Art, Josefa Ayalla

 
This lady fascinates me. I know very little about her, the information here is taken directly from wikipeadia but her work speaks for itself.

She was a true master in a world dominated by men. Technically she was as good as any of her male contemporaries and her chosen subject matter was similar to that of many other artists. She is known for her still life and religious paintings. I look at her work and think the saying ‘looking at the world through rose coloured spectacles’ could have been invented for her. Because to me that’s exactly how her paintings look, as if someone is seeing the world through a sweet rosy haze. Her work is littered with little flowers and cherub like faces but none of the ‘sweetness’ (a quality I’m not always a fan of)  detracts from the strength of her technical expertise and her extraordinary talent. When you think of the period in which she lived and the way in which women were disadvantaged at that time it makes her achievements all the more remarkable.

Information below fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefa_de_%C3%93bidos

Josefa de Óbidos (1630 – 2 July 1684) was a Spanish-born, Portuguese painter from the seventeenth century. Her birth name was Josefa de Ayala Figueira, but she signed her work as, "Josefa em Óbidos" or, "Josefa de Ayalla". She is one of the relatively few female European painters known to have been active in the Baroque era. All of her work was executed in Portugal, her father's native country, where she lived from the age of four.

Josefa de Óbidos was born in Seville, Spain. Her father, Baltazar Gomes Figueira, was a Portuguese painter from the village of Óbidos. He went to Seville in the 1620s to improve his painting technique and, while there, married Catarina de Ayala y Cabrera, a native Andalusian, who would become the mother of Josefa. The family returned to Portugal in 1634. They first settled in Peniche, where Baltazar continued his work as a painter.

It is known that by 1644, at the age of fourteen, Josefa, was in Coimbra in the Convent of The Grace (Convento da Graça), where her father painted the main altarpiece of the church.

Josefa's first known works are engravings, executed in 1646. They demonstrate that she had achieved a high degree of skill by the age of sixteen. Sometime before 1653, she and her family left Coimbra and settled in Óbidos.

While in Óbidos, she drew an allegory of Wisdom for the Book of Rules of the University of Coimbra, which was being decorated by her father. Highly esteemed as a painter by that time, her father Baltazar is considered to be the main influence upon her. He possessed a great number of engravings among his collection that made Josefa familiar with the art of her time.
Still-life (c.1679). Santarém, Municipal Library.

During the decades that followed, Josefa executed several religious altarpieces for churches and convents in central Portugal, as well as, paintings of portraits and still-life for private customers. Among her chief religious works are the five panels for the Saint Catherine altarpiece of the Church of the Holy Mary (Santa Maria) in Óbidos, in 1661. During 1672-1673 she painted the altarpiece of Saint Theresa of Ávila for the Carmelite Convent of Cascais. In 1679 she completed an altarpiece for the Church of the Mercy of Peniche. Her best known portrait is that of Faustino das Neves, dated c.1670, which is in the Municipal Museum of Óbidos.

Many of her still-life paintings, considered her specialty, are among other works by her that are now in the National Museum of Ancient Art in (Lisbon). Her work appears in several other museums and as well as in private collections.

Josefa de Óbidos died in Óbidos and was buried in the Church of Saint Peter of Óbidos. She is considered to be one of the most accomplished painters of seventeenth century Portugal and is especially significant because of the recognition she gained among the Baroque painters, an art period which was dominated by male painters.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Jun 23, '11 forgetmenot525 said try to find out the history and/or the meaning behind that painting. It's not a hard one to understand. The imagery is representative of the Lamb of God, Christ crucified, the innocent 'lamb' sacrificed for the sins of the world. The lamb here is portrayed as particularly innocent and young, and thus given a very delicate and highly empathetic approach. Could this be because the artist is female and is thus of a maternal attitude? I would think so.

Comment deleted at the request of the author.

delete reply bjorbo wrote on May 15, '11 OooooooOOoo! Thank you for the introduction, amazing talent, amazing woman! http://bjorbo.multiply.com/journal/item/298

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on May 15, '11 forgetmenot525 said It obviously doesn't, its just a shame that in previous times women were virtually invisible in the art world. exactly ~ they were kept from doing it when i hear people taking about "the good ole days of the past" i think what huey!!!! how many great artists never came to be :(

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on May 15, '11 bennett1 said I'd love to untie that poor lamb oh I know, isn't this one odd?? its beautifully painted with little flowers and the lamb looks so angelic, but for some reason the lamb is tied up? I did think I should try to find out the history and/or the meaning behind that painting.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on May 15, '11 nemo4sun said how would gender play a part in how good an artist is??? It obviously doesn't, its just a shame that in previous times women were virtually invisible in the art world.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on May 15, '11 Her art is vaguely reminiscent of the paintings on Russian lacquered boxes. I'd love to untie that poor lamb.

delete reply artprevails wrote on May 15, '11 Beautiful and dark...

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on May 15, '11 love the rich color how would gender play a part in how good an artist is??? :)

delete reply brendainmad wrote on May 14, '11 I'd say her painting was as good as any of the other painters of her time.