Artistic Lines
from Joan Justis
October 2015
joanjustis.com
Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun
Self Portrait 1781
Artemesia Gentileschi 1613 “Judith and Her Maidservant
The discovery of 300 year old paintings by Florentine women artists inspired Invisible Women Forgotten Artists of Florence, a beautiful book written by Dr. Jane Fontane (Florentine Press 2009). It is now a PBS documentary.
About a month ago, my husband happened upon this program on the television. I was fascinated as I watched the process of discovering the paintings tucked away in museum archives (some totally forgotten and even thought missing), of restoring them to indicate their former beauty, and of researching the lives of these amazing 17th and 18th century women artists.
A 2010 exhibition of female portraits at the Polo Museale Fiorentino, Gallery Uffizi in Florence, Italy was the catalyst for finding many of these paintings. This documentary was sponsored by the Advancing Women Artist Foundation, an American non-profit, and the Florence Committee, the Italian counter-part.
I enjoy learning new things, so I am sharing with you the sites that you may view this fascinating video.
The documentary may be seen at:
video.wfyi.org/video/2365021641/ It lasts about 27 minutes and is very enjoyable.
Information about the making of this video can be found at this site:
vihttp://www.advancingwomenartists.org/doc-apbs-special.phpdeo.wfyi.org/video/2365021641/
Below is the October Coloring Page. If you are forwarding this to friends, please invite them to click on joanjustis.com to receive their own copy of Artistic Lines. To print, click on the picture.
