Angelica Kauffman

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Born: 1741

Died: 1807

Summary of Angelica Kauffman

As a trailblazing pioneer, Angelica Kauffman’s work is comparable to that of other accomplished female painters, although she did it from a position of prominence within the well-established British art world. From an early age, she was well-educated, well-traveled, and fluent in many languages. Friendship with Joshua Reynolds and Johann Wolfgang Goethe made her a powerful figure in the artistic community of her day. Thus, she was one of only two women to sign the foundation deed of London’s Royal Academy of Arts. Because of her gender, she was spared the harmful mockery and sexual innuendo that typically accompanied female artists at this period.

Conceived as a self-taught artist, Kauffman was always aware of the need of following the rules of the art world, even if she was rebellious by nature and always preferred an innovative approach to painting. As a Neoclassical painter, she has a propensity to reflect and to continue to produce self-portraits alongside her portraits of prominent persons and enormous historical paintings. In her death, she was honoured by the famous sculptor Antonio Canova, who helped plan her burial and carve her grave in Venice.

Kauffman, a child prodigy, was a household name. At the tender age of thirteen, she was taught by her artist father, who had a profound impact on her throughout her life. When it came to securing a solid reputation in a male-dominated industry, this was a common tactic for female artists, such as Sofonisba Anguissola and Anna Waser, to prove that they had a natural gift.

Kauffman’s self-portraits as a child and as an adult demonstrate that she was a skilled musician as well as an artist, and that she felt divided between the two careers her whole life. She clutches a sheet of music in her infancy picture, and she subsequently puts herself between the figures of art and music in an allegorical artwork. In her work, she skillfully reveals an inner conflict, and we may expect to see her grapple with identity via art in the future (a pursuit by many in the 20th century).

Kauffman depicted herself in a variety of roles, including as a historical figure, a professional artist, and more. Her portfolio is also shown in a casual stance, which is typical of a female amateur artist at work. This affiliation with amateurs might potentially devalue the work of professional artists. It appears to me that Kauffman has the courage to exhibit her superior skill while retaining a deep connection to the average lady.

For history painters, which is the most prestigious and profitable genre in painting, it was accepted as tradition that muses and personifications of ideas were often shown as female. Male painters, on the other hand, were the norm. The person wielding the brush or pencil was invariably a woman in Kauffman’s work, making a striking early statement that women are not merely models for inspiration, but they are also the producers of art.

Biography of Angelica Kauffman

Childhood

Andrea Kauffmann was born on October 30th, 1741, in Switzerland as Maria Anna Angelika Catharina Kauffmann. Johann Josef Kauffman, a painter, and Cleophea, née Luz, a noblewoman, were her parents. Kauffman would take the best of both of her parents’ backgrounds and combine them to create her own unique self. As a result, she gained notoriety among Europe’s elite as a pleasant and well-versed hostess as well as a practising artist. Because of her father’s job, Kauffman spent much of her youth in the Swiss area of Morbegno, Graubünden, and near Lake Como. In 1755, when Angelica was sixteen, Johann made the decision to move his family from Switzerland to Austria in order to expand his clientele. Kauffman’s career as a “international sensation” was shaped in part by his early nomadism and commitment to always being on the go for the sake of art.

Due to her parents’ early and unwavering support of her unique skills and interests, Kauffman was able to get an education much superior to that of other young women in her time period. She was fluent in German, Italian, English, and French, much like her mother. She also had a good singing voice and had studied the cello. In his biography of Kauffman, writer De Rossi tells the account of how the young Kauffman decided to pursue a career in painting rather than music when she was a teenager. This tough choice was made easier for his daughter by the artist’s father’s suggestion that they both go to church to talk to a priest. As a young Catholic lady, the priest warned that pursuing a career in show business would leave little time for religious practise. He also suggested that painting, although more challenging, might be a more rewarding professional choice.

However realistic De Rossi’s narrative may be, Kauffman was unquestionably ahead of her time. A normal eighteenth-century woman would not have been expected to consider or determine for herself what professional job she should follow. The artist’s father was worried that his daughter wouldn’t be able to support herself as an artist since at the time, artists were paid on a commission basis.

Early Life

Johann Kauffman had a major influence on his daughter’s early education. Father and daughter relocated to Schwarzenberg, Austria, after Cleophea’s death in 1757. One of the most thrilling opportunities for an 11-year-old girl was helping her father finish the fresco painting of the Twelve Apostles for a parish church in Schwarzenberg. Angelica Kauffman became the family’s primary income at the age of twenty after the two continued to work on projects together.

Johann devoted himself to Kauffman’s instruction in the years after his wife’s death, and the time between 1762 and 1764 was pivotal in this respect. While in Italy, the father and daughter combo spent hours in galleries copying from Old Master paintings like Raphael as well as from plaster moulds.. It was through these works that Kauffman gained a deeper understanding of the art of the Renaissance and the Dutch Golden Age and also honed her own sketching skills. Kauffman was able to enter the male-dominated art field because to her father’s extensive network of connections and resources.

