Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1654) was one of the most important representatives of Italian painting of the seventeenth century. As a woman, she manifested herself in a man’s world, without conforming. That is why in later times she became a symbol of the struggle against patriarchy.
After major presentations in among other places Rome, New York, Milan and, recently, London, the work of baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi will be put centre stage for the first time in the Netherlands. Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the most well-known and important artists of the Italian Baroque. So well known, in fact, that only her first name was and still is enough: Artemisia.
The exhibition Artemisia. Woman & Power revolves around the extraordinary life and work of Artemisia. The project is part of a recent “rediscovery” of the artist in recent decades, with several major presentations in Rome, New York, Milan and recently in London, among others. The rediscovery of a female icon, an artist’s daughter, an outstanding (portrait)painter who lived an extraordinary life. But this exhibition is not only about the tension between life and work. It is just as much about the differences and similarities betweenArtemisia’s time and our contemporary view. Artemisia is a talented painter, a woman, a symbol. What do her biography and her work say about her time, and what does our understanding of them say about ours? How can we read Artemisia’s paintings?
