Important Women Artists part 3

Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait, 1554.

Sofonisba Anguissola was born in Cremona. She was the oldest of seven children, six of whom were daughters. Her father, Amilcare Anguissola, was a nobleman. Sofonisba's mother died shortly after her children were born. Amilcare, who bore a name from antiquity (i.e. the name of the Carthaginian Hamilcar, as did his son Asdrubale, named after Hasdrubal) named her after the tragic Carthaginian figure Sophonisba.
All of the daughters (Sofonisba, Elena, Lucia, Europa, Anna Maria and Minerva) possessed artistic talent. Asdrubale did not study painting, but studied music and Latin like his sisters did. Along with second oldest sister, Elena, Sofonisba formally studied art with Bernardino Campi, a local portrait painter. When Campi moved to another city, Sofonisba continued her studies with the painter Bernardino Gatti. Sofonisba's apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for future women to be accepted as students of art.
Later in life, her sister Elena became a nun, and two sisters ended their art careers after marriage, whilst the last sister died at an early age.
In 1557, her father Amilcare wrote a letter to Michelangelo describing the talents of his daughter. By way of response, the prominent artist sent him a drawing for his daughter to copy, as was the custom of the time. Sofonisba drew "Child bitten by a crab" and sent it back to Michelangelo for criticism; her talent was immediately recognized by Michelangelo.
In 1559, in her late 20's, her talents recognized, she was invited to Spain to serve as a court painter and lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Elizabeth of Valois, whom she painted in 1565. Sofonisba remained for 10 years. She married twice. Her first marriage in 1570 was to Fabrizio de Moncada, a Sicilian. The wedding ceremony was celebrated with great pomp, and she received a dowry from the monarchs Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth. Sofonisba spent the next four years in Italy, but when her husband Fabrizio died, Sofonisba decided to return to the Spanish court. However, on her return voyage, she fell in love with the ship's captain, Orazio Lomellino, and they married on arrival to the port of Genoa.
Sofonisba became a wealthy patron of the arts after she became blind. She had three children and spent the rest of her life in Genoa and Palermo.
In 1624, one year before her death (she claimed to be 96 at the time), Sofonisba was visited by a young Anthony Van Dyck, who drew a portrait of her in his sketchbook and noted that, though Sofonisba was blind, was still quite mentally alert. Excerpts of the advice she gave him about painting also survive from this visit.
She died in Palermo in 1625.

Artemisia Gentileschi Self-portrait

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1652/1653), daughter of well-known Roman artist, Orazio Gentileschi (1563 - 1639), was one of the first women artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art. In an era when female artists were limited to portrait painting and imitative poses, she was the first woman to paint major historical and religious scenarios.
Born in Rome in 1593, she received her early training from her father, but after art academies rejected her, she continued study under a friend of her father, Agostino Tassi.
In 1612, her father brought suit against Tassi for raping Artemisia. There followed a highly publicised seven-month trial. This event makes up the central theme of a controversial French film, Artemisia (1998), directed by Agnes Merlet.
The trauma of the rape and trial impacted on Artemisia's painting. Her graphic depictions were cathartic and symbolic attempts to deal with the physical and psychic pain.
The heroines of her art, especially Judith, are powerful women exacting revenge on such male evildoers as the Assyrian general Holofernes. Her style was heavily influenced by dramatic realism and marked chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573 - 1610).

After her death, she drifted into obscurity, her works often attributed to her father or other artists. Art historian and expert on Artemisia, Mary D. Garrard notes that Artemisia "has suffered a scholarly neglect that is unthinkable for an artist of her calibre." Renewed and overdue interest in Artemisia in recent years has recognized her as a talented seventeenth-century painter and one of the world's greatest female artists.

Find out about other women artists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Women_in_art