The Art of Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 – 1656) was a female Italian Baroque painter in a time when women were not accepted as artists, and most were certainly not allowed to paint unless they lived in an Abbey. Today she is considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation of artists who came after Caravaggio and is well known for painting courageous or strong-minded women from mythology.

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes. c. 1625. oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts.)

Gentileschi was born in Rome, her mother passed away when she was twelve. Her grieving father then unexpectedly took her on as his apprentice and taught her how to paint like a master. She was the daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, an accomplished painter, and talented artist. He introduced her to the famous artists of Rome of the time, including the infamous Caravaggio with whom he was close friends. Caravaggio casually stopped by their home to borrow props and perhaps even encouraged her to paint.

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Self Portrait. c. 1638. oil on canvas. Royal Collection, Windsor.)

In 1611 when Artemisia was 18 years old, Agostino Tassi an artist, who worked with her father unfortunately secluded and raped her. When her father found out, he demanded justice and filed formal charges against Tassi for the injury and damage to his daughter's honor.

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Judith Beheading Holofernes. c. 1611-12. oil on canvas. Museo Nationale di Capodimonte, Naples.)

The trial was horrendous and lasted over seventeen months Artemisia was physically tortured publicly in the courtroom to recant her statement and test the truth of her accusations with counter-accusations from Tassi that she was not a virgin, a whore, and a talentless painter. 

Tassi was finally convicted and sentenced to prison for the rape, but only served less than one year because he had connections with the pope.

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Judith and her Maidservant. c. 1612-1613. oil on canvas. Galleria Palatina, Florence.)

During the trial and after, Gentileschi began to design and paint the story of Judith slaying Holofernes from the Bible. Judith was already a popular subject matter of the time, but Gentileschi’s portrayal of Judith is both original and has a unique perspective.

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Penitent Magdalene. c. 1630. oil on canvas.)

Artemisia's style is characterized by "tenebrism," from the Italian word "tenebroso" (dark or gloomy), which describes a painting style where dark colors dominate over the light ones or the extreme contrasts of light and dark areas have dramatic illumination. 

(Gentileschi, Artemisia. Yael and Sisara. c. 1620. oil on canvas. Budapest, Szepmuveszeti Museum.)

In 1614, Gentileschi became the first official female member of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, which was only made possible by her most famous patron, the Grand Duke Cosimo II of the Medici family. Artemisia’s unusual liberties combined with her traumatic experience, allowed her to create some of the best chiaroscuro paintings of that time, and her work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

References 

• King, R. Art. New York: DK Publishing. 2008.
  

The Art of Sandra Perlow

Sandra Perlow (1940 - present) is a contemporary abstract artist, currently living in Chicago, who has been creating art for over forty-five years. Sandra works in multi-media creating a collage on top of monoprints or woodcuts using a combination of various mediums which include acrylic, gouache, or oil stick.

(Perlow, Sandra. Must Come Again. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
Sandra was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois where she earned her Bachelor’s of Art Education (B.A.E.) and her Master’s of Fine Art (M.A.) from the school of the art institute of Chicago in which she mainly focused on drawing and painting. She also received an M.A. from the Illinois Institute of Design. Perlow then began to teach herself at the school of the art institute of Chicago.

(Perlow, Sandra. Apart from That. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
Rhythm is the key property of Perlow’s multi-media paintings. She works in shapes and colors, inspired by architecture or landscape. She draws inspiration from daily life, people, and museums.

(Perlow, Sandra. Tangled. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
“Perlow’s creative process is an energetic shuffling and sorting of memory, text, sound, and image. There is spontaneity in her studio practice as the surrounding loop sets up a syncopated tempo as she works on several canvases at one time. The cacophony of visual signs is also found in the layers of images on her studio table: a landscape of books and papers from a visual library from Chinese brush painting Rotella’s decollates or the works of Philip Guston. The creative impulse is immediate and improvisational as Perlow pulls paper, motif, and gesture onto the surface of the picture plane.” (Sandra Perlow.net, 2012).

