The Contemporary Art System and Its Mediators: Women Gallery Owners in Brazil (1947–2000)

Online conference by Ana Paula Cavalcanti Simioni, Full Professor at the University of São Paulo, and fellow for a one-month in writing residency (USP-HERMES/MATRIMOINES) in June 2026 at the Paris IAS as part of the "Paris IAS Ideas" series.

Ana Paula joins the Paris IAS as part of the project HERMES/MATRIMOINES, led by Université Sorbonne Nouvelle.

The "Paris IAS Ideas" online lecture series offers short and stimulating presentations by researchers from the Paris Institute for Advanced Studies, marking the start of their month-long writing residency.

Session exclusively online and in English.
Free upon registration.
Registration is required via the form at the bottom of the page to receive the login link.

Presentation

This project is part of the debates in the sociology of contemporary art (Howard Becker, Pierre Bourdieu, Raymond Moulin, Nathalie Heinich, S. Sofio, etc.), which highlight the importance of the network of agents necessary for the production of the art world beyond the artists, who are usually more valued and studied. Between artists and the public, various mediators (such as curators, gallery owners, museum directors, collectors, critics, etc.) carry out activities crucial to the production of art, understood as a collective endeavor. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the history of a much-neglected group of mediators: art galleries and their female owners. In the 1970s, the golden age of the art market’s development in Brazil, it is estimated that 70% of São Paulo’s galleries were run by women (Durand, 2009). This data is even more interesting when contextualized, as it occurred during a period marked by strong political authoritarianism and restrictions on civil activities, including those of feminist groups, due to the Military Coup (1964–1985).

However, most of these galleries and their owners are unknown today; few have been studied, and the collections of these institutions are generally not institutionalized. Documenting, historicizing, and analyzing the trajectory of women gallery owners in Brazil in the second half of the  20th century is thus relevant for understanding the history of the Brazilian art system, from a perspective grounded in both the sociology of art and gender studies. This research is part of a collaborative project with France (HERMES/MATRIMOINES) led by the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, which is dedicated to the study of invisible female heritage.