Curated by Dr Bendor Grosvenor
In the Summer of 2019, we brought together the work of the first British female artists for an exhibition in London. “Bright Souls”: The Forgotten Story of Britain’s First Female Artists, featured works kindly loaned from both museums and private collections, showing how the 17th Century artists Joan Carlile, Mary Beale and Anne Killigrew managed to achieve success in an age when women had few career options, and even fewer rights.
The exhibition, the first ever devoted to Britain’s pioneering female artists, was held at our London gallery, and included self-portraits of all three artists. The exhibition was curated by art historian, Dr Bendor Grosvenor.
Previously, the stories of Carlile, Beale and Killigrew have faded from view in British art history, not least because many of their works were later attributed to male artists such as Sir Peter Lely. But all three artists were well known to contemporaries: Carlile as the first professional female British artist; Beale as the most successful; and Killigrew, dying of smallpox at the age of just 25, as the most tragic.
Killigrew’s death prompted the then Poet Laureate John Dryden to hope that her legacy would nevertheless live on, writing, "Still with a greater blaze she shone, And her bright soul broke out on ev'ry side.”
Bright Souls shone new light on the careers of Carlile, Beale and Killigrew, but also unveiled a number of hitherto lost works.
Images:
ANNE KILLIGREW (1660 - 1685) | Portrait of a Lady, probably the artist | Oil on canvas, 46.5x36.5cm. | Private Collection, Scotland. Cat. 11
