10 %, Art Museum, Pforzheim, Germany
For the first time, an exhibition is dedicated to the female artists from the collection. It shows a selection of around 40 female painters, draughtswomen and sculptors from the period from 1900 to the present day. In addition to the diversity of female positions in art, it also focusses on the conditions under which they were created: for example
living conditions, training, work and teaching opportunities, the role of private and professional initiatives and networks.
The low proportion of women in the collection is not a special case in Pforzheim. It shows the general discrimination and disregard for women artists and their work.
women artists and their work well into the 20th century. The role of women was fixed to their destiny as wives, housewives and mothers. In order to survive as an artist - a painter, draughtswoman or, even more rarely, a sculptor,
In addition to talent, it took strong self-confidence, assertiveness and a conscious rejection of social conventions. The latter ensured - also in Pforzheim - that female artists had fewer training opportunities. They received less support, recognised, exhibited, bought and collected - with with serious consequences for their representation in the art world and cultural heritage.