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Female and male portraiture in the Renaissance
Masculinity in art
Artemisia gentileschi self portrait as the allegory of painting
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Recommended: Female and male portraiture in the Renaissance
The painting I chose was done by the Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, entitled “Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting” and also called “Autoritratto in veste di Pittura” in Italian. Artemisia Gentileschi is boldly stating that she is the emblem of art, especially during a time when men dominated the world of art and women weren’t respected as artists or as functioning people in general. To me, this painting captures her looking beyond the struggles that female artists faced, and creating a new future of women composing art that surpasses them only being nude in paintings. Her facial expression is determined and focused, but also insightful and hopeful. Rather than painting herself in a way that accentuates her body in a desirable way,
Women in media have been developed over many years to appear and pose a certain way, to achieve a certain appearance. Historical oil paintings, dated back to 1500s, have one customarily viewer, this being males. ‘Male gaze’ is described to be the ‘sexual objectification of women in fine art, as well as other various media outlets’, that the media/paintings, has a male spectator observing the female being painted or photographed. Females in historical oil paintings have been commissioned and painted by men, making them the typically viewer of media/paintings. Women learned to be aware of this ‘gaze’ as they have been under strict conditions by their fathers, husbands by being subjugated and kept illiterate, this being through the Renaissance
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) is one of the few best known female artists in Western history, and rightfully so. She was an extraordinary woman and painter from the 17th C that was known for her Caravaggio-esque style and brilliantly strong female forms. She thrived in the Baroque period with various patrons all around Europe, and yet, she was mostly forgotten after her death. She appears to have been a grandmaster of the period, yet fell short historically. This begs the question of why? The contemporary answer has been because she is a woman. The introduction of the feminist perspective into art history, and society overall, has been undeniable and ever-changing. The change from a mono-perspective of the male to the multiple that includes women about women in a mans world was and still is radical. Historically, economically, legally and socially women have been valued as less than men because of the patriarchal structure of society, and this can be seen in Artemisia's case and
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
First, I will discuss the piece that inspired Picasso and Matisse, The Large Bathers. This was painted by Paul Cézanne from 1898-1905 (“The large bathers, 1898-1905 by Paul Cezanne,” 2010). The painting depicts a group of nude woman in front of a lake; the triangle made by the trees attracts the onlooker to the distant figure in the background as well as the lake. The painting is sultry and allows the viewer to gaze into an illustration of natural looking woman, who appear in normality, sitting around the lake just conversing about their daily occurrences, maybe even bitching about their husband’s and kids, as woman do.
The painting depicts two figures, the one of a woman and of a man. The dominating central figure is the one of the woman. We see her profile as she looks to the left. Her hands are crossed in a graceful manner. She has blonde hair and her figure is lit by what seems to be natur...
Overall Titian was able to convey the most ideal embodiment of female sensuality and grace all the while still upholding the artistic standards or composition. He took a subject matter(the female portrait) and supported her beauty with imagery that solidified and already iconic ideal
Alice Neel’s painting Suzanne Moss was created in 1962 using oil paint on canvas. As the title suggests, the painting depicts a woman’s portrait. Now resigning in the Chazen Museum in Madison, WI, this portrait of a woman lunging is notable for the emotional intensity it provokes as well as her expressionistic use of brush strokes and color. The scene is set by a woman, presumably Suzanne Moss, dressed in dull back and blues lounging across a seat, staring off to the side, avoiding eye contact with the viewer. The unique style and technique of portraiture captures the woman’s piercing gaze and alludes to the interior emotions of the subject. In Suzanne Moss, Alice Neel uses desultory brush strokes combined with contrast of warm and cool shadows
The artwork that I chose is by an American artist name Randolph Roger. He carved a beautiful sculpture of Nydia. He made the model in 1855 and carved it in 1860. The sculpture is named “Nydia, the blind girl of Pompeii”. Randolph used marble to carve the sculpture of Nydia. The subject is a young blind girl who has an expression of devastation. The way her face is frowned shows me that she is downhearted. Her eyes, eyebrows and mouth is slanted into a frown.
