Selling Women: A Very Unpopular Choice at Phillips’ “Under the Influence”

Numbers tell us that collectors will consistently pay more for art made by male artists. Why? It’s entirely unclear, but taking a look at the spring auction previews, collectors prefer men to women at a ratio of more than 3-to-1. There’s no way to rationalize this preference gap.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be compiling data, making spreadsheets, and charting out who’s in the spring contemporary art auctions at Phillips, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s. By tracking what’s actually happening, we here at AFC hope to figure out why these discrepancies exist, or at least make them that much more noticeable.

First up: Phillips’ Under the Influence New York auction, to be held on March 4, 2015. In the past, the sale has brought auction newcomers to the sales floor alongside works by blue-chip artists like Christopher Wool, Ed Ruscha, and Richard Prince. This year’s spring edition proves no different from auctions of years past; we’ll see works by younger artists like Artie Vierkant, Travess Smalley, and Petra Cortright right up next to the Warhols and Richters.

Number of lots: 213

Number of lots by men: 178 (83 percent of lots)

Number of lots by women: 36

Number of female artists: 30*

Number of male artists: 133**

Other notes: Based on the available lots, more of the figurative work are made by women and more of the abstract works are made by men.

Oddly, a work by Sophie Bueno-Boutellier made an appearance in the September edition of Under the Influence. Just months later, it’s going up on the auction block again. We bet someone’s hoping to get more than $313 for it this time.

Full list of artists:

Alex Prager

Analia Saban

Bettina Werner

Candida Höfer

Catherine Yass

Chantal Joffe

Diane Arbus

Jennifer Reeves

Jennifer Steinkamp

Jenny Holzer

Jessica Stockholder

Kaari Upson

Kika Karadi

Loretta Lux

Louise Bourgeois

Marilyn Minter

Michelle Sakhai

N. Dash

Nilofer Suleman

Nina Beier

Pae White

Petra Cortright

Rosson Crow

Sarah Crowner

Shinique Smith

Shirin Neshat

Sophie Bueno-Boutellier

Suling Wang

Tamar Halpern

Yayoi Kusama

Aaron Bobrow

Albrecht Schnider

Alex Hubbard

Alex Van Gelder

Alfred Bowman

Allan McCollum

André Butzer

Andreas Gursky

Andy Warhol

Angelo Filomeno

Anselm Reyle

Anton Henning

Artie Vierkant

Barnaby Furnas

BHQF

Bjarne Melgaard

Brendan Fowler

Brent Wadden

Carroll Dunham

Cheyney Thompson

Chris Martin

Christian Marclay

Cyprien Gaillard

Damien Hirst

Dan Christensen

Dan Colen

Dan Rees

Daniel Lergon

Daniel Turner

David Mach

David Ostrowski

Davis Rhodes

Dean Levin

Donald Baechler

Doug Starn and Mike Starn

Dylan Lynch

Eberhard Havekost

Edward Burtynsky

Elad Lassry

Elger Esser

Emil Alzamora

Ethan Cook

Evan Penny

Friedrich Kunath

Gabriel Hartley

Georg Herold

George Condo

Gerhard Richter

Gregor Hildebrandt

Günther Förg

Harif Guzman

Hugh Scott-Douglas

Idris Khan

Isaac Brest

Israel Lund

Jake and Dinos Chapman

James Lee Byars

James Welling

Jason Middlebrook

Jean-Baptiste Bernadet

Jeppe Hein

Jim Dine

Jim Shaw

Joe Bradley

Joel Sternfeld

John Gerrard

John Newsom

John Waters

Jonas Wood

Julian Opie

Justin Adian

Kehinde Wiley

Keith Haring

Kelley Walker

Ken Price

Kon Trubkovich

Korakrit Arunanondchai

Kour Pour

Leo Gabin

Lucien Smith

Mark Flood

Mark Grotjahn

Massimo Giannoni

Matthew Barney

Michael Ceulers

Michael Eastman

Michael Manning

Michael Ray Charles

Michael Staniak

Michelangelo Pistoletto

Nathan Hylden

Nazar Bilyk

Nick Darmstaedter

Olav Westphalen

Oliver Laric

Parker Ito

Paul Pfeiffer

Paul Shambroom

Peter Halley

Peter Sarkisian

Peter Zimmerman

Raqib Shaw

Rashaad Newsome

Rashid Johnson

Richard Aldrich

Richard Prince

Richmond Burton

Robert Polidori

Rodney Graham

Ronald Davis

Russell Young

Ryan Estep

Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinness

Sam Falls

Scott Reeder

Sebastian Black

Sergej Jensen

Slater Bradley

Sol LeWitt

Spencer Finch

Steven Shearer

Terence Koh

Thilo Heinzmann

Thomas Zipp

Travess Smalley

Ugo Rondinone

Victor Man

Vik Muniz

Walead Beshty

Wyatt Kahn

Zevs

*The art collective Bruce High Quality Foundation receives a count in both the “lots” and “artists” categories.

**Duos Mike Starn and Doug Starn and Jake and Dinos Chapman each received one individual count in the “artists” category.