MAG The Women Gallery Gives Women Artists a Global Platform

When Jean-Baptiste Bettencourt left a nearly 37-year career as a senior executive at L’Oréal, he set out to build something entirely new. In 2024, he founded MAG The Women Gallery, the first online gallery dedicated exclusively to women artists, creating a global platform where emerging and established creators can share their work with collectors worldwide.

The idea grew from Bettencourt’s own upbringing. Raised by two artists, he watched his mother gradually step away from her creative practice to support his father’s career, a revealing experience that demonstrated how talented women artists often receive less visibility than their male peers. Rather than dwell on that imbalance, Bettencourt transformed it into an opportunity to champion women artists and help broaden their place within the contemporary art market.

Today, MAG The Women Gallery presents original paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper by artists from around the world. Drawing on decades of experience identifying and developing talent, Bettencourt has created a platform that expands visibility, connects artists with international collectors, and celebrates the breadth of contemporary women’s artistic practice.

MAG’s roster is diverse. Photographer, filmmaker, and visual artist Elizabeth Lennard, for example, explores the relationship between image and literary text through work exhibited at institutions including the Louvre and the Grand Palais, signaling the gallery’s commitment to internationally recognized artists.

Claude Stassart-Springer captures memory and the natural world through expressive pastel and charcoal compositions. Vietnamese artist Tô Bich Hai works across painting, sculpture, and drawing, examining identity and cultural heritage through densely layered imagery that pushes the expressive limits of each medium.

Few stories embody the gallery’s mission more fully than Isabelle Debray. After years away from her artistic practice because of limited recognition, Debray returned to the studio with the support of MAG. Her intimate, poetic works now reach collectors who otherwise may never have encountered them. Her journey illustrates the gallery’s larger purpose of helping artists reclaim both visibility and creative confidence.

MAG The Women Gallery views representation as only the beginning. Bettencourt founded the platform to create meaningful market opportunities for individual artists while contributing to a broader reassessment of women’s place within art history. The gallery promotes advocacy alongside visibility, seeking lasting cultural change rather than temporary attention.

Founded in 2024, MAG The Women Gallery is the first virtual gallery dedicated exclusively to women artists, connecting collectors worldwide with original paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper.

Whoever comes here sits down together, not being afraid of how much to receive, Magical power turns to something less into a lot, Will the virtuous elders kindly give alms equally to every wandering souls, Pencil Lead, Tô Bich Hai