East Dennis, Mass. – In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, Eldred’s is pleased to announce it will hold its first annual Women in the Arts Auction, scheduled for October 2021. The catalogued auction will feature listed American women artists, from 19th Century examples to important contemporary works, across a variety of mediums.

“The goal of the auction is to re-discover 19th and early 20th century female artists the market may be overlooking, and to provide a new sales channel for established contemporary female artists looking to expand their reach,” said Joshua Eldred, president of the firm.

“When I was a young boy, every artist I knew was a woman -- from my mother who drew for me, to my elementary school art teachers, to the neighbor who sold her paintings at local shows,” Eldred said. “When I envisioned an ‘artist’, I envisioned a woman. The sad reality, however, is that women are hugely underrepresented in the art world.”

Women make up about half of working artists nationwide, but their work makes up only 10 percent of museum and corporate collections. More than 60 percent of MFA students are women, but gallery shows are only 30 percent women artists. The all-time highest price paid at auction for a work of art by a man was $450.3 million, for DaVinci’s “Salvator Mundi”. The highest price paid for a work of art by a woman? It was one-tenth of that, $44.4 million for Georgia O’Keefe’s “Jimson Weed / White Flower No 1”. This imbalance of representation and sale price exists from the major metropolitan auction houses down to the regional auction rooms.

“While we know we won’t fix this overnight, we hope our Women in the Arts Auction starts us down a better path,” Eldred said.

The 250-lot auction is slated for early October 2021 and will consist of about 250 lots. An expansive auction catalog will include essays and biographies when appropriate. Absentee, phone and online bidding through Eldreds.com, Invaluable.com and LiveAuctioneers.com will be available, and the firm hopes to have in-person bidding as well, pending COVID guidelines at the time of the auction.

Eldred’s charitable partner for the auction is WE CAN, a 20-year-old organization on Cape Cod that serves more than 2,500 women annually with free and confidential legal services, employment and business support, and financial empowerment and personal development programs.

“Already, the encouragement and excitement expressed by our community and client base about the Women in the Arts Auction has been enormous,” Eldred said.

Consignment inquiries are now invited. Submissions can be made at www.eldreds.com, by emailing consign@eldreds.com, or phoning 508-385-3116.

About Eldred’s

The Robert C. Eldred Co. is New England's oldest established antiques and fine arts auction house, now in its third generation of ownership within the Eldred family. In addition to its headquarters on Cape Cod’s historic Old King’s Highway in East Dennis, Mass., the firm also has an office at 5 Roosevelt Avenue in Mystic, Ct. Eldred’s conducts approximately 25 auctions per year encompassing Americana, paintings, Asian art, European decorative art, maritime antiques, sporting art and collectibles. Eldred’s, the nation’s leading marine art auction house, conducts approximately 25 auctions per year encompassing Americana, paintings, Asian art, European decorative art, sporting art and collectibles in addition to marine art. It was recently named one of the top worldwide auction houses by Art + Auction and holds auction records across a wide range of collecting areas.  

For more information please call (508) 385-3116 or email info@eldreds.com.