Artemisia Gentileschi And The Authority Of Art Critical Reading And Catalogue Raisonn

"This book traces the retelling of the biblical story from Judges 4-5 in ancient retellings of the Bible, visual art, poems, plays, and novels. The books shows how these cultural productions of an old biblical story intersect with broader conversations about the often conflicted, and sometimes violent, relationship between women and men"--

An important reassessment of the later career and life of a beloved baroque artist Hailed as one of the most influential and expressive painters of the seventeenth century, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–ca. 1656) has figured prominently in the art historical discourse of the past two decades. This attention to Artemisia, after many years of scholarly neglect, is partially due to interest in the dramatic details of her early life, including the widely publicized rape trial of her painting tutor, Agostino Tassi, and her admission to Florence’s esteemed Accademia del Disegno. While the artist’s early paintings have been extensively discussed, her later work has been largely dismissed. This beautifully illustrated and elegantly written book provides a revolutionary look at Artemisia’s later career, refuting longstanding assumptions about the artist. The fact that she was semi-illiterate has erroneously led scholars to assume a lack of literary and cultural education on her part. Stressing the importance of orality in Baroque culture and in Artemisia’s paintings, Locker argues for her important place in the cultural dialogue of the seventeenth century.

This second volume in the groundbreaking Illuminating Women Artists series delves into the stirring life and work of the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. The life of Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–after 1654) was as exceptional as her paintings. She was a child prodigy, raised without a mother by her artist father, a follower of Caravaggio. Although she learned to paint under her father, she became an artist against his wishes. Later, as she moved between Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, and London, her artistic style evolved, but throughout her career she specialized in large-scale, powerful, nuanced portrayals of women. This book highlights Gentileschi’s enterprising and original engagement with emerging feminist notions of the value and dignity of womanhood. Sheila Barker’s cutting-edge scholarship in Artemisia Gentileschi clears a pathway for all audiences to appreciate the artist’s pictorial intelligence, as well as her achievement of a remarkably lucrative and high-profile career at a time when few women were artists. Bringing to light newly attributed paintings and archival discoveries, this is the first biography to be written by an authority on Gentileschi since 1999. The volume is beautifully illustrated, and Barker weaves this extraordinary story with in-depth discussions of key artworks, such as Susanna and the Elders (1610), Judith Beheading Holofernes (c.1619–20), and Lot and His Daughters (1640–45). Also included is the J. Paul Getty Museum’s recent acquisition, Lucretia (c.1635–45). Through such works, Barker explores the evolution of Gentileschi’s expressive goals and techniques.

This invaluable guide enables students to get the most from their art history course. Written in an accessible style, the book introduces two basic art historical methods - formal analysis and contextual analysis. In this new edition revising author Michael Cothren has extended the discussion on iconography and iconology, as well as adding discussions on the effects of the market and museums on art. Greater emphasis is placed on the global and multicultural aspects of art creation and analysis with new images and more case studies. There is more step-by-step guidance on how to use these methods to prepare for exams and write papers.

"In this admirable work, at once passionately argued and lucidly written, Professor Garrard effectively considers the social, psychological, and formal complexity of the shaping and reshaping not only of the artist's feminine and feminist identity in the misogynistic society of the seventeenth century, but also of that identity in the discipline of art history today."—Steven Z. Levine, author of Monet, Narcissus, and Self-Reflection "Mary Garrard's detailed investigation into attribution problems in two Artemisia Gentileschi paintings brilliantly interweaves connoisseurship, constructions of gender and artistic identity, and historical analysis. The result is a richer and more nuanced vision of the best-known female artist in western history before the modern era, and an important contribution to feminist studies." —Whitney Chadwick, author of Women, Art, and Society "In her new book, Garrard has taken two bold steps that challenge much received opinion in the 'discipline' of art history. Analyzing two of Gentileschi's least violent but most moving images, Garrard argues that the painter's personality is discernible no less in the subjects and their interpretation than in the 'style' of the works; consideration of both aspects is essential to understanding the meaning of these extraordinary pictures and her authorship. Perhaps even more important, Garrard makes crystal clear that Artemisia Gentileschi, far from a 'good woman painter,' was one of the major visual thinkers of her time."—Irving Lavin, co-author with Marilyn Aronberg Lavin, of La Liturgia d'Amore: Immagini dal Canto dei Cantici nell'arte di Cimabue, Michelangelo, e Rembrandt (Modena, 2000) "Developing her earlier methodologies and revising some conclusions, Garrard clarifies her distinct theoretical approach and voice among feminist critiques of art history. In this text, which reads in part like a forensic mystery, Garrard builds not only an argument for attributions of particular works, but a new understanding of Gentileschi herself at a particular moment in history."—Hilary Robinson, editor of Visibly Female: Feminism and Art Today "One of our most distinguished feminist art historians brings contemporary gender studies to bear on traditional paintings connoisseurship to show how attributions to female artists have often been governed by tacit cultural assumptions about the limitations of women. Her case makes compelling reading for anyone interested in early modern society, culture, women and art in Italy, and in the problematics of feminism and art history."—Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt, author of Leonardo e la Scultura "By revealing a great woman painter's ways of expressing uniqueness while negotiating expectations, Mary Garrard helps each of us with the subtleties of remaining authentic while living in the world. Artemisia Gentileschi around 1622 is art history to live by."—Gloria Steinem

This indispensable reference work provides readers with the tools to reimagine world history through the lens of women's lived experiences. Learning how women changed the world will change the ways the world looks at the past. Women Who Changed the World: Their Lives, Challenges, and Accomplishments through History features 200 biographies of notable women and offers readers an opportunity to explore the global past from a gendered perspective. The women featured in this four-volume set cover the full sweep of history, from our ancestral forbearer "Lucy" to today's tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams. Every walk of life is represented in these pages, from powerful monarchs and politicians to talented artists and writers, from inquisitive scientists to outspoken activists. Each biography follows a standardized format, recounting the woman's life and accomplishments, discussing the challenges she faced within her particular time and place in history, and exploring the lasting legacy she left. A chronological listing of biographies makes it easy for readers to zero in on particular time periods, while a further reading list at the end of each essay serves as a gateway to further exploration and study. High-interest sidebars accompany many of the biographies, offering more nuanced glimpses into the lives of these fascinating women.

The struggles and achievements of forty-six notable women artists of the early modern period, as documented by their contemporaries, are uniquely brought together in this anthology. The life stories presented here are foundational texts for the history of art, but since most are found only in rare volumes and few have been translated into English, until now they have been generally inaccessible to many scholars. Originally published in biographical compendia such as Vasari's Lives of the Artists, the writings included here document not only the lives of relatively well known women artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Sofonisba Anguissola, but also those who have languished in obscurity, like Anna Waser and Li Yin. Each life story is preceded by a brief introduction to the artist as well as to her biographer, and the texts themselves are annotated to provide necessary clarification. Beyond their documentary value, these stories provide fascinating insight as to how men commonly characterized women artists as exceptions to their sex, and attempted to explain their presence in the male-dominated realm of art. The introductory chapter to the book explores this intriguing gender dynamic and elucidates some of the strategies and historical context that factored into the composition of these lives. The volume includes an appended index to women artists' life stories in biographical compendia of the period