History offers prominent examples ofwomen who were more successful thantheir partners. Judith Leyster, a renowned17th-century Dutch genre painter, producedmuch less work after marrying the painter JanMiense Molenaer, but today her reputation andmarket far exceed his. Natalia Goncharova, whocofounded Rayonism with her lifelong partner,Mikhail Larionov, has recently become a starof the Russian avant-garde at auction, witha record of more than $10.9 million—far beyondthose of any of her comrades but Malevich. Andthe work of Franco-Portuguese abstract painterMaria Elena Vieira da Silva, a major artist inpostwar Paris, remains better known—and pricier—than that of her husband, the late Hungarianabstractionist Arpad Szènes.

These days, the picture for marriedartists has changed considerably: Often thewife is more famous and successful. The Serbianperformance artist Marina Abramović had beena star for more than 30 years by the time shemarried the much younger Italian sculptorPaolo Canevari. The Turner Prize winner RachelWhiteread is married to another sculptor,Marcus Taylor; although they were both in thefirst wave of YBAs, his career has never taken offas dramatically as hers. Cornelia Parkershusband, the painter Jeff MacMillan, was herstudio assistant in the ArtPace residencyprogram in 1997. And Inka Essenhighs paintingcareer first bloomed in the 1990s, long beforethat of her husband, Steve Mumford. He went toIraq in 2003 to chronicle the American invasionand believes her emotional support was crucial.“The fact that she’s made more money is somethingI’ve struggled with,” says Mumford, whoproduced written and painted dispatches thatwere later published as a book, “but it’s inspiringto be in a relationship with another creative person. The benefits outweigh the costs.”

"Ladies First" originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's October 2008 Table of Contents.