gallery event of the week - DON'T MISS

 Friday, March 4, 2011

 

DON'T MISS

 

"One of the first successful female artists, 17th-century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. In 1997, the Italian biopic "Artemisia" told her story, with an emphasis on the young woman's erotic awakening. That made for a marketable film, but experts complained it was mostly fiction.

Ellen Weissbrod took a different approach in her 2010 documentary "A Woman Like That," which screens this week at the National Gallery of Art. She stuck closely to the facts, while taking Gentileschi's accomplishments as a personal inspiration. The director considered the few known works attributed to Gentileschi and interviewed scholars and amateur admirers alike. Weissbrod also reenacted a few moments from the painter's life, drawing on limited biographical information.

Weissbrod will introduce and discuss her 93-minute documentary at 1 p.m. Saturday at the National Gallery of Art, East Building Auditorium, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. www.nga.gov/programs/film. 202-737-4215. 202-842-6799. Free."

- Mark Jenkins

another good review - yeah team!

This is by Jeannette Catsoulis:
 
 'A Woman Like That' Merges A 17th Century Scandal And A Midlife Crisis'  

" . . .  Weissbrod pieces together a lighthearted commentary on art and gender as relevant today as it would have been four centuries ago."

"Following a release strategy as unconventional as its style, A Woman Like That will screen primarily at universities and museums, including on Saturday, March 5th, at 1:00 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art.

" . . . an extraordinary synthesis . . . moving and powerfully revealing"

Arriving home late last night from 3 days of screenings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - great screenings at URI, RISD and Tufts - and gearing up for The National Gallery screening in DC this coming Saturday March 5th (really glad the government is still in business . . .) we're gratified to see this nice review.

So check out this review of our film on flick filosopher. We really appreciate everyone helping us get the word out.

". . . Weissbrod blends her own experience as an artist with Gentileschi’s -- via the testimony of art experts and Gentileschi’s own words in documents from her time -- to create an extraordinary synthesis that is part art appreciation, part personal diary, and all very moving and powerfully revealing about what it means to be a woman alive in the world, today and four hundred years ago."

And for another positive take check this out from the Washington Jewish Week, Filmmaker models herself after 17th-century painter - "When a middle-aged woman needs a role model, where does she look? Ellen Weissbrod crossed centuries and seas for her answer, finding inspiration at every turn." . . . 

You can click on the links to read the full reviews. More posts coming soon!

Upcoming Screenings with Filmmaker Q & A

We're very excited to announce the follow upcoming screenings:

University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI  -  Monday, February 28, 2011 - 7:30 PM Swan Hall, 60 Upper College Road

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI - Tuesday, March 1, 2011 RISD - 7 PM RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Walk, Providence

Tufts University, Medford, MA - Wednesday, March 2, 2011 - 3 - 5:30 PM Cohen Auditorium, Aidekman Arts Center, 15 South Campus Road

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC - Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 1 PM East Building Concourse, Auditorium, 4th and Constitution Avenue NW

York University, Toronto, CA  -  Thursday, March 17, 2011 - 6:30 - 9:00 PM Nat Taylor Cinema, Ross N102, 4700 Keele Street 

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion

Rosendale Theater, Rosendale, NY - Saturday, April 2, 2011 - 7:30 PM - $6.00; theater members $5.00

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH - Sunday, April 10, 2011 - 1:30 PM  Gartner Auditorium 

          The screening includes a talk with European Painting Curator Jon Seydl - $10; museum members, seniors & students $8.

Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA - Friday, June 17, 2011 - time to be determined

Upcoming screenings in the works include Cincinnati, Colorado, Baltimore, San Francisco, Philadelphia and New York City - stay tuned!

Please contact us if you'd like to bring us to your city.

Artemisia painting at auction, Christies January 26th 2011

Artemisia's "The Penitent Magdalene" is coming up for auction at Christies on January 26th 2011. 

We were pleased to see that the estimate is set at $800,000 to $1,200,000. In 2006 we filmed the auction of an Artemisia painting at Christies and that sold for $45,000. During our film screenings people in the audience gasp at that low selling price.

We've heard about the sale from many people. Along with the new signed portrait at Sperone Westwater there is a lot of action on the Artemisia front.

You Will Meet A Tall, Handsome Stranger… On The Bowery

This is an article by David Cohen about the newly discovered Artemisia portrait at Sperone Westwater. It appeared in yesterday's, New York Sun. We were keen to find out further information about the discovery and the future exhibition in Milan.

"The new Artemisia was acquired under a different attribution. During restoration the monogram AG emerged in the trinkets on the young man's chest, and after lengthy analysis experts are agreed now on the portrait being from her hand. It is to be included in a large public exhibition of her work in Milan later this spring. This tall handsome painting is likely from the period just after she gained independence from her father, Orazio's workshop."

Also a nice link to the portrait.

New Discovery! Artemisia Gentileschi rare signed portrait unveiled! In NYC through February 19th!

 (double click to enlarge)

Yes, really, a new Artemisia Gentileschi portrait! We were truly excited when this appeared in our Google Alert a couple of weeks ago. While we have all read that in her time Artemisia was renowned for her portraits - and the Portrait of a Gonfaloniere has been well known - it is really exhilarating when new works appear.

The preview was last night at the recently opened Norman Foster designed Sperone Westwater gallery on the Bowery. The exhibition is presented in partnership Robilant + Voena.

There he is at the far end of the gallery.

His identity is unknown but Artemisia's initials are worked into the jewelry that is at the center of his blouse. 

It is a really beautiful painting. (although this is a bad photograph of it)

This is the gallery's description: ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI, (Rome 1593 - after January 1654 Naples), Portrait of an Unidentified Man, 1630-1635, Oil on canvas, 204.5 x 109.2 cm / 80.5 x 43 in, Monogrammed AG on the silver trinkets, detail.

"The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, scholarly catalogue" - Judy Mann, the curator of the Artemisia portion of the 2002 father/daughter exhibition wrote the catalogue entry. Here is a version of Judy Mann's essay - I think that in the catalogue her essay is even more extensive.

I was told by Marco Voena that the painting has already been sold to a collector of contemporary portraits in New York City - so you best go see him now before he disappears behind the closed doors of this private collection. At the front desk you can pick up this great large format postcard to send to your friends or hang on your wall.

 

Marco Voena also confirmed that there is an UPCOMING, FALL 2011,  ARTEMISIA EXHIBITION SCHEDULED IN MILAN - He kindly said he would help us get in touch with the gallery - it would be great to show our film during the exhibition! We will keep you posted as we get more details about that exhibition.