It is not until the reign of Charles I. that there is any record of women artists. The first efforts of English artists were directed to the illumination of manuscripts. It was for several centuries the only kind of art worth mentioning in England. There were, it is true, clever goldsmiths and workers in precious stones. It was the custom to have books, especially religious books, richly bound and ornamented. Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, gave a missal with gold clasps, which had belonged to the Duchess of Portland, to her nephew, Henry VI. But there was little painting of pictures, except of the rudest kind, up to the seventeenth century. And, as far as women are concerned, the record is absolutely bare. They do not even appear among the illuminators. But with the days of Vandyck’s residence in England begins our roll of female artists. Anne Carlisle shared the royal patronage with the great Flemish painter, whom she outlived. She was a great favourite at court, and the king’s fine taste would not have tolerated an inferior artist. Then followed a period when the fine arts were forgotten in the turmoil of war, and crushed by the gloomy, repressive Puritan spirit. But after the Restoration, matters changed, and from that time onwards there is a steadily increasing stream of artists, though the women are few in number, up to the present century. The only female painters of any note in the seventeenth century were those who obtained royal patronage, like Mary Beale, a painter in both oil and water-colours, and a most industrious artist, highly commended by the famous portrait painter, Sir Peter Lely. Anne Killigrew, maid of honour to Mary of Modena, Duchess of York, had only twenty-five years in which to make a name, but she has secured a niche not only through her pictures, which included portraits of the Duke and Duchess of York, but also by her verses.
It is anticipating events to proceed to the days of Angelica Kaufmann and Mary Moser, but, for the sake of preserving the continuity of the subject, a rapid review may be taken of the work done by women in the last century.
In 1768 the Royal Academy was founded, the first keeper being George Moser, for many years manager of a private academy for artists in St. Martin’s Lane, London. He was the father of Mary Moser, who, like Angelica Kaufmann, was elected a member of the Royal Academy, these two being the only women on whom that honour was conferred. Both had signed a memorial to George III. in favour of the foundation of an Academy of Arts. When it was opened in 1769, Angelica Kaufmann sent two large paintings, and she continued for years to be an exhibitor. Mary Moser sent a flower piece in oils, and two years later a figure subject. After her marriage with Captain Lloyd she ceased to appear among the ranks of professional painters, though she continued to exhibit at the Academy uninterruptedly until 1779, and at intervals to a later period, her last contribution being in the year 1800.