For the first blog post of Jeff Burgess’ 131 Survey & Principles of illustration class, I chose to research a female artist of the High Renaissance and Mannerism period. I decided on Catherina van Hemessen, as her story moved me: Catherina was a female artist whose significance to art was forgotten and disregarded until recently.
Van Hemessen was a Flemish Renaissance painter, one of the first female Flemish artists whose works are known. Daughter of painter Jan Sanders van Hemessenn, she was taught his skills from a young age. Her most well-known works include many small-scale portraits of women, a couple of religious paintings, and the first depiction of a self-portrait where the subject, herself, is sitting at an easel. This idea was used by many later artists, like Rene Magritte. Despite her incredible artistic invention, she isn’t accredited by many for her achievement.
A realist, her portraits are characterized by a dark or neutral background to heighten the intimacy and an unusual lack of eye contact with the viewer
Later in her life, Maria of Austria became her patron and Van Hemessen even had three male apprentices.
Her paintings now hang in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the National Gallery in London.
Sources:
https://www.theartpostblog.com/en/catharina-van-hemessen-life-and-works/
Comments
Sophia,
Nice work on van Hemenssen here! You combine good research with your own personal thoughts about the artist and her period. Van Hemenssen was a popular choice this term as she has seemed to resonate with many of our female students who have posted on her. Good job out of the gate!
Jeff
Writing comment from Patrick
Well written post. Using Grammarly would smooth out slightly awkward phrasing … Daughter of painter Jan Sanders van Hemessenn, she was taught his skills from a young age. Her most well-known works … could read: Her father, painter Jan Sanders Van Hemessenn, taught her how to paint from a young age. Her best know works… Also suggest reading out loud. that helps you hear when sentences needs rewriting. Good stuff.