Artimesia Gentileschi
Detail of Judith Slaying Holofernes
Yes, this is how I feel after writing this post.
This is perhaps the most tone-deaf programming imaginable: a two-day St. Louis Symphony Orchestra festival called History: Her Story, Our Future, where, you guessed it, all of the works programmed are composed by men.
From the orchestra's 2020-21 season brochure:
Note the number of women who wind up dead in the works above. I suppose that does represent what a sad percentage of men want, now and historically.
And....there's music composed by women elsewhere in the season. The composers include Joan Tower, Helen Grime, Jessie Montgomery, and others.
Isn't anyone at SLSO paying attention? This is a terrible communications failure and a terrible programming failure, not to mention the complete lack of self-awareness that went into these two programs.
I was fortunate enough to see this painting by Gentileschi in person, at the Seattle Art Museum a few weekends ago. (Sadly, the exhibition has since closed.) The work is so powerful.
ReplyDeleteYes, the SLSO programs are tone-deaf in the extreme. I'm relieved to learn the rest of the season is more promising (and relevant).
I was on the verge of using Cranach's Judith, but thought....wait, there's GOT to be one by Gentileschi....
ReplyDeleteI did see Caravaggio's treatment of the subject, too. A docent, who arrived at the painting while I was there, used an iPad to show her tour group a photo of Caravaggio's painting (and I took a look). VERY different. And, like the concert programs you discuss in this blog post, more indicative of what men think of women and not an accurate representation of what women can achieve.
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