Published: 20/03/2024
One of the Royal Academy’s current exhibitions features the work of one of its founders, Angelica Kauffman.
Celebrated in Britain and across Europe, Kauffman painted some of the best-known people of her time. She also gave history painting, regarded in her day as the pinnacle of painting, a feminine twist, depicting female protagonists from classical mythology and history. Another dimension of her work took the form of a series of self-portraits.
Born to a musical mother and an artistic father, Kauffman could have developed as a musician or as a painter. In the end, she chose painting and received training from her father, copying Old Masters as they travelled across Italy. There she gained a reputation through painting visitors as they made the Grand Tour. Encouraged by her popularity among her British patrons, she decided to move to London. Among them was the actor, David Garrick, and her painting of him eased her acceptance into London’s social and artistic circles. Through her talent, manner and the support of influential people, such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, who she also painted, her career continued to blossom. Eventually, she returned to Italy, where her salon became a meeting place for artists, writers and musicians. When she died, Canova arranged an elaborate funeral in the style of Raphael’s, such was her fame and popularity.
This exhibition features examples from across the range of her career and genres. There are several self-portraits. One of these depicts her choosing painting over music. Then there are her portraits of the social elite, including a lovely portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton, as the Muse of Comedy. Here too are her portraits of Reynolds and Garrick. Her history paintings are represented as well and one that I especially liked was Eleanora sucks poison from the wound of her husband, King Edward I, a reminder that she focused on female subjects as she tackled this genre, coming at her subjects from unexpected angles.
This is a lovely exhibition with an impressive collection of items on display.
