I totally forgot that March is Women's History Month until I read Mikey's post about yesterday being International Women's Day and three fairly different female perspectives on the day. Opinions I agree with for the most part - but no one seemed to know that not only was there a day set aside to celebrate women around the world but that March really has been designated as a month to learn about women who played important parts in history but, for varying reasons, aren't included in history lessons.

(All apologies to those who've already read this bit in Anne's comments but I can plagarize myself as much as I wanna)

Why would there be a month specifically set aside to focus on women's role in history or black people in history for that matter? Because the version of history that we're most familiar with (because that's what is published in textbooks and taught in schools) is from the white men from the west and while it would be nice for us to all have received evenhanded culturally diverse history lessons that just hasn't happened except in specialized college courses. Yet.

So these arbitrary months have been set aside for people to focus on and learn about one perspective in history if they care to do so. As far as I know no one is being forced to observe any history month in any specific way, but a few tv stations have taken the initiative to focus on different people in history between commercials and programs, which is nice.

It would be naive to assume that every teacher will be able to provide text and lessons with a completely accurate historical perspective but maybe one day there can be something a little closer to a whole truth. That Christopher Columbus didn't exactly "discover" America. Or that there were a few women painting during the Rennaissance who were just as good as the more famous boys. About Buddy Bolden, the inventor of Jazz, whose life was about as interesting and tragic as Mozart's. Maybe eventually we can count on a more balanced perspective on history. Then a month designated specifically for women or black people in history won't be neccessary.

I remember taking a Women in Art History course in college and being stunned, completely staggered by the number of female artists that existed in history who'd never been mentioned in the countless art history lessons I'd attended by then. Not one. At first I got angry, and was quite the belligerant feminist for a while there.

Then I took a course with Judy Chicago and decided that being angry and bitter (and manipulative) wasn't the way I wanted to go either, although those traits came in handy to get her through what she needed to do. But I did take one idea from Ms. Chicago that I try to emulate: celebrating women in history. That's what the dinner party was about, and that's something I've tried to do in my own ways since.

I used to have a website that (mostly) focused on various women in the arts but it's long gone (except in the cockles of the wayback machine). Privately I've been collecting and reading various books about women artists, women in history, women of the beat generation, etc. And I have a tiny word document will that leaves my small but respectable women in the arts library to the College of Santa Fe, where I took that Women in Art History course and eventually finished my degree. I remember it was a spring course so the class was in session during Women's History Month. First I'd ever heard of a month being dedicated to women in history.

Anyway, I've decided that every day for the rest of this month I'm going to try posting about a woman in history. Can't guarantee that it'll be more than a few links but I will try to post about at least one woman in history every single day for the rest of March. Sort of my own little electronic dinner party.

And since I mentioned them earlier I thought I'd focus on my favorite Renaissance artists.

Sofonisba Anguissola was born to an aristocratic family in Cremona which included five (very artistic) sisters and one (unartistic) brother. At their father's insistence, the girls all received a well-rounded education, including art lessons by two famous local painters. Very unusual for the times. Sofonisba was considered an exceptional painter but was not allowed to study human anatomy and was therefore unable to create the kind of dynamic figural studies popularized by fellow Mannerist painters like Michelangelo, with whom she corresponded. With such limited subjects she focused more on being an exceptional portrait painter, one who painted the characteristics of faces and clothing. She became known for more casual poses and realistic expressions which really captured the spirit of the subjects. She became recognized internationally for her artwork, and eventually became the court painter for Philip II in Madrid. She later married and lived to a nice old age. Her paintings are in museum collections around the world.

Artemisia Gentileschi was the daughter of a painter, Orazio, who taught her from a young age. In her teens she was tutored by Tassi, another painter she later accused of rape. The resulting trials were incredibly invasive and torturous, affecting her artwork for the rest of her life. Amazingly, the transcripts of the trial still exist. Tassi was eventually convicted and served less than a year in prison. Aside from commissioned portraits she primarily painted biblical and mythological tales where women were in extreme emotional and/or physical duress, using chiaroscuro, great contrasts of shadowy dark and a strong, usually single light source to create the illusion of depth, to a great effect. She travelled around Italy a good deal and was a court painter for King Charles I of England for a while before moving back to Italy. A majority of her paintings were attributed to other artists, including her father, for a long time. There was a film called Artemesia based on the Tassi trials made in 1998 but it has her fall in love with her rapist so to avoid extreme property destruction I haven't seen it and don't plan to anytime soon.

So there ya go. Two women in history.

Comments

Posted by: aubree at March 9, 2005 3:43 PM

Posted by: Lori at March 9, 2005 8:03 PM

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