Women in Art

R. Alexander celebrates Women's History Month! The group show highlights the accomplishments of both female artists and depictions of women in fine art. 

Spanish artist Maria Torroba's interest in design, collage and art history combine to create unique artworks that look to the past to portray the present. After studying art in Oxford, England, Torroba became interested in famous portraiture by artists such as Italian Renaissance painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, English Tudor court painter Master John, and the iconic Spanish Baroque artist Diego Velazquez. Inspired by history, Torroba's work re-examines antique portraiture. She is particularly interested in fifteenth- through seventeenth- century paintings of royals and aristocrats, including Giovanna Tornabuoni who patronized arts in Italy during the 1400s, the notorious sixteenth-century English queen Mary Tudor, and Mariana of Austria, wife of King Philip IV and whose portrait by Diego Velazquez in 1653 remains as an emblematic display of the wealth in the Spanish Empire. 

Like Torroba, realist painter Justo Revilla receives inspiration from Spanish Masters Francisco de Goya, Diego Velazquez, and Franz Hals in his portraits of women working in markets. Revilla captures the journey of life and the human experience by appealing to the sentiments of the observer and offers empathetic depictions of the individuals he portrays. Primarily depicting elderly women, Revilla believes that wisdom is achieved through life's experiences.