A
stereotype revolving painters is that they are poor and/that their lives end tragically even if at some point they were successful,
This might be true for some famous painters like Caravaggio, Rembrandt , Francisco Goya, van Gogh, Egon Schiele and others there is no doubt.
But there are also inspiring stories that no matter what the circumstances, the painters remained masters of their destiny;
For example, the story of Artemisia Gentileschi who during the 17th centuries overcame her own tragedy and trauma and raised above the situation of being a victim.
she opposed the social-economical, psychological & cultural pressures existing in society during her lifetime, redefined what it was to be a woman and a painter.
She could have reacted differently, but she had chosen to have her revenge (so to speak) in her paintings and in art.
This copy is Charcoal on paper 158.8x125.5
is a drawing I did after her “Judith Slaying Holofernes”.
I made it during my school years and learned from it a lot, but I also wanted to commemorate her spirit;
it is not the tragedy in our life that defines us, it is how we choose to react after the tragedy’s had occurred.
Don't stop believing in yourself, work hard, learn, paint draw and find beauty in life even when times are hard.
I admire her work and behaviour as a person, she is a great role model and an important figure from the history of art.
Here are a few of her quotes :
-“As long as I live I will have control over my being”
-“I have made a solemn vow never to send my drawings because people have cheated me. In particular, just today I found... that, having done a drawing of souls in Purgatory for the Bishop of St. Gata, he, in order to spend less, commissioned another painter to do the painting using my work. If I were a man, I can't imagine it would have turned out this way.”
-“My mustrious lordship, I'll show you what a woman can do” ...
https://www.samrachamin.com/artworks-master-copy