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until 13.01. | #4119ARTatBerlin | Galerie Judin shows from currently the exhibition “SIRANI”.
Thirteen Contemporary Painters and an Arresting Baroque Masterpiece:
Ellen Akimoto, Alexander Basil, Norbert Bisky, Kyle Dunn, Adrian Ghenie, Christoph Hänsli, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Brandon Lipchik, Lydia Pettit, Cornelia Schleime, Kiriakos Tompolidis, Hugo Wilson, Uwe Wittwer.
Norbert Bisky Alex Goliath, 2023 Oil on canvas 200 × 150 cm
A “triumph of the female sex, jewel of Italy and sun of Europe” – that is how Carlo Malvesi described Elisabetta Sirani, who died in 1665 at the age of only 27, in his biography published in 1678. He was not the only admirer of this extraordinary young woman, who left behind not only 200 paintings, but also an art academy for women that she had founded, the first of its kind in Europe. At that time, the world of art – just like the world of politics and religion – was a male bastion. The great masters – Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio – had no female counterparts. The few exceptions – besides Sirani, Artemisia Gentileschi, for example – had to fight to receive education, which was usually only available in their father’s studio. This was also the case with the girl Elisabetta, who was instructed in the art of painting by Giovanni Andrea Sirani. Already as a teenager, she developed her own style, both artistic and technical, and skillfully built an international network of clients and benefactors. At the beginning of her all-too-short career, she was able to rely almost exclusively on female patrons – an early case of feminist solidarity. She kept detailed records of her ideas, paintings, and sales, and at 18 she took over the management of her father’s studio. Only nine years later, she died from the consequences of an untreated stomach ulcer, as a “Maestra” mourned by all of Europe.
Lydia Pettit Self-portrait as the Head of Medusa, 2023 Oil on canvas on panel ⌀ 150 cm
Our exhibition is a tribute to this extraordinary artist – to which thirteen contemporary artists have contributed one painting each. Their contributions all relate to a work by Elisabetta Sirani, which is on public display here for the first time: Davide con la testa di Golia was created around 1655, presumably as a collaboration with her father, who added background and objects to the protagonists which were executed by Elisabetta. The Old Testament story of the youthful shepherd who, armed only with a slingshot, strikes down the giant Goliath and then beheads him has always been a popular topic in art. But what makes this painting different is the female gaze: Sirani bestows the delicate, androgynous face of the young hero a contemplative look – remorseful and perhaps even with compassion for the defeated. No air of triumph, no sign of pride for what has been accomplished, no masculine cold-bloodedness. Three and a half centuries ago, Sirani, resorting to traditional means, conceived an almost revolutionary image of a modern man – and thus a testimony to the self-conception of strong women at the dawn of the modern age.
Opening: Saturday, 11. November 2023, 11 am – 6 pm
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 11. November 2023 – Saturday, 13. January 2024
To the gallery
Image caption: Elisabetta Sirani, David with the Head of Goliath, c. 1655, Oil on canvas, 130 × 97 cm
Exhibition SIRANI – Galerie Judin | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
