Artemisia Gentileschi, (born July 8, 1593, Rome; died 1652/53, Naples), Italian painter, daughter of Orazio Gentileschi. She was a pupil of her father and of his friend the landscape painter Agostino Tassi.
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| Adoration of the Magi. 1936-37 |
Few women transcended these restrictions. But the skillful, strong-willed painter Artemisia Gentileschi managed to -against all odds. During her lifetime, from the late 16th-century until mid-1600s, she built a reputation as one of Europe´s most sought-after artists. Rich patrons, like the Medicis, and preeminent kings, like Charles I of England, commissioned her to create massive, expertly modeled compositions, chock full of her signature subjects: biblical and mythological scenes depicting assertive, authoritative women.
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| Judith and her maidservant. 1913-14 |
Despite all of this, though, Gentileschi's legacy has been hard-won. After her death, 18th- and 19th-century scholars all but omitted her from art historical texts. Even when her work was rediscovered, in the early 20th century, literature on it was plagued with misattributions and overly sexualized interpretations that focused on Gentileschi’s assault rather than her artistry.
Despite
these hurdles, the artist has more recently risen to the top of the
canon as one of the first female artists to have a broad, incisive
impact on the art of her time. She’s also influenced decades of artists
after her—especially those looking for a masterful and tenacious
heroine." (artsy)
