Anita Selzer says museum bookstores should spotlight women artists

Award-winning author Anita Selzer says the rise of women artists in U.S. museums should carry over into museum bookstores, where she sees a gap in books about women’s contributions to art history. Her Female Gaze in Art and Photography series is meant to help fill that space as museums broaden representation.

Why it matters: - Museum galleries are showing more women artists, but museum bookstores have not kept pace. - Selzer argues books can extend that visibility and give visitors a fuller view of women’s place in art history. - The shift matters because museum retail can shape what audiences take home, read and remember after an exhibition.

What happened: - Award-winning author Anita Selzer said the momentum around women artists in American museums should continue into bookstore shelves. - She pointed to the Whitney Museum of American Art’s exhibition Amy Sherald: American Sublime as part of a broader move toward greater representation. - Selzer said visitors still have trouble finding enough books that focus on women artists and their contributions. - More information is available on Selzer’s website.

The details: - Selzer said women make up about half of all visual artists in the United States. - She said women’s work has historically held a much smaller share of museum collections and the global art market. - She said books about women artists have become more common over the past 20 years, but still receive less attention than books about men. - Selzer’s The Female Gaze in Art and Photography series is meant to address that gap. - Volume One features 20 contemporary women artists and photographers from around the world. - Volume Two focuses on influential women artists from history. - Volume Three will spotlight pioneering Australian women artists. - The series has received the Independent Press Award, National Indie Excellence Award, Next Generation Indie Book Award and Big Book Award.

Between the lines: - Selzer is making a retail argument as much as a cultural one: museum bookstores can either reinforce gaps in representation or help close them. - The pitch suggests that exhibitions alone may not be enough to sustain public attention on women artists. - The book series positions itself as both a commercial product and a corrective to art-history blind spots.

What's next: - Selzer says museum bookstores have an opportunity to broaden the selection of titles they stock. - She expects books to play a bigger role in helping visitors leave museums with a deeper understanding of women artists. - Selzer is available for interviews.