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975
Medieval II: Ende -Illustration from The Beatus Apocalypse of Gerona, 975
This piece of work uses color, value, and shape significantly for this time period. The shape of the red sun is balanced and not misshapen. There is even a use of contrast against the branches and the sun. Visually it is interesting.
At the time, it was not acceptable for a woman to be educated or be a part of the arts. While there is a male artist at the forefront, a female artist by the name Ende (Chadwick, 20212). This is significant for the time. -
1142
Middle Ages I Hildegard of Bingen
1142-52
The Scivias is known for its use of line and color to depict supernatural contemplation (Chadwick, 2012). I especially found the detailed macabre aspects of this painting unique for the time period.
Her pieces help to “disrupt [the] masculine control of over knowledge by separating the body of a woman from thought’ (Chadwick, 2012). -
Renaissance: Marriage Portrait of a Bolognese Noblewoman (Livia de’ Medici Bandini) by Lavinia Fontana
The painting uses oil on canvas. Its focus is on the woman and her elegance. Her companion is also a soft focal point in addition to her figure. She looks beautiful and erudite. The colors of her dress, red and gold, symbolize her nobility.
Lavinia is well known for her portraits and religious paintings. As most women were not able to study the human body and its shape. Her mastery of this feature is astounding -
The 17th Century: Artemisia Gentileschi: Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Visual components include bold use of dark colors. Expression of woman is fierce and holds audience attention. The form is accurate. There is a clear focal point. Uses historical setting as was common for this period.
This artwork depicts the feelings of female rage so impeccably. To study women in art history is to study this image. After Artemisia's rape, she found drive to paint out her feelings and experience. Many women can understand the feelings expressed. -
The 17th Century: Giovanna Garzoni Still Life with Bowl of Citrons
The painting includes detailed use of watercolors and depicts existential thoughts about life, growth, decay, and death.
The artist has made sure to include the changing texture in the fruit, the table, the twigs, and even the flowers. Form has been used to detail the change from plump fruit to its dying form in the bowl. -
Renaissance II: Portrait of Anna Maria Ranuzzi as Charity by Elisabetta Sorani 1665
Elisabetta lived a short life, passing at around twenty-seven years of age. Her entire life was spent in Bologna, and she was the daughter of a painter. Her catalogue includes 150 paintings. Her work is often compared to another influential artist, Renni.
The individuals in the painting all carry a glow to their skin. There are spots of warmer tones on the hands, knees, elbows, cheeks of the family. The use of value to highlight details in this painting is interesting and well developed. -
18th Century: Elements of Art ceiling design 1780
Angelica Kauffman
Oil on Canvas
Angelica Kauffman was born in 1741 to a Swiss ecclesiastical painter (Chadwick, 2012). During her youth, she travelled would spend her time copying “the paintings of Correggio in Parma, the Carracci in Bologna, and numerous Renaissance works in the galleries of the Uffizi in Florence” (Chadwick, 2012). The artist wants to convey the message that this is a serious artist; the reality of a woman artist. Women were not always allowed to study human figures for art. -
18th Century: Self-Portrait with Two Pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1785)
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Oil on Canvas
Adelaide was born just a little before the French Revolution. The effects of competing aristocratic artistic demands the lower classes' artistic demands altered how Adelaide contributed to art at the time. This painting mixes the ideals that a painting should flatter the subject while including the humility of the setting in her pupils. There is beauty in the natural form of a woman while also expressing the joy of adorning oneself in couture or fashion. -
19th Century: Zenobia in Chains (1859)
Harriet Hosmer
1830-1908
Sculpture
She was a neoclassical sculptor and well-known at the time. She was notably inspired by writer Mary Shelley and created a sculptor based on The Cenci. She was accused of plagiarism or stealing her mentor's work, but she defended herself. She was later better received for the same pieces of art
This art piece creates the image of a strong, powerful woman not cowed by war. The chains are thin. Her figure is depicted as soft. Her femininity is her strength -
19th Century: We Both Must Fade (1869)
Lilly Spencer Martin
1822-1902
Oil on Canvas
She was a married woman with thirteen children, and her husband helped to support her art career. Her art was the sole source of income that supported her family. She became the most popular and widely reproduced female genre painter of mid-nineteenth-century America
Emphasis Detail go to the main subject and the foreground. There is texture, creating lace and satin fabric. If someone isn’t interested in art, they can simply enjoy what is depicted. -
20th Century Europe 1900-1999: Nude Arranging Her Hair (Valadon, 1916)
Suzanne Valadon (1867-1934)
Oil on Canvas
At a young age, she worked several jobs and learned how to sketch and paint while she was sitting as a model for other artists. She eventually became a full-time painter and gained acclaim with her first debut.
At the peak of her popularity in 1920, her art was considered to display insightful expressions of a woman’s experiences.
In this piece, she depicts the nude form of a woman with an uneroticized frankness, with an aspect of reality. -
20th Century Europe 1900-1999: Textile Design (Popova, 1923-4)
Liubov Popova (1889-1924)
Gouache on paper; Manufactured
She was regarded as a radical multimedia artist designer. She was also part of the Russian Communist movement.
This piece employs the sharp geometric angles characteristic of cubism utilizes repetitive designs to create recognizable patterns. Popova’s work is flat, she does not try to create multiple angles, as is common with traditional art. Her work created recognizable symbols and access to art for the public.