Kauffman, who was only 17 years old at the time, was already an honorary member of the Accademia Clementina di Bologna and had received a certificate from the Accademia del Designo in Florence by 1762. She eventually became a member of the Academia di San Luca, a Rome-based art academy. By now, Kauffman’s reputation had grown enough that she had been accepted into the royal courts of Parma and Florence, where she was commissioned to paint portraits and historical works.

Mid Life

Kauffman established an essential connection while in Italy. The wife of an English diplomat convinced her to join her on a journey to London in October of that year. After arriving in 1766, Kauffman spent the next fifteen years of her life in the capital. As soon as she arrived, she struck up a friendship with the renowned painter Joshua Reynolds. She also had a visit from Augusta, Princess of Wales and mother of King George III, which resulted in the commissioning of a painting of Augusta’s oldest daughter, the Duchess of Brunswick. Kauffman received numerous commissions after this image was greatly lauded by the press. This picture was also turned into a mezzoprint, allowing word of Kauffman’s abilities to go even farther thanks to newly developed technical methods.

She wrote to her father immediately after arriving in London to express her mixed feelings about her newfound fame: “I am now known by everyone here and esteemed.” In order to stand out in this day and age, one must maintain a certain level of propriety in all aspects of one’s life, from one’s appearance to one’s behaviour. Female painters in Florence were kept apart from the men artists when reproducing works to maintain proper etiquette. It was discovered that manners were equally as essential in England.

Kauffman spent the most of her career living with her father. When she married Frederick de Horn in 1767, her image was tarnished nearly beyond repair for coming to London alone. De Horn, a bigamist said to be impotent, may have fooled Kauffman into marrying him in order to remain in England. He was certainly a bigamist. With the intervention of Kaufman’s father, the marriage was promptly dissolved. Because of his ties to the English royal family and, more importantly, to the dignified and successful Joshua Reynolds, Kauffman’s separation was quickly less stigmatised by society. Kauffman’s notoriety remained untarnished.

A Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture was suggested to King George III by Kauffman. On December 10th, 1768, she was one of only two female co-founders of the Royal Academy, along with Reynolds and roughly 30 other founders, thanks to her pleas. Mary Moser, a floral painter, was the only other co-founder to be a woman. Both were daughters of foreigners, and both were engaged with the male artists who helped to build the Royal Academy, according to Whitney Chadwick, a feminist art historian. One of Zoffany’s most famous paintings depicts a group of scholarly men debating the merits of male nudity while two important women appear as pictures on the wall, seemingly untouchable and only present in theory. Nevertheless, despite the obvious disparity, the Academy was supportive and significant for Kauffman. She began exhibiting there in 1769 and continued to do so until the late 1790s, establishing an official presence that was crucial in gaining significant contracts for her work.

Apart from history, Kauffman also painted a wide range of literary figures, including authors of fiction and plays as well as politicians and philosophers. Many of these people were close friends of hers. The Austrian Governor, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Russia, Queen Caroline of Naples and King Ferdinand of Naples, as well as Polish Prince Poniatowsky, were just a few of her many notable friends. However, her gender remained a persistent roadblock in her professional life. Indeed, it was claimed that her attractiveness drew men to her – including an engagement to Nathaniel Dance in Italy, an apparent marriage proposal from Reynolds, and a romance with printmaker William Ryland, among other men. Despite the rumours, she was unable to remarry until after the death of her first husband (many years after their divorce). Antonio Zucchi, a Venetian painter who had been working in England with Scottish architect Robert Adam, married her in 1781. Although Kauffman avoided any controversy, other contemporaneous female portrait painters, such as Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, did not.

Kauffman was also a master at blending in with English society. For her work, she drew inspiration from the works of Alexander Pope and Homer, as well as ancient paintings like Zeuxis Selecting Models for his Painting of Helen of Troy (1764). As one of the first members of the Royal Academy to show British history paintings with Benjamin West (one of the few successful history painters working in England), she helped popularise the genre. She was well-known in this sector since it was regarded higher than portraiture, still life, and landscape in terms of her objectives. Printed in 1780, this engraving depicts Kauffman at work and announces her status as an accomplished artist.

As a female painter, she was able to maintain financial independence throughout her career since her talent was undeniable. J. Farington estimated Kauffman’s fortune to be roughly $14,000 throughout her 15-year career in England, which was a tremendous figure at the time. Kauffman, unlike most of her female contemporaries, was single and without children by the time she was 30, as seen in her many self-portraits.

Late Life

When Kauffman married Zucchi in Rome in 1782, she returned to Italy. Kauffman, who had lived in the UK for 15 years, thought that historical painting was more highly regarded on the continent, and so it would be simpler for her to create a customer base and earn regular orders if she relocated there. She was renowned as “one of the most cultivated women in Europe” in Paris, as she had been in London. During his time in Rome, in 1786, Kauffman attended his first Academy of Arcadians sessions. Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Johann Gottfried von Herder, both