Artemisia Gentileschi is known as the most influential female painter in the Renaissance. She was born in Rome on July 8th, 1593, to Orazio Gentileschi and Prudentia Montone . Though she was the eldest of five children, she was the only one to show artistic talent and interests, which led to her father’s decision to begin tutoring her. Having grown up with an artist as a father, it is self evident that Artemisia learned the basics of the art world from her father, Orazio. It was not until the year 1614, “with the backing of powerful patrons and fellow artists, [that] Artemisia [became] the first woman to be admitted to Florence’s Accademia del Disegno,” and it was there that she became acquainted with Galileo Galilei. Interestingly enough, due to correlating dates, it is believed that from him, she learned about the parabolic path of projectiles, explaining the very realistic projectile blood spurting from the neck of Holofernes in her famous, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1620).
One of my favorite paintings is a painting by Diego Rivera. Diego Rivera, 1886-1957, is a famous artist from Mexico, known for his murals and paintings. Much of his work shared historical, social, and political ideas, which took place in his life time. Nude with Calla Lilies, is a less known painting of Rivera’s, it seems to lack a social and political commentary so frequently found in his paintings. Despite its lack of fame, it is still a beautiful and meaning piece of art that I have admired for many years.
Woman V was created using oil and charcoal on canvas by Willem De Kooning in 1952-1953, during the period of Abstract Expressionism. Abstract Expressionism was a period developed during the 1940s and 1950s where the goal was to create abstract art that was emotional and very expressive. This painting is considered abstract art and was influenced by the period through the use of very expressive charcoal and brush strokes. This painting is currently displayed at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and is part of a series of six other paintings made by Willem de Kooning. The subject matter of this series, and this specific painting, are portraits of women. Woman V is a portrait that contains a woman smiling broadly with pronounced breasts
Artemisia was one of the first women artists to have an international recognition. However it did not come easy because she was born in a time period when women were not considered equal to men. Being an artist was not something a woman was supposed to do. Although her talent was much greater than most male artists of her era, she was brushed aside just because of her gender. “Gentileschi’s gestures are far more expansive than many contemporary or later self-portraits by male artists of themselves working in oil paint” (Chare, 2009). However, because of her sex she was ignored deliberately. During 16th century male artists were considered to be specialists. Female artists were nothing but insignificant exhibitions. Men were the decision
Throughout history women have always struggled with equality in the art world. Men took most of the attention appearing as great artists, while women were barley recognized by their great artworks and fought discrimination. As a result, women found a way to show a sign of feminist meanings in artworks. (Feminism & Feminist Art, Art History Archive). An example would be Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Slaying Holofemes”, a painting made in 1614-20. Artemisia was one of the few successful female artists who got recognition during a period where most weren’t. She was the first women member in Accademia di arte del disegno and had relations with other famous artists such as Cristofano Allori. The aim of her painting was to show the power of women
Seeing the art in person truly made me see the beauty and captivity a painting can hold. Each gallery was filled with different American works. My favorite kind of paintings are the ones I can look at and immediately write a story in my head about what is happening, even if it not what the artist intended. As I was going through the galleries one painting in particular stuck in my mind. I was fortunate enough to experience a special exhibition called, “Audubon to Warhol.” It was composed of different works acquired from private and public collections. I was lured to the emotions that was captured by the main figure in one of the works. I was drawn not only to the beauty of the painting, but the story it shared. The painting I chose was Peeling Onions, by Lilly Martin Spencer.
This particular statue of Artemis that I came across was hard for me to distinguish at first. In the statue, she looks to be a young girl and not a goddess. The one distinguishable aspect of this statue that after I read the informational card gave it away it was her was the deer next to her. One of Artemis’ many attributes are animals, in other paintings and sculptures she might be seen with a deer-skin cape or a bow and arrow to show that she is the goddess of the hunt.