Men earn 50% more than women in Dutch art world

In the Dutch art world, men earn about 50 percent more than women, according to a joint study by ABN Amro and the interest group WOMEN Inc.

“Although the majority of Netherlands residents are aware that male artists earn more than their female colleagues, this big difference comes as a surprise to many,” the researchers said.

According to the report, this gender inequality is also apparent in the fact that only 13 percent of artworks in the Netherlands’ eight largest museums are by female artists. “Moreover, 70 percent of all exhibitions in the Netherlands do not contain any work made by a woman,” said ABN Amro and WOMEN Inc., an organization that works for the emancipation of women.

According to the organizations, “unconscious biases” result in people valuing art lower the moment they find out a woman made it. “The inequality in the art world is illustrative of the inequality that exists between women and men throughout society.”