When we graduate, we won’t remember everything we ever learned in class, but a few key pieces of knowledge will serve us well as we approach adulthood and enter our inevitable growth into “sophistication.” While you might not remember all 300 images you had to memorize for that Survey II final, you will be well served by a little name dropping here and there at an office cocktail party–and Art History name dropping is a good place to start. Since we are serving you collegiettes out there, we thought we’d begin by chatting with Professor Van Ausdall and Professor Dabakis to get the scoop on seven female need-to-know artists and some of their most notable works:
1) Artemisia Gentileschi – Judith Beheading Holofernes, c. 1612 (Uffizi, Florence)
Let’s start with one you will never forget: Judith Beheading Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. This work is done in the early baroque style, with the influence of her predecessor, Caravaggio, evident in the stark contrast of darkness and light in this painting. The painting illustrates the Old Testament story of Judith, a beautiful widow who saves her city from destruction at the hands of Assyrian general Holofernes by decapitating him while he is in a drunken stupor… talk about girl power! One of the few female artists of her time, Gentileschi was the first woman to be admitted to Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.
2) Sofonisba Anguissola – Self Portrait at the Easel, 1556 (Łańcut Palace, Poland)
Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter best known for her portraiture. She had the opportunity to paint in royal courts around Italy and even tutored the queen of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois, in painting. Here we have a self portrait of Anguissola at the easel as she works on a painting of the Madonna and child–one of her few religiously-themed works. I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble drawing stick figures, so any woman who can paint a masterpiece of herself painting a masterpiece has all of my admiration.
3) Lavinia Fontana – Portrait of a Noblewoman, c. 1580 (National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC)
Lavinia Fontana was a female renaissance painter not only known to be a master of portraiture, but also painted mythological and religiously-themed works (and even the occasional female nude). Her fame was so widespread that even the pope (Pope Paul V at the time) wanted her to serve as a portraitist in his court. Above we have a portrait of a Bolognese bride. Wedding photos sure have changed over the years! Instead of being all dressed in white, 16th century Bolognese brides typically wore red. The amount of lavish detail that Fontana was able to convey in the painting is a testament to her incredible talent.
4) Judith Leyster – Young Flute Player, c. 1635 (National Museum of Fine Arts, Stockholm)
Everyone has that friend who loves to be the party photographer. Judith Leyster was sort of like the far more talented predecessor to your artsiest instagramming pal, known for her lively scenes depicting food, drink, music and merriment. She painted in the Dutch Baroque style and after her death, her work was often taken for that of her male contemporary, Frans Hals, until 1893, when her signature was discovered beneath that of Hals’ leading to the unearthing of many of her works. Young Flute Player is noted for its use of lighting to enliven both the subject and the work as a whole.
5) Harriet Hosmer, Zenobia in Chains, 1859-1861, Huntington Library, Pasadena, CA
Harriet Hosmer was an American sculptor. She completed much of her work in Rome, where she was intimately associated with a network of female artists and writers through whom the message of feminine strength and ability was communicated to the world at large. Could there be a more potent embodiment of female strength than Zenobia, the queen of the ill fated Palmyra, who after the roman siege, was forced to walk through the streets of Rome in chains? At a towering 6’8” this queen has a powerful presence and maintains an air of regality and strength in spite of her trials.
6) Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun, Marie Antoinette and Her Children, 1789, Versailles
It’s not easy to get a recommendation to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture from the King of France himself, but Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun was just that good. She is famous for her portraits of individuals in the French court including Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette and Her Children was actually the last portrait that would be painted of the queen while she was still living. Vigee-Lebrun succeeds in creating the image of a perfect cozy family, even as sentiments against the royal family grew stronger. Interestingly, neither the children nor Marie Antoinette seemed to have time to sit for this portrait and models were used in their place. Nevertheless, the painting is still known today as one of the greatest works ever to hang in Versailles.
7) May Stevens, Forming the Fifth International, Ordinary/Extraordinary series, 1985, Boston University Art Gallery, MA (traveling exhibition)
May Stevens is kind of like the feminist wonder woman of the art world. Her works vary in form and composition, from lithographs to collages, and also vary in content, working with words and sound. The overall effect is awe and admiration for all of womankind. Her Forming the Fifth International, Ordinary/Extraordinary series puts two amazing women, living in two different times together. One is Rosa Luxemburg, a political and theoretical powerhouse in turn of the century Germany and the other, her own mother. The two women remind us that a strong woman can be found in any time period and in any walk of life.