(Perlow, Sandra. Draw Into. c. 2012. collage on canvas.)
At the age of seventy-two years old, Sandra is full of energy, has a wonderful sense of humor, and has unparalleled lust for life, which I believe is definitely reflected in her work, and her work is much appreciated here.

Enjoy :)

References

• Sandra Perlow.net

The Art of Liz Kenyon

Liz Kenyon is a contemporary artist, born in California. She works in soft pastels and her technique is defined by adding layer upon layer in order to build up texture. Her style is more painterly than linear and she uses as many colors as possible to bring energy into her work.

(Kenyon, Liz. Social Hour. soft pastel.)

Kenyon graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson. She worked as a freelance artist illustrating book covers for Avon Books in New York where she was nationally published and has won over 20 awards for her illustrations, monoprints, and soft pastel paintings.

(Kenyon, Liz. Doughnut Break. soft pastel.)

In 1975 Kenyon moved to Phoenix, Arizona. At that time she began using soft pastels and crossed over into fine art. As a pastelist, she has had 15 one-woman shows, received over 30 awards, and also teaches art workshops at the Scottsdale Artists’ School.

(Kenyon, Liz. Sunset at Dave Bruce Vineyard. soft pastel.)

“I enjoy traveling to hilltop regions in search of classic rural landscapes and I’m passionate when it comes to color.” says, Kenyon

(Kenyon, Liz. Standing Pears. soft pastel.)

Kenyon has been published in Northlight Books and she is a Signature Member of the International Pastel Society. Her work is most certainly much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

References

• lizkenyon.com

The Art of Susan Sarback

Susan Sarback was born in New York. Her paintings are always about light and color, especially the quality of light. She is the founder of the "School of Light and Color”. Located twenty miles east of Sacramento in Fair Oaks, California, this school teaches adults at all levels in-depth art instruction in oils, pastels, and watercolor.


(Sarback, Susan. Tulips On Glass. oil on canvas.)
Sarback started her formal study of art at an early age. She studied both abstract and representational art and she received her Master’s degree in Fine Art in 1988 at Columbia Pacifica University in San Raphael, California.


(Sarback, Susan. Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco. oil on canvas.)
Sarback’s career significantly changed after she studied under Henry Hensche. A master painter who was an American Impressionist painter and in the lineage of Charles Hawthorne, William Merrit Chase, and Claude Monet.


(Sarback, Susan. Egg, Fork, and Salt. oil on canvas.)
“My subject is always light and color. It took years of training to learn how to be receptive to light, form, and rhythm and I learned this by painting from life with natural light both outdoors and in the studio. This made it possible to refine subtle color variations that capture the quality of light, atmosphere, and space.” says Sarback.


(Sarback, Susan. Conch Shell. oil on canvas.)
Sarback’s work can be seen in galleries in New York City, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Sacramento, Seattle, and Santa Fe. She has also authored two books, “Capturing Radiant Light and Color in Oils and Soft Pastels” (2007) and “The School of Light and Color” (1986). She also presently teaches workshops all over the country.


(Sarback, Susan. Down the Pier. oil on canvas.)
International Artist Magazine has named her one of the Master Painters of the World and her work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

Reference: Sarback, Susan. Capturing Radiant Light and Color in Oils and Soft Pastels. North Light Books: Cincinnati, Ohio. 2007.

Reference: Light and Color .com

The Art of Jia Lu

Jia Lu (1954 – present) was born in Beijing, China. She strongly feels that beauty is the final measure of all things. True beauty born of self-knowledge and self-understanding, burns in her art like a beacon. The paintings of Jia Lu seem filled with a spiritual light that announces the undeniable presence of the divine.


(Lu, Jia. Halo. c. 1996. oil on canvas.)
Jia Lu grew up in a family of artists. Acting, poetry, and art classes filled her early years and fired her restless imagination. However, the Great Cultural Revolution swept down upon Beijing with destructive violence and many of her family members and art teachers were targeted for persecution.


