Women's Art is Everywhere. But What Does the Data Say?

In recent years, many Polish museums have offered exhibitions focusing on women's art. Admittedly, these were not the first attempts to address this issue in the history of Polish exhibitions—as early as 1991, Agnieszka Morawińska, as curator, prepared the exhibition “Polish Women Artists” at the National Museum in Warsaw—but the fact that so many Polish institutions have taken up this theme in such a short time deserves attention.

The issue of women as a central research topic has recently been addressed in the exhibitions “A woman and a paintbrush? Nonsense!" (Lublin), “Destination Paris. Polish female artists from Bourdelle's studio” (Warsaw) and, perhaps most spectacularly, in the currently running “The Woman Question 1550–2025” (Warsaw).

Judging by the success of these events, it would seem that we are witnessing a positive change in the marginalization of women in the art world.

However, there are many voices critical of this phenomenon. Many of the recent events have focused on a handful of historical “great female artists” who joined the canon some time ago, such as Olga Boznańska, Zofia Stryjeńska, Tamara Łempicka, and Magdalena Abakanowicz.

As Emilia Dłużewska pointed out in an article for Gazeta Wyborcza, the attention of institutions focuses primarily on deceased artists, while the situation of those currently working could use improvement.

This is indicated by the data. According to statistics from the ArtFacts website, the overall participation of female artists in exhibitions in Polish galleries and museums is several times lower than that of male artists.

In Wrocław institutions, the share of female artists is 40%, in Warsaw – 38%, in Łódź – also 38%, and in Kraków – 33%.

Data from Katarzyna Kozyra Foundation's 2025 report showed disparities between the number of women studying at art colleges and, for example, the number of women holding professorial positions there.

While as many as 80% of students there are women, only 44% of doctoral graduates are women, and 20% of the professorial staff are women. In view of these data, questions arise not only about agency, but also about the long-term sustainability of the current trend of exposing women's art.