Hollywood, Art and Women Artists

Regarding “The Art of Hollywood’s Other Deals,” by Barbara Isenberg, May 12:

Ah, I finally understand why Hollywood pays its greatest actor (Meryl Streep) so much less than its greatest hack (Sylvester Stallone). It’s because Hollywood believes that women can’t be great artists.

Your callow cognoscenti dropped the names of more than 50 collectible artists, three of them women (and two of them safely dead). If these collectors bought art with independent vision rather than for sheepy status, their collections would have more Katherine Porter, Rosemarie Koczy, Therese Oulton, Nancy Van Goethem, Faith Ringgold, Barbara Kassel, Alice Aycock, Eva Hesse (and dozens of others) and less Salle, Schnabel and Shapiro. But then, that would mean taking a risk.

HANK DE LEO

Los Angeles