(Lu, Jia. Woman Warrior. c. 1998. oil on canvas.)
Jia Lu was forced to adapt to the radically changing conditions in order to survive. She turned her hand to many different pursuits, including working as a nurse where she gained invaluable firsthand knowledge of the human anatomy. She then enrolled in the Central Academy of Art and Design.


(Lu, Jia. Purity. c. 2001. oil on canvas.)
By 1983, Jia Lu was already an accomplished figure painter. She moved to Canada without a word of English. She used her intelligence and adaptability to find friends and collectors, learn the language and continue her education. She soon found work in the visual arts department at York University.


(Lu, Jia. Heaven's Song. c. 1998. oil on canvas.)
Her realistic painting style made her an outsider at this bastion of contemporary art, but she never abandoned her dream-like imagery and polished style. When a rare opportunity arose to travel to Japan to work on a huge project in Tokyo reproducing ancient Buddhist cave murals, Jia seized this chance to explore her cultural roots.


(Lu, Jia. Gingko. c. 2004. oil on canvas.)
In the summer of 1995, she and her future husband Geoffrey spent two months in the museums of Paris and London, immersed in the great works of sculpture, architecture, and painting. She returned home to Canada deeply inspired, determined to capture the magnificence and universality of the human figure.


(Lu, Jia. Mountain Spirit. c. 1998. oil on canvas.)
Jia Lu currently lives in Los Angeles. She delights in beauty wherever she finds it. Her sense of confidence and hope is contagious, both in her personality and in her art.


(Lu, Jia. Mandala. c. 1999. oil on canvas.)
Sharing her love of the beautiful, Jia sends her paintings out into the world to remind us that there is, in essence, no separation between the human and the divine, and her work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy! :)

References: Jialu.com, ArtifactsGallery.com, jialu.deviantart.com & Visions Fine Art Gallery

The Art of Bec Winnel

Bec Winnel is an artist and illustrator currently living in Melbourne, Victoria Australia. She works as a full-time graphic designer but, commissions illustrations and has successfully exhibited her own personal artwork. She has a unique style in which she builds layer upon layer of color pencil, graphite, and pastel to create extraordinary elusive soft portraits of women, who entice and mesmerize the viewer.



(Winnel, Bec. Lightness. c. 2009.
Colored pencil on black paper.)
Winnel grew up in Albury, New South Wales Australia, and spent most of her childhood there including some time in Leeton and Jindera. Winnel learned to draw at an early age by observation. She enjoyed drawing what she saw around her. She studied shape and form, as well as light and shadow.



(Winnel, Bec. Silk Cocoon. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel’s family nurtured her creativity. She watched her aunt paint for hours, her mother decorates cakes, her father creates things in his shed and her grandmother sews. Where there were no formal art schools, she along with her siblings found other creative outlets through photography, crafts, and gardening.



(Winnel, Bec. My Gemini Heart. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel moved to Melbourne, Victoria, and formally studied graphic design at the Swinburne University of Technology. There she received her diploma in 2007 and now works for a small but well-established advertising company. Winnel loves pencils, pastels, and conté crayons because they are so convenient and portable. She enjoys drawing on the tram, during her lunch break, and at home.



(Winnel, Bec. Statue of Eve. c. 2008.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel describes her own style “as soft, sensual and a little dreamy to view, but take a closer look and what you see the in the eyes of my subjects lies a different, story an emotional, melancholy soul staring back at you.” Her pieces have been described as “reminiscent of vintage Victorian postcards”.



(Winnel, Bec. Elise. c. 2009.
Colored pencil, graphite, and pastel on paper.)
Winnel is very humble about her success and says, “Talent only accounts for part of it, the rest is hard work, self-discipline, perseverance, and getting used to spending a lot of time alone.” She says she still feels like she is learning and her work is much appreciated here!

