Provenance in practice: locating women in object histories

Museums have more work by women—both as makers and as collectors—than may be evident in walking through their galleries or even from a search of their databases. Women’s names and credit for their accomplishments as collectors have often been systematically removed, obscured through marriage, or hidden behind misogynistic mechanisms of the historical art market, which have typically placed a lower value on women’s labour and influence. Increasingly, institutions have recognised that locating the stories of these women creates more inclusive and representative object histories. This article considers key issues regarding women’s historical roles in object biographies as well as tools that can be used to locate and acknowledge the women who appear in both object provenances and institutional histories.