We often forget the impact women have had on the world of fine art collecting. Women have been championing the artistic vision of the artists around them for a while now. This is a fact that dates back to the ancient times of the Egyptians, and goes all the way up to the modern era, as some of the cofounders of the most famous art museums around the world are indeed women. Places like the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of Modern Art were founded by the likes of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller and Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Forbes reported in late 2023 that more wealthy women spent more on art than men did. Moving forward to 2024, the art-collecting industry is feeling more and more like it is governed by women from diverse backgrounds across the globe.

Let’s start in China, specifically Hong Kong, with Queenie Rosita Law, a 36-year-old art collector. She’s the founder and director of Q Contemporary, a gallery that opened in Budapest. However, she is now plotting to open another gallery, called Double Q, a gallery specifically meant to shine a brighter spotlight on overlooked artists in Hong Kong.

Jumping from China over to South Korea is where we find Lee Soyoung in Seoul. She is highly educated, with degrees in art history and art education. She has written multiple books on everything that comes with art collecting. Lastly, Soyoung is behind numerous art institutes for children and the general public.

Victoria Justice is a name in the art world that bounces from coast to coast in the United States. Either in New York City or Palo Alto, Justice has had her hand in many different art projects within the industry in America. She sits on the board at the Brooklyn Museum and is a co-chair of the Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums. Justice’s main focus throughout her career is to support artists of colour and their endeavors.

Pamela Joyner has become a standout name in art collecting, due to her acquisition of a Mark Bradford piece she purchased back in 2017. Since then, her collections have bounced around all over the U.S. Her exhibits have taken place in major cities like Baltimore, Chicago, Durham, and many more. Her focus is on abstract African-American art.

Makgati Molebatsi is a South African collector based in Johannesburg. She currently holds the title of Fine Arts Specialist at Aspire Art. Like all the women on this list, Molebatsi’s interest began the more she studied art on a regular basis outside of her day job, thus leading her to jump ship from the corporate world and into the life of working in an art gallery and auction. 2019 saw the launch of an art fair that she and some colleagues titled Latitudes, an event that was unfortunately short-lived, due to Cape Town taking most of the spotlight of South Africa’s art scene.

Catherine Petitgas is known by many for her support of Latin American artists and their works. Petitgas now lives in London, but she spent some time in Mexico City in the 1980s; it was there that she got the art bug. This did not become a passion of hers to be a collector, but more of a call-to-action to promote contemporary artists and have their work displayed. She’s been doing this for nearly three decades now.

Finally, there is Komal Shah. Originally from India, but now based in California, Shah feels like more of a philanthropist than just an average art collector. With her ties to figures in the tech industry, she comes to the table with a checkbook to help spotlight many different artists at once. Shah is a trustee for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Her causes align strongly with those of female artists, as she sits on the board of the Feminist Majority Foundation. Komal Shah sits on many boards for different organizations, but one that stands out a lot is the Stanford Arts Advisory Council. She’s a graduate of Stanford University, and with her spot on the board, she was able to launch a series of events that bring together the worlds of art and technology, titled Artists of the Future.

The patronage of these women mentioned above may not make front-page news or elevate them to high celebrity status, but that’s not the point. Their contribution to putting a spotlight on artists from all different backgrounds propels art for generations to come. The history of art is always being studied — from eras that date back centuries ago, to just a few decades prior to current times — and it must be noted that women helped create it.

Tyler Geis | Contributing Writer