Note: These images are copyrighted and are only used to promote the artist. You can buy these prints at becwinnel.com

Enjoy :)

Reference: becwinnel.com

The Art of Alexia Sinclair

Alexia Sinclair (1976 – present) was born in Newcastle. She is an award-winning Australian photographic and digital artist. Her photographic and illustrative artworks are housed in important art collections throughout Australia. She has been exhibiting since the early 90s and her distinct style is also celebrated in magazines throughout the world.


(Sinclair, Alexia. Elizabeth I - The Virgin Queen (1533 - 1603)
c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Dancing as a ballerina from a young age heavily influenced the performance aspect of Sinclair's art where role-play is ever-present. She spent the first ten years of her life living in Newcastle by the ocean. Her family moved into a broken down antique Courthouse in the countryside of the Hunter Valley and lovingly restoring it.


(Sinclair, Alexia. Boudica - The Celtic Queen (AD 26 - 61)
c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Soon after, her family opened a spectacular European restaurant within the restored antique Courthouse. Sinclair grew up in this kitchen and cooked for many years to support herself. Later on, she spent a season cooking in the Greek Islands, where she culminated her creatively based love for making art.


(Sinclair, Alexia. Isabella of Spain – The Catholic (1451 - 1504)
c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Sinclair moved to Sydney at the age of eighteen to study Fine Art at the National Art School. This was the beginning of her tertiary education. She completed her studies at NAS and went on to complete a BFA and MFA from the University of Newcastle. Sinclair has exhibited her artwork throughout Australia, including being and exhibiting as a finalist in the National Portrait Prize Archibald at the AGNSW.


(Sinclair, Alexia. Christina of Sweden – The Androgynous Queen
(1626 - 1689) c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Sinclair’s most famous works include the Regal Twelve, the viewer is invited on a journey of imagined worlds that are actually based on historical truths; each image being a study of true historical female monarchs. Alexia explains, “The criterion for the selection of each character was their regal descent; each ruled her realm and each displayed a strength that allowed her to do so when women generally held little power.’


(Sinclair, Alexia. Agrippina - The Poisonous (AD 15 - 59)
c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Each artwork is created in the computer by combining hundreds of photographic layers. The landscape and the architectural backdrops relate to the reign of the subject. The model’s hair, makeup, costume, and body painting are all inspired by the period and fashions of the time, reinterpreted into a contemporary visual style. The final stage of the process is to blend the elements using computer illustration, a process also employed to create highly polished hairstyles that epitomize each subject’s style.


(Sinclair, Alexia. Marie Antoinette – The Extravagant Queen
(1755 - 1793) c. 2007. digital type C print.)
Sinclair’s art is dark and seductive, baroque and symbolic. This multilayer art presents contemporary notions of fashion and beauty through innovative digital media, whilst restoring antique notions of classism, elegance, and luxury. Inspired by the masters of renaissance art, Sinclair uses a visual narrative to seduce her audience with each photographic feast, and her artwork is much appreciated here!

Enjoy :)

Reference: AlexiaSinclair

The Art of Mary Cassatt

Mary Cassatt (1844 – 1926) was an American painter and printmaker who settled in Paris in 1874, which was the year that the first Impressionist exhibition took place. Cassatt met the famous artist, Degas three years later and, through him, became a member of the Impressionist group. Cassatt came from a well-connected family and, in her later years, she did much to aid the Impressionists’ cause by finding American buyers for their works.


(Cassatt, Mary. The Child’s Bath.
c. 1893. oil on canvas.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.)
The Impressionists developed their own subject matter, celebrating modern Parisian life. They revolted against the traditional academic art subjects which were well accepted at the time. In place of morally uplifting heroic stories from the past, the Impressionists painted everyday life scenes of urban and suburban pastimes, chores, and landscapes.


(Cassatt, Mary. Young Woman Sewing.
c. 1880. oil on canvas. Musee d’Orsay, Paris.)
The subject matter became less important than the way that it was painted. For most impressionists it was merely a vehicle for showing how light sparkled and changed, affecting color with highlights and shadows.


