Trailblazing Women in Art - A Virtual Program by Jill Kiefer

(LEFT) Mary Cassatt - Children on the Beach - 1884 - Oil on canvas - 98 x 74 cm - National Gallery of Art, Washington (RIGHT) Tamara de Lempicka - Self-Portrait in a Green Bugatti - 1925 - Oil on wood - Private Collection (click photo for larger image)“Dr. Jill” will continue to offer single-session art history programs online, beginning in June, on a variety of topics. Every session runs for one hour. The presentations are around 35-45 minutes long with time left over for a Q&A. Check out the program descriptions and REGISTER NOW!

This is a global program—and the times noted are EDT (New York time) and GMT.

On Friday, June 5th, Dr. Jill’s featured program will be Trailblazing Women in Art  – In this program, we will look at women artists throughout time who have both survived and succeeded in male-dominated art worlds. How did a woman in the 10^th century become an artist? Which women developed entirely new movements in art? Who are the most influential women artists today—and why? These questions and other issues will be explored as we take a brief look at the history of women artists over time. We’ll “visit” with a broad range of artists including such women as Artemisia Gentileschi, Berthe Morisot, Georgia O’Keeffe, Augusta Savage, Frida Kahlo, Elizabeth Murray, and many others. We’ll glimpse at the evolution of their art and discover their impact on the visual arts, as a whole.

The date for this event is Friday, 5 June -3:00pm – 4:00pm EDT (New York Time), 19:00 – 20:00 (7:00pm – 8:00pm ) GMT

Sofonisba Anguissola: A Life Full of Surprises

Sofonisba Anguissola - Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois (1545-1568) - c. 1599 - Color on canvas - 68 cm (26.7 ″); Width: 54 cm (21.2 ″) - Kunsthistorisches Museum - Vienna, Austria (click photo for larger image)Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) was the first female artist to gain an international reputation. Among female painters, she was unusual in that her father was a nobleman rather than an artist.

While beginning to earn a living, Sofonisba also taught her sisters Lucia, Europa, and Anna Maria to paint. Their humanist father gave the sisters extraordinary classical educations. He promoted them and their work shamelessly, sending Sofonisba's drawings to Michelangelo and eventually securing her service as lady-in-waiting to the queen of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois (1454-68), a position that gave her opportunities for painting formal court portraits that followed the norms for that type of imagery. While in Spain Sofonisba married the brother of the Viceroy of Sicily. Upon his death, she remarried and moved to Genoa and finally to Palermo in Sicily where she retired. She was famously visited by Sir Anthony Van Dyck in 1623, when she was in her nineties.

"Life is full of surprises, I try to capture these precious moments with wide eyes.” - Sofonisba Anguissola

Alma Thomas: A Concentration on Beauty and Happiness

Alma Thomas - Atmospheric Effects I - 1970 - Acrylics and Pencil on Paper - 22 1/8 x 30 3/8 in. - Smithsonian American Art Museum - Washington D.C. (click photo for larger image)African-American Abstract Expressionist Alma Thomas (c. 1891-1976) was the first graduate of Howard University’s art department (in 1924). Though she’d always had dreams of becoming an architect—after college she began a 35-year career teaching in a Washington, D.C. junior high school. With the income she supported herself and her art.

Although Thomas earlier works were representational and realistic, she eventually developed her signature style in her 70s—large, abstract paintings filled with dense, irregular patterns of bright colors.

Thomas became an important role model for women, for African Americans, and for older artists. She was the first African American woman to have a solo exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, and she exhibited her paintings at the White House three times.

“Through color, I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man's inhumanity to man.” - Alma Thomas

Bethany Arts Community - Women in the Arts - Presented by Dr. Jill Kiefer

(click photo for larger image)Please mark you calendars and plan to attend two special presentations by What About Art? Director, Jill Kiefer. The first program will be A Brief Survey of Women Artists from the Middle Ages to the present day. That event will take place tomorrow, Saturday, March 2nd, from 4:00-5:30pm at BAC. The following week, on Saturday, March 9th from 4:00-5:30pm, Women Working in the Arts will be presented, focusing on some of the major contributions made by women working in a variety of professions in the arts. We’ll also note some of the staggering disparities that continue to exist between women and men working in the arts. See the flyer here for more details.

Linear Art: The Power Of Line

(click photo for larger image)The Ossining Arts Council is presenting Linear Art: POWER OF THE LINE, curated by Peg Tarnowsky and Steven Hummel. The exhibit is open to ALL and will be on view from April 6 - May 1, 2019.

The deadline for entries is March 15, 2019. The Prospectus contains all important information regarding the call, and instructions for making your submission(s).

The exhibit will feature works in all media that embody implied lines, diagonal lines, gesture lines, outlines, contour lines, expressive lines and more. Other elements, such as texture, shading and solid pigments may certainly be included. However, the emphasis will be on the conscious and creative use of line.

This call is open to ALL. OAC Members may enter for FREE. Non-Members: $25. Students: $15 - Up to TWO (2) submissions may be made. All submissions should be sent to: info@ossiningartscouncil.org  See PROSPECTUS for complete instructions.

If you choose to become an OAC Member, entry fees will be waived. You can learn more about OAC on our website. Click on this LINK to become a Member.