ARTEMISIA GENTILESCHI
Rome 1593 – circa-1656 Naples
With Artemisia Gentileschi the concept of the true “woman-artist” appeared for the first time in the history of painting, a field which had previously been dominated by men. The daughter of the famous painter Orazio Gentileschi, she liberated herself to claim her artistic independence after having learned the secrets of the trade from her father. Though she was raped by a tutor hired by her father, and underwent a historically famous court case, she did not let the experience stop her from pursuing painting. She called upon the style of Caravaggio – but with her own distinct brushstrokes. Her paintings were celebrated by the noble and powerful families of Rome and Naples, as well as the ruling Spanish viceroys, and fetched high prices. As her success grew, Artemisia became a valued member of society, attending the Florentine court of the Medici, as well as a friend of Galileo Galilei and of the learned Cassiano del Pozzo. She was so respected that she became the first woman in history admitted to the prestigious Accademia del Disegno, founded by Giorgio Vasari.

This January we will offer Artemisia’s oil on canvas of Saint Sebastian, an impressive recent addition to the artist’s oeuvre (estimate $400/600,000). Sometimes presented by latter-day scholars as a proto-feminist, Artemisia reveled in depictions of female heroines such as Judith and Sisera, as well as more traditional subjects such as Cleopatra, Danaë, and female personifications of allegories. Here, she once more celebrates female virtue by showing Irene and Lucina giving relief to the Roman deserter Sebastian, after he had been repeatedly wounded by arrows.

ELISABETH-LOUISE VIGÉE LE BRUN
Paris 1755 - 1842
Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun was a precocious and talented artist from a young age; she succeeded in gaining entrance to the Académie de Saint-Luc at just 19, a remarkable accomplishment for a woman at the time. By the late 1770s, Le Brun’s reputation as a portraitist had become well established. In 1778 she was called to Versailles to paint a full-length portrait of the young Queen Marie Antoinette. The tremendous success of this portrait led to a number of royal commissions and the continued patronage of the Queen and her circle. As a royalist and portraitist of Marie-Antoinette, Le Brun fled France during the Revolution and traveled throughout Europe for many years, spending time in Italy, Vienna, Russia, England and Switzerland. She was greeted warmly in most aristocratic circles, and in the tradition of the courtier artist, was often treated as the social equal of her sitters. As probably the most widely recognized French female artist of the 18th century, her works are highly prized. In 2016, she was the subject if a blockbuster exhibition at the Grand Palais and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Master Paintings on 30 January will offer one of the most important works by Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun to come to auction. Offered with an estimate of $4/6 million, Portrait of Muhammad Dervish Khan, comes to the market for the first time in over a century. Painted in the summer of 1788 and exhibited at the Salon of 1789, when political unrest had begun to boil in France, the work is an evocative account of France’s fascination with the East as well as Vigée’s resourcefulness in acquiring this unique commission. Separate release attached.

Two additional works by the artist will be featured during Masters Week: an elegant pastel bust-length portrait of the Irish aristocrat Lady Spencer Perceval (estimate $150/250,000), completed during her time in England in 1803-5; and an early portrait done in 1774 of a Young Woman Dressed in White (estimate $40/60,000).

MARIE-VICTOIRE LEMOINE
Paris 1754 - 1820
Marie-Victoire Lemoine is said to have studied under Vigée Le Brun. While many artists – including Le Brun – fled France during the Revolution given their associations with the court, others like Lemoine stayed and enjoyed fresh opportunities from the upheaval. In 1791, the new government opened up the biannual Salons to all artists, including women like Lemoine who had previously been held back by the Académie Royale’s restrictions on women members. Her breakthrough came in 1796 when she first exhibited at the Paris Salon, where she would go on to find success. Though she never married, she was able to support herself entirely by her painting – a remarkable feat at the time.

This sumptuous portrait of a young and attractive girl depicts Madame de Genlis, a writer who later became the first female governess to the royal princes, charged with the education of the sons of Philippe, duc d'Orléans (estimate $60/80,000). Marie-Victoire Lemoine painted Madame de Genlis with a soft yet commanding beauty, elegantly and directly looking out at the viewer in this sensual depiction of the young writer, alluding more to her role as mistress to the duc d'Orleans rather than as a formidable governess. The Female Triumphant also will offer the vibrant Still life of spring flowers in a basket – the only known, pure still life by Lemoine (estimate $80/120,000).