“Some darknesses refuse to fade,” the poet Danielle DeTiberus observed after contemplating “Judith Beheading Holofernes” by Artemisia Gentileschi. Having recently seen the dark paintings by Pierre Soulages at Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery, in Manhattan, the poet’s lyric resonated. DeTiberus, in “The Artist Signs Her Masterpiece, Immodestly,” sees in Gentileschi’s depiction of a revenge killing the assertion of her agency. Kerry James Marshall used jet black skin tones to make Black people seem like human archetypes birthed from a subterranean womb. Ad Reinhardt painted subtly dark canvases at the edge of our eyes’ scotopic capabilities, their hues legible only after prolonged looking.

---

Persons: Danielle DeTiberus, Judith, Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi, Pierre Soulages, Gorvy Dayan, ”, Lee Bontecou, Franz Kline, Kerry James Marshall, Ad Reinhardt Locations: Manhattan, French