Whatever you think of the paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi (and Lois will tell you that I’m underwhelmed), she is undoubtedly a feminist icon, celebrated for her struggles, professional and personal, in a world dominated by men. So, it is of both artistic and sociological significance when a new picture by Artemisia is discovered. And that’s just what has happened.
Or perhaps we should say re-discovered, or even re-attributed. Curators at the British royal picture collection unearthed the painting after it had languished in a storeroom for the best part of two centuries. Historical research and scientific and stylistic analyses confirmed that it was the Susanna and the Elders commissioned by Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, around 1638-1639, during Gentileschi’s brief stay in England. It apparently once hung over the Queen’s private fireplace in the Palace of Westminster.
The online art magazine DailyArt says: “The painting depicts the Biblical story of Susanna, who, while privately bathing, is approached by two lusting men. When she refuses their advances, Susanna is falsely accused of infidelity and arrested. It is a story Gentileschi revisited at least six times during her career—one that must have been hat must have been particularly resonant, given the artist’s own experience of sexual assault at the hands of her father’s friend, Agostino Tassi.”
Quite why a Spanish Queen of England, whose husband was later to be beheaded following the Civil War, chose to have it hanging over her fireplace remains a mystery, but the re-discovery led me thinking about our tutors at the Watermill, and to my own research, which led to the re-discovery that these days the majority of them are women.
Analysis of this year’s list of tutors for our creative courses (including knitting, Italian language and creative writing as well as painting) reveals that in 2023, 11 of the 19 tutors were women, while next year there will be 13 women out of 21 tutors. Ben fatto ragazze!
Of course, there is no sexual discrimination in the selection of our Watermill creative tutors: we choose them for their teaching skills and their capacity to inspire our guests’ creativity. So why not join us? See below for next year’s courses. You may even get to stay in the bedroom named after Artemisia Gentileschi.
These are our inspiring 2024 painting courses.
Carl March
20-27 April 2024
Drawing and watercolours en plein air
To learn more about Carl and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Maggie Renner Hellmann
25 May – 1 June 2024
Colourful & expressive oil & watercolour (+ travel sketching, acrylic, pastel)
To learn more about Maggie and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Randy Hale
8 – 15 June 2024
Watercolour
To learn more about Randy and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Keiko Tanabe
15 – 22 June 2024
Watercolours
To learn more about Keiko and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Michael Solovyev **NEW WATERMILL TUTOR**
22 – 29 June 2024
Atmospheric Landscape in Watercolour: Studio/Plein Air’
To learn more about Michael and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Paul Talbot-Greaves
29 June – 6 July 2024
Watercolour
To learn more about Paul and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Yong Chen **NEW WATERMILL TUTOR**
6 – 13 July 2024
Watercolour
To learn more about Yong and his course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Sue Ford
13 – 20 July 2024
Watercolours
To learn more about Sue and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Fiona Graham Mackay
17 – 24 August 2024
Painting en plein air (oil, acrylic, watercolour and pastel)
To learn more about Fiona and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Pamme Turner
24 – 31 August 2024
Watercolour and gouache
To learn more about Pamme and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Mike Willdridge
7 – 14 September 2024
Watercolour and drawing (also gouache and acrylics)
To learn more about Mike and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Rebecca de Mendonça
14 – 21 September 2024
Pastels
To learn more about Rebecca and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Tim Wilmot
28 September – 5 October 2024
Watercolours
To learn more about Tim and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Grahame Booth
5 – 12 October 2024
Watercolours
To learn more about Grahame and his course at the mill, please visit his 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
La Bella Vita knitting courses for 2024.
Susan Crawford **NEW WATERMILL TUTOR**
27 April – 4 May 2024
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Susan and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Norah Gaughan
4 – 11 May 2024
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Norah and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Louisa Harding
11 – 18 May 2024
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Louisa and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Debbie Abrahams
18 – 25 May 2024
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Debbie and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Sylvia Watts-Cherry **NEW WATERMILL TUTOR**
1 – 8 June 2024
Knitting and La Bella Vita
To learn more about Sylvia and her course at the mill, please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Our renowned Writing Your Life Stories course
Jo Parfitt
21 – 28 September 2024 s
Write your life stories
To learn more about Jo and her course at the mill, please visit please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile Page.
Our unique Italian language course
Giulia Balestri
12 – 19 October 2024
Learning Italian with the Italians
For more details on Giulia’s 2024 course at the mill, please visit please visit her 2024 Tutor Profile page.