The Allegory Of Painting (La Pittura) By Artemisia Gentileschi

The paintings that we will view in this exhibition display the works of a few women artists that have made significant impacts on art. Each painting in this exhibit was created by women that overcame major obstacles to present their talents to the world. The works are presented according to the date that they were created starting with the earliest piece. Each painting has various elements that display each artist’s signature style and gifts. The first piece that we will view is an oil on canvas painting called Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), by Artemisia Gentileschi, made in 1638-1639. It belongs to the Royal Collection Trust in the United Kingdom. Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter whose

It is from the National Museum of in the Arts. Rosa Bonheur was an artist that specialized in Realism. Bonheur was an outspoken feminist and nonconformist as she wore men’s clothing and smoked cigars which was seen as extremely inappropriate for women to do in France during that time. (Kuiper "Rosa Bonheur" 2017) The painting depicts several sheep lying upon a grassy shore with crisp, calm seas in the background. This representational painting measures 18’ x 12.75’ making it a medium-scaled painting to allow the viewer to come in close to admire it on a more intimate level. There is asymmetrical balance as the visual weight of the sheep at the center and the upper right side of the painting are counterbalanced with the visual weight of the rocks and water on the left side. Bonheur uses atmospheric perspective as the details of the sheep and landscape in the foreground are more defined than the images in the background. The colors used in the painting have a very cool temperature which gives the piece a sense of calm. Chiaroscuro is used as there are lighter valued colors that gradually transition to darker hues that give the illusion of depth. The contrast of the lighter colored sheep compared to the darker shades that surround them brings emphasis to them making them the focal point of the

Georgia O’Keeffe was an artist that specialized in Modernist art. She was considered to be one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century. She was known for her paintings depicting flowers, skyscrapers, and southeastern landscapes. She is considered to be the “Mother of American Modernism” as she made many profound contributions to this particular movement. (Lynes "Georgia O'Keeffe" 2016) My Backyard is an abstracted representational piece that depicts an image of a plateau with desert shrubs at its base. The physical dimensions of the frame are 55.25 x 95.89 x 6.99 cm making it a medium-scaled piece. The combination of soft lines and varying degrees of soft red hues of the hills in the background give the piece a very sensual appeal. O’Keeffe uses complimentary colors red and green to give the piece an appearance that seems to vibrate. There is a bit of atmospheric perspective as some of the details and relative placement of the shrubs seem to appear smaller and less detailed giving the illusion that they are farther away than the shrubs closer to the