Do Women Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum?

In 1989, the Guerrilla Girls created one of their most emblematic communicative works: a poster with the question ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?’ over the image of a reclining female nude wearing a gorilla mask. The image refers to the well-known picture by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres entitled La Grande Odalisque, 1814 (Louvre Museum, Paris). The gorilla mask is habitually worn by this group of women artists and feminist activists when appearing in public. Located above the image on a yellow background – a colour particularly associated with the Guerrilla Girls – the poster presents the following data: ‘Less than 5% of artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.’

The poster was originally designed for an advertising campaign commissioned by the Public Art Fund in New York, but was rejected. In view of this, the Guerrilla Girls rented advertising space on public buses in New York until the company cancelled the contract, alleging the ima