Women in English Life from Mediæval to Modern Times, Vol. IHill, Georgiana
History
Women in English Life from Mediæval to Modern Times, Vol. I
Hill, Georgiana
Women -- Great Britain; Women -- History; Women -- Social conditions
Angelica Kaufmann married Antonio Zucchi, a Venetian artist, and left
England for Italy never to return. Fuseli consoled himself with a Miss
Sophia Rawlins in 1788, the year in which he was elected Associate of
the Royal Academy, and Miss Moser married Captain Hugh Lloyd.
Mary Moser, at the time when she and Angelica Kaufmann joined the
ranks of the “Forty,” was the only flower painter in the Academy,
with the exception of John Baker. If Angelica Kaufmann, with her
brilliant beauty and talents, has eclipsed her humbler friend, yet
Miss Moser contrived to secure a very fair share of artistic success.
She gained very practical recognition from the royal family, the Queen
commissioning her to paint a room at Frogmore, for which she was paid
£900. The whole decoration of this room was in flowers, flower-painting
being Miss Moser’s speciality. The last time she exhibited at the
Academy she sent a figure subject.
Fanny Reynolds, the retiring and unappreciated sister of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, was one of Angelica Kaufmann’s many friends. Perhaps she did
not object to the romantic devotion paid by her famous brother to the
fascinating young Italian artist who captivated all hearts. Frances
Reynolds had many difficulties in the way of her artistic studies.
She got no help or even encouragement from her brother, who, far from
tendering her any advice, disliked to see her paint, and ridiculed
her miniatures, which, he said, “make other people laugh and me cry.”
Perhaps James Northcote, Sir Joshua’s pupil, was right when he said
that Miss Reynolds’s portraits were an exact imitation of Sir Joshua’s
defects. This would account for the unfavourable judgment and harsh
treatment poor Fanny always received from her brother.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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