The Representation of Strong Women Throughout Art History

     Artemesia Gentileschi was daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, an italian painter. Her style of painting was more like Caravaggio's. She worked with her father at his workshop, and proved to be the best painter out of all his [male] children. Her father hired a man to mentor her, and as well know, she was raped. Back then men could rape a woman and promise to marry her in order to not make her "look bad" because he had taken her virginity. Although he was taken to court for raping Artemesia and he had been proven guilty, he never served time for the crime he committed. In the painting to the right, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1612), Judith and her maidservant are beheading Holofernes. This painting is very bloody, graphic, and violent. You see blood every where spurting out in different directions, and the women do not look frightened at all. Artemesia uses the painting to show all the anger she has and what her rapist deserves; she is Judith and her mentor is Holofernes. Artemesia uses this painting that lives on forever, to send a direct message to her rapist. She's not afraid of him, and she wants him to know it. She also worked alongside many men, and never let people putting her down for being a woman (or being accused of having her father help her with her paintings) stop her from painting. 


Another strong woman in the Renaissance period, Elisabetta Sirani was the daughter of the painter Giovanni Sirani. Being a woman of course, she could not keep her earnings, so she had to give all the earnings to her father. Though, when her father became incapacitated, she had to support her whole family with the money from her paintings. Many people did not think that she did her paintings, so she painted publicly for everyone to see that she had great talent, and that a woman can draw just as good or even better than a man. One of her most recognized paintings was Portia Wounding Her Thigh (1664). In this painting, "Portia has to prove herself virtuous and worthy of political trust by separating herself from the rest of her sex" (Chadwick, pg. 101). She is pushed into the foreground and is stabbing her knee to prove that she is strong, courageous, and different; the women in the background are trying to please the man, what was expected of women. Sirani shows that women can be as brave as men as well as showing no sign of pain or disgust.

     Many people believed that women could not be as good painters as men, let alone sculptors. People believed sculpting was "beyond a woman's capabilities". Harriet Hosmer was an American, lesbian sculptor. She had a contemporary neoclassical style. Harriet Hosmer moved to Europe in 1852 to expand her career and find a place more tolerant for an independent, lesbian woman. She sculpted Zenobia in Chains (1859). Zenobia was a third century queen of Palmyra, who defeated and was captured by the Romans. People told stories about being a classical woman who was abducted. Hosmer, instead of telling the story, created this statue to show that the queen didn’t succumb to her capture and humiliation; she stood up for herself. She draws Zenobia strong and confident.  This emphasized feminism in the 19th century by pointing out her intellectual and emotional strength in the face of hardship. Hosmer painted Zenobia strong, like she was, for being openly gay in the 19th century. It still was not very much accepted, yet she would end up in a relationship and happy. 

     Lily Martin Spencer became the most popular and widely reproduced female genre painter of the mid 19th century. She supported thirteen children with her artwork/paintings. She lived in role reversed home. Her husband took care of her children while she brought the money to put food on the table. Now, there are very rare occasions where we see this happening. Women were still not very accepted in the art world, yet here there was a woman, who took the role of the patriarch in the household. She painted domestic scenes in which women and children were happy. Although she did have an audience for her work, Lily Martin Spencer had difficulties making a living from being a painter and was always struggling financially. Her art was placed as decorations in homes. The painting on the right is Kiss me and You'll kiss the 'Lasses (1856). The woman in the painting is smiling at the viewer, but as the title suggests, if the viewer tries to kiss her, she will hit him with the spoon she has in her hand. Although quite comical, it's interesting how she paints the woman in the kitchen getting things ready, while in her household she was not the one who had to cook, rather her husband, and she was stuck providing enough income for her children, herself, and her husband. 

           Last, but definitely not least, we have Marina Abramovic, the grandmother of performance art. For her artwork, she uses her body as her medium. She "explores the  relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind". She's strong and proves it in her art work.  She has many exhibits, but the most interesting is "Sitting with Marina". She sits down for hours (a total of 750) upon hours, and challenges people to sit in front of her. Often, many cry because they cannot handle it. Abramovic has to train herself not only to sit down for so many hours, but discipline her mind to concentrate for so long. Some last minutes while others last hours. It's a mental game where she's unstoppable, and you can't beat her gaze. 

Works Cited

Chadwick, Whitney. Art, Women, and Society. New York, NY. 4th edition. 1990. Print.
Lily Martin Spencer http://www.nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/lilly-martin-spencer
"The Art is Present" http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965