, in other words, whether one force of symbolic capital impacts upon another.

AB - In 2008, the art critic Brian Sewell made the statement ‘There has never been a first-rank woman artist […] Only men are capable of aesthetic greatness’. This paper examines the gender (in)equalities within visual arts prizes alongside Sewell’s statement, noting which regions have the greatest equalities and inequalities in prizes. The prizes examined range across the world, and include: Abraaj Group Art Prize, Bucksbaum Award, Hugo Boss Prize, Jameel Prize, John Moores Painting Prize, Marcel Du Champ Prize, MENA Art Prize, New Contemporaries, Turner Prize, and Venice Biennale prizes. The paper argues that arts prizes have an impact on artists’ economic values, demonstrating that the symbolic value attributed to the nomination of an award or prize has converted into or supported the increase of an artist’s economic capital. Concurrently, the sample is also examined to predict to what extent prizes influence upon museum inclusion, in other words, whether one force of symbolic capital impacts upon another.

M3 - Conference paper

ER -