Week 3: Female Patrons of the Arts

I’m not sure why, but when I think “Female Patron of Arts”, I think of Queen Cleopatra. Although maybe being a queen receiving gifts isn’t really considered a “patron”? Anyway, I wasn’t able to find any actual evidence of Cleopatra being a patron of the arts.

I would have thought that females were the main patrons of art. Maybe it’s because my parents do like buying paintings to decorate the house with. From my experience, the women in my family appreciate buying art more than the men.

A quick google suggests that the norm in the past was otherwise.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1358869?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Now thinking about it, it does make sense considering the social stigma against women in the past. Also, considering that it has been pretty much a patriarchal society where the men control the finances, it would be hard for women to dabble in such an expensive “hobby”.

Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, daughter of the Emir of Qatar, is one of the most influential female art patrons of today. She is said to have bought the most expensive painting int the world, Paul Gaugin’s When Will You Marry? in 2015 for $300 million. Other art works she has bought include Cezanne’s The Card Players in 2012 for $250 million, as well as Mark Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) in 2007 for $70 million, and a Damien Hirst pill cabinet for $20 million. She is also in possession of various works by Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Francis Bacon.

On a personal level, I do not always understand the price tag on art works. To me, buying and collecting art is like a form of investment, holding on to the piece and then selling it for a much higher price in the future. On the other hand, I like museums. I like how they make art works accessible to the general public. Sometimes I grumble when I see nice art pieces, search up for them and see them labelled under “Private Collection”. I get so jealous and envious that I could probably never see these art pieces in real life.

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