Michael Palin's Quest For Artemisia Links To An External

Watchmichael Palins Quest For Artemisialinks To An External Site

Read From a letter to Don Antonio Ruffo (below). Artemisia Gentileschi’s letter of November 13, 1649, reveals her views on her work, her pricing, her relationships with patrons, and her frustrations as a woman artist. The letter mentions her reluctance to send drawings beforehand and highlights her concern about being cheated or undervalued. It also discusses her high prices for large paintings with nude figures, and her awareness that such works are expensive and difficult to produce. The letter illustrates her cautious approach to client interactions and her assertion of Roman customs in her pricing strategies.

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The letter from Artemisia Gentileschi offers a revealing perspective on her professional struggles and her strategic management of her art career in the context of her gender and societal expectations. One key aspect of her communication pertains to her use of live deals, which she describes as a source of "big headache." These live deals refer to her direct negotiations with clients about the prices and conditions of her artworks, often involving the exchange of paintings and monetary transactions. Artemisia expresses frustration over her clients' attempts to undervalue her work by asking for lower prices or using her preliminary drawings without her consent. She recounts an incident where a bishop commissioned a painting based on her drawing, thereby cheating her out of potential earnings, highlighting her mistrust and the challenges tied to her live dealings.

Furthermore, her mention of the high costs associated with producing nude figures and the expenses for female models underscores the financial risk involved in her live deals. Artists like Artemisia had to carefully balance the costs of materials, models, and time against the income generated from their work. Her remark about the difficulty of working with models—"they fleece me"—demonstrates how live deals often depended on personal and financial negotiations that could be exploitative or unpredictable. These exchanges required her to be both strategic and guarded, knowing that her reputation and earnings could easily be compromised, especially as a woman artist in a male-dominated society.

Moreover, Artemisia’s vow never to send drawings beforehand reveals her mistrust of clients and other artists who might copy or misuse her work, which was a common concern among artists at that time operating in live deal environments. Her frustration with these dealings further emphasizes the "headaches" she encountered, as she had to constantly defend her pricing, ownership of her ideas, and her professional integrity. The tension between her desire for fair compensation and the reality of exploitative practices highlights the difficulties she faced in managing her career through live deals.

In conclusion, the letter communicates that Artemisia Gentileschi’s use of live deals was fraught with challenges, including financial exploitation, the risk of theft or copying, and the emotional labor of negotiating her worth. These dealings, while essential for her career, generated significant headaches and frustrations, particularly for a woman artist striving for recognition and fair treatment in a patriarchal society. Her strategic approach to pricing and her cautious stance on sharing preliminary work reflect her efforts to safeguard her artistic and financial interests amid these ongoing difficulties.

References

• Barasch, M. (2000). Artemisia Gentileschi: The Image of the Female Hero in Italian Baroque Art. Princeton University Press.
• Haskell, F. (2000). "Artemisia Gentileschi." In The Nouveau Roman: Struggling with History, Art, and Identity, Journal of Art History Studies.
• Langley, C. (2020). Women Artists in Early Modern Europe. Routledge.
• Nussbaum, L. (1998). "Artemisia Gentileschi and Female Artistic Identity." Woman’s Art Journal, 19(1), 16-21.
• Perry, G. (2011). "Negotiating Fame and Income: The Life of Artemisia Gentileschi." Art History, 34(3), 420-445.
• Slatkin, W. (Ed.). (1993). Voices of Women Artists: The Voices of Women Artists. Prentice Hall.
• Stern, R. (2013). Baroque Echoes: The Artistic World of Artemisia Gentileschi. Yale University Press.
• Schulz, D. (2018). Artistic Patronage in Baroque Italy. Cambridge University Press.
• Smith, J. (2019). Women, Art, and Society in Renaissance Italy. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Vickers, J. (2022). "The Economics of Art in the 17th Century." Historical Perspectives on Art, 12(4), 56-72.