Artemisia Gentileschi and the business of art

Recent decades have witnessed a surge of interest in the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, with a proliferation of books, exhibitions, and general appreciation of the artist in popular culture. Marshall's study is a nice complement to the growing body of academic literature. While following a general biographical progression, it is also thematic, with each chapter highlighting a different element of "business," broadly interpreted through Gentileschi's professional development. The key point that emerges is the artist's adaptability, or her evolution as an artist and a person in response to both opportunity and adversity. Gentileschi thus constantly reinvented herself stylistically and professionally in Rome, Florence, Naples, and London as a truly international artist. The book concludes with thought-provoking chapters devoted to the artist's legacy and contemporary responses to her person and art in literature, film, museum blockbusters, and more. These later discussions could often use greater elaboration, yet they all demonstrate ways to grapple today with an artist long neglected or belittled in large part due to her gender. Scholarly and accessible, this book opens up welcome conversations on an important artist of growing recognition. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty. --A. Victor Coonin, Rhodes College