(Cassatt, Mary. Lilac in a Window.
c. 1880. oil on canvas.)
Cassatt exhibited the “Young Woman Sewing” at the final impressionist show. She was a talented painter, specializing in pictures of mothers with children, but she was an even greater graphic artist. Her colored etchings appear deceptively sparse and simple but were executed with an impressive blend of subtlety and delicacy.


(Cassatt, Mary. Self Portrait. c. 1878. gouache on paper.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.)
The 1890s were Cassatt's busiest and most creative time. She had matured considerably and became more diplomatic and less blunt in her opinions. She also became a role model for young American artists who sought her advice. She is one of the extremely few female painters, who would become famous for her impressionist painting, during the movement and her work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy :)

Reference: King, R. Art. New York: DK Publishing, 2008.

The Art of Mari Giddings

Mari Elsa Giddings is a contemporary artist who was born in Washington, D.C. in 1959. She grew up in Maryland, New York, and then studied art at Phoenix College in Arizona with Meryl Mahaffey and Allen Dutton. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Arizona State University in 1984, where she worked under master printers, such as Dan Britten and Wayne Kimball.


(Giddings, Mari. Satori I.)
In 1986 she became chief assistant to master printer Robert A. Devoe at the Phoenix Art Press. Shortly after, Mari opened her own studio in the Verde Valley in northern Arizona where she happily painted landscapes for several years. In 1991 Mari moved back to Phoenix to become the Art Director of Phoenix Art Press.


(Giddings, Mari. Satori II.)
Giddings states, "My art helps me to see beyond culturally learned forms, breaking down perceptions that are so deeply ingrained, so taken for granted that they seem real, the only possible way to see. For me, successful art destroys the obvious connections by which we construct our realities and makes new connections, then it destroys those connections, too, realizing infinite alternatives. Art is never a finished product, but a moving, living, immediate process which begins again with every painting ... and with every viewing."


(Giddings, Mari. Arrangement II. )
In 1995 Mari co-founded the Planet Art Group in Phoenix, Arizona. Mari works in a variety of styles, from naturalistic landscapes to cubist abstraction, yet she sees no contradiction in these approaches.

Giddings says, "Neither strict representation nor abstraction is simply imitations of reality, but tools for the construction and reflection of an artist’s individual experience. As infants, we learn to objectify our individual perceptions through relating with others. In the same way, art allows us to conceptualize subjective experience by turning it into an object that can be shared. In this sense, all art, abstract and representational, is simultaneously self-portraiture and a mob scene, intimate and public."


(Giddings, Mari. Well Being I.)
Her artwork is extremely elegant and reflects the color tones of the Sonoran desert. Mari Giddings is a wonderful contemporary artist and her work is much appreciated here!

Enjoy :)

The Art of Tamara De Lempicka

Tamara De Lempicka (1898 - 1980) was an artist whose work was famous during the height of the Art Deco period. Her bold style mixed with rich colors captured the elegance of the 1920s, whereas her distinctive block method would later be called “Soft Cubism.” Like all artists that made the history books, De Lempicka never followed the rules. She would prove the modern-day slogan, “Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History,” a true statement.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Jeune Fille Vert. c. 1929.
Oil on canvas. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris.)
In an age when men dominated the art world, she would not go unnoticed. She was independent and opinionated, although she embraced her feminine sexuality and used it to her best advantage. She entered the prominent art circles of the time, using her beauty and charm, and would eventually collaborate with famous artists such as Pablo Picasso and Georgia O’Keeffe.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Autoportrait. c. 1925.
Oil on wood. Private collection.)
Tamara De Lempicka was born in 1898 to a wealthy family in Poland. Her parents were divorced when she was thirteen and she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia to live with her wealthy Aunt Stefa. Her mother eventually remarried, but Tamara having grown up in boarding schools, wanted her freedom from the family. She was very independent but, it was very much a man’s world. The only way out of the family would be to marry.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Femme dans Dentelle.)
During an opera in 1913, Tamara saw the man of her dreams in the audience. At the age of only fifteen as soon as she set eyes on him, her ambition was to become his bride. Although her groom-to-be was a well-known ladies' man, Tamara swore that she would marry him. Her hefty dowry appealed to the prominent lawyer and they were married three years later in 1916.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Les Filles. c. 1928. Oil on canvas.)
The wealthy newlyweds would not find happiness; aristocracy was soon to become a problem, during 1917 in Russia. The Bolshevik party made up of the working class revolted against capitalism and the belief that all are equal. Russia was in chaos. 

