From Library Journal
This book, which accompanies an exhibition currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and traveling both to the St. Louis Art Museum and to the Museo di Palazzo di Venezia in Rome, is the first to examine in one volume both Orazio and Artemesia Gentileschi, father-and-daughter artists of 17th-century Italy. The catalog demonstrates that Orazio Gentileschi follows the Caravaggesque practice of painting from the model, which Artemesia in turn absorbed into her own painting methods. At the same time, curator Christiansen concludes that Orazio painted much more in the elegant style of classical painting in France and never accepted the Baroque idioms of drama and expressiveness that his daughter Artemesia wholeheartedly embraced in her painting. Also discussed in this catalog is the feminist aspect of Artemesia's position as a talented woman artist, the possibility that she was the model for her own "Susanna and the Elders" early in her career, and how her social environment and opportunities as a woman artist changed dramatically after her marriage and her move from Rome to Florence. This catalog also includes excellent color reproductions and previously unpublished documents relating to the trial of Orazio's colleague, Agostino Tassi, for raping Artemesia. The scholarly literature on these artists should be advanced considerably by this extremely comprehensive volume. Enthusiastically recommended for all libraries that support programs in art and art history. [Interested readers will also want to look at Susan Vreeland's The Passion of Artemisia, a fictional account of the artists reviewed in LJ 12/01. Ed.] Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) has been heralded as one of the few famous women painters of her time, but as the expert and articulate contributors to this unprecedented study of both Artemisia and her painter father, Orazio, explain, there's more to her story than is commonly known. Christiansen, curator of Italian paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, launches this beautifully produced and genuinely exciting volume with a fresh look at Orazio's remarkable transformation from a competent but bland painter into a veritable "poet of light" after working with Caravaggio. An "ardent champion" of his talented, ambitious, and motherless daughter, he was also her teacher, but Artemisia quickly established her own style and focus. The most notorious aspect of their saga is Artemisia's rape, or deflowering, by the artist Tassi, a colleague of her father's, and curator Mann and others shed new light on this event, and the equally compelling question of whether Artemisia was the model for female nudes in Orazio's and her own paintings, beginning with her astute and audacious Susanna and the Elders, painted when she was 17. Both artists emerge from these meticulously argued pages as complex and unconventional human beings as well as consummate artists, and their glorious paintings glow with rekindled radiance. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Karen Wilkin, The New Criterion
A wonderful collection of essays and entries . . . [examining] all aspects of the lives and work of the two painters. . . . [I]nspired.
Book Description
Father and daughter Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi were unusual and gifted artists. Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639) was the most talented follower of Caravaggio and a figure of international renown, active at the courts of Marie de' Medici in France, Charles I in England, and in Rome, Genoa, and Turin. Artemisia (1593– 1652/3) was the first Italian woman artist who was not only praised for her art by her contemporaries but whose paintings influenced the work of later generations. She is today a key figure in gender studies. Essays by an international group of art historians not only explore the development of each of these two painters individually but also compare their work, showing how both were influenced by their times and milieus. The book also includes new transcriptions of key parts of the notorious rape trial of Artemisia.
From the Publisher
This beautiful book is the catalogue for the first full-scale exhibition of the works of Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, which will be held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from February 11 to May 12, 2002 and at the St. Louis Art Museum from June 15 to September 15, 2002.
Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi FROM THE PUBLISHER
Father and daughter Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi were unusual and gifted artists. Orazio Gentileschi (1563ﾽ1639) was the most talented follower of Caravaggio and a figure of international renown, active at the courts of Marie deﾽ Medici in France, Charles I in England, and in Rome, Genoa, and Turin. Artemisia (1593ﾽ1652/3) was the first Italian woman artist who was not only praised for her art by her contemporaries but whose paintings influenced the work of later generations. She is today a key figure in gender studies. Essays by an international group of art historians not only explore the development of each of these two painters individually but also compare their work, showing how both were influenced by their times and milieus. The book also includes new transcriptions of key parts of the notorious rape trial of Artemisia.
Author Biography: Keith Christiansen is Jayne Wrightsman Curator of Italian Painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Judith Mann is Curator of Early European Art at The Saint Louis Art Museum.
SYNOPSIS
This volume brings together works by father and daughter artists Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi. Written to accompany the 2002 exhibitions in Rome, New York, and St. Louis, essays by Christiansen (curator of Italian paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and Mann (curator of early European art at The Saint Louis Art Museum) and other contributors address a variety of issues and provide critical commentary and historical context. The appendices include previously unpublished documents relating to the trial of Orazio's colleague, Agostino Tassi, for his rape of Artemisia, shedding new light on her father's workshop practice and presenting a recently discovered inventory of her household goods. Contains 249 illustrations, 121 of which are colorplates. Oversize: 9.75x12". Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
FROM THE CRITICS
The New Criterion
A wonderful collection of essays and entries . . . [examining] all aspects of the lives and work of the two painters. . . . [I]nspired.
Library Journal
This book, which accompanies an exhibition currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and traveling both to the St. Louis Art Museum and to the Museo di Palazzo di Venezia in Rome, is the first to examine in one volume both Orazio and Artemesia Gentileschi, father-and-daughter artists of 17th-century Italy. The catalog demonstrates that Orazio Gentileschi follows the Caravaggesque practice of painting from the model, which Artemesia in turn absorbed into her own painting methods. At the same time, curator Christiansen concludes that Orazio painted much more in the elegant style of classical painting in France and never accepted the Baroque idioms of drama and expressiveness that his daughter Artemesia wholeheartedly embraced in her painting. Also discussed in this catalog is the feminist aspect of Artemesia's position as a talented woman artist, the possibility that she was the model for her own "Susanna and the Elders" early in her career, and how her social environment and opportunities as a woman artist changed dramatically after her marriage and her move from Rome to Florence. This catalog also includes excellent color reproductions and previously unpublished documents relating to the trial of Orazio's colleague, Agostino Tassi, for raping Artemesia. The scholarly literature on these artists should be advanced considerably by this extremely comprehensive volume. Enthusiastically recommended for all libraries that support programs in art and art history. [Interested readers will also want to look at Susan Vreeland's The Passion of Artemisia, a fictional account of the artists reviewed in LJ 12/01. Ed.] Sandra Rothenberg, Framingham State Coll., MA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
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