Artemisia Gentileschi Contribution to Feminist Movement

Table of Contents

Background of the Study
The Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
Research Objectives
Methodology
References

Background of the Study

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656) was one of the most outstanding Italian Baroque artists of the post-Renaissance period. Despite the fact that she is often referred to the so-called Caravaggio followers, her contribution is much more considerable: In the era when women painters were allowed to enter the artistic community only as assistants in studios, she became the first female artists who were accepted by the Accademia di Arte del Desegno in Florence (Locker, 2015). Nowadays, Gentileschi is considered to be one of the earliest feminists not only because the major subject of her works was a suffering woman but also due to the fact that she managed to win an unprecedented status in art, serving an example for generations to come (Buckley, 2013).

The Purpose of the Study and Research Questions

Therefore, the research question the study will attempt to answer is: How Artemisia Gentileschis legacy contributed to the development of the feminist movement? It is hypothesized that both the artists life and her propensity to depict women of power not only granted her an access to the male-dominated field but also made it possible for female artists of future generations to take an influential position.

The overall aim of the research is to understand how the artists work have affected the perception of a woman in art as well as how it motivated women in the 20^th century to struggle for their identity and rights. The study is important as it will shed some light on the artists and movements, from which contemporary artistic trends stem.

Research Objectives

Some research objectives were highlighted in order to provide an exhaustive answer to the research question. They run as follows:

to investigate the artists life and work;
to give a holistic picture of the background, against which a new phenomenon appeared;
to estimate her historical artistic significance;
to account for feminists interest in her works;
to find out how the artists manner is reflected in contemporary paintings.

Methodology

Research Philosophy

An interpretivist philosophy will be adopted in order to understand the reasons that stand behind the significance of the artists contribution and provide a qualitative analysis of motivations that underlie the contemporary art in general and feminist art in particular.

Research Strategy

The research strategy of this study focuses on reviewing journal and newspaper articles as well as books in order to identify, what made Artemisia Gentileschi stand apart from other Caravaggio followers and what attracted feminists attention to her life and works.

Research Approach

Since the study does not make any specific hypotheses that could be proven only empirically, it will employ a deductive research. This implies that a number of sources will be investigated to find out what makes the chosen artist a unique figure for feminism.

Data Analysis

All the findings of the research will be assessed to ensure better understanding of the situation. Various sources will be compared in order to understand how differently scholars interpret the artists life and legacy.

Generalizability

This refers to the degree to which the findings of the study can be applied to other research. In this case, the outcomes of the research can be generalized in terms of patterns that can be implemented to discern and investigate connections between modern movements in art and masters of earlier periods.

Limitations

The study is limited by its scope as it is focused only on one artist. However influential an artist might be, it is still insufficient to analyze a movement relying only on one of the factors that have affected its development.