The Bolsheviks broke into their house in the middle of the night and arrested Tamara’s husband. The Red Army was rising and the Provisional Government in Petrograd was overthrown. Tamara searched the prisons for weeks to find her husband during the October Revolution. Once she found him, she flirted with the necessary officials and secured his release using her European family ties. Afterward, they fled to Paris with many other upper-class refugees who managed to escape the Russian revolution.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Portrait de Madame Boucard. c. 1931.
Oil on canvas. Collection Boucard, Paris.)
The couple did not fare well in their new financial ruin. Tamara sold her family jewelry and painted portraits to support them. Her husband, on the other hand, was reluctant or unable to find a respectable job. Tamara gave birth to their first and only child, Kizette. The current domestic situation put a huge strain on the relationship and forced Tamara to spend more and more time in her studio than at home.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Kizette Sleeping. c. 1934.)
Tamara commenced the study of nude figures. She was fascinated with the idea of seduction and the effects of desire. The bohemian lifestyle of the 1920s in Paris appealed to her and she began to have affairs with both men and women. She publically associated with the novelist Violet Trefusis, who was most notable from her lesbian love affair with Vita Sackville-West and with the scandalous French novelist and former actress Colette, who was known for her famous lesbian kiss on the stage of the Moulin Rouge. The kiss nearly caused a riot at that time and the police were called in to suppress the public.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Printemps. c. 1928. Private collection.)
Tamara eventually became romantically involved with the French singer and actress, Suzy Solidor who was an open lesbian. Suzy was painted by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and eventually by Tamara. Frustrated by Tamara’s rumored sex life, her husband eventually tired of their arrangement and abandoned her in 1927. They were divorced in 1928.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Suzy Solidor. c. 1933. Oil on wood.)
With her newfound freedom, Tamara became obsessed with her work and social life. She was commissioned by her long-time patron, Baron Raoul Kuffner to paint his mistress. Tamara finished the portrait and then took her place as the Baron’s new mistress.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Femme a Guitare. c. 1929.
Oil on canvas. Private collection.)
In 1933 she traveled to Chicago where she worked with Georgia O’Keeffe, Santiago Martinez Delgado, and Willem de Kooning. Soon after, the Baron’s wife died and she married her lover. They eventually moved to the United States together in 1939.

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Andromeda. c. 1929. Private collection.)
Madonna, the contemporary American singer, is a huge fan and collector of Lempicka’s work. Andromeda is featured at the beginning of Madonna’s "Open Your Heart" video (1987) and the Femme a Guitare can be seen at the beginning of Madonna’s "Vogue" video (1990).

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Portrait de Marjorie Ferry. c. 1932.)
Can you see the huge influence that the Portrait of Marjorie and Dormeuse had on the costumes and the set of Madonna’s “Express Yourself” video (1989). They are practically carbon copies replaced with Madonna in them. Not to mention that this could be how Madonna was influenced to wear her exaggerated designer cone bras. Now, where would strong artistic women be today without the work of Tamara de Lempicka?

(De Lempicka, Tamara. Dormeuse.)
Tamara pioneered the role of women in the twentieth-century art arena. It was now proven that women could be on the other side of the easel, as the artist and not just the model. Tamara’s life struggles and scandalous affairs are perhaps reflected in the dramatic artwork that she produced throughout her life and it is much appreciated here!

Enjoy :)

Learn More about Tamara De Lempicka Here.