Page 1

"Artful Lives: Living Portraits of Women Artists" dramatizes the
lives of Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Mary Cassatt, and Artemisia
Gentileschi. These artists had little in common except their talent. Their
lives span the period from the early seventeenth through the mid-
twentieth centuries. They come from Italy, Mexico and America. And
they are extraordinary!

Although as talented as their male counterparts, women artists have
typically been overlooked by art critics and historians. Only recently has
their work been examined.

Robin Lane, acclaimed for her one-woman depictions of historical
figures, has drawn sharply-etched portraits of some of the greatest artists
of all time. Because they are female, they not only had to prove their
talent, but also to battle traditional proprietes ~ making their
acheivements even more exceptional. Some of these talented women
artists were recognized as great painters during their lifetimes. Most
were not. In this live presentation they all receive the recognition due
them for their contributions to Western art.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653)

The daughter of noted artist Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia was exposed
to many of the major art movements of seventeenth-century Italy. She
may be credited with transmitting the highly theatrical style of
Caravaggio from Rome to Florence, Genoa, and Naples.

Her forceful and realistic interpretations of women of the Old Testament
may have been influenced by incidents in her own life. When she was
eithteen she was raped by an apprentice to her father. During the
subsequent five-month-long trial, she was physically tortured under
cross-examination.

Her paintings of strong heroines, such as Judith Beheading Holofernes,
often looked like her, as they take revenge with calm self-assurance on
tyrants and traitors.

Robin Lane, actress, author, director and producer, has been bringing history and art to
life since 1980. She has presented her original one-woman plays in theatres, schools,
colleges, and museums throughout the United States and has frequently been asked to
return with each new production.

Robin has performed "Artful Lives: Living Portraits of Women Artists" at the Museum of
Fine Arts in Boston, the Worcester Art Museum, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, the Taft
Museum, the Norman Rockwell Museum, Westmoreland Museum of Art, the New
Orleans Art Museum, and at many other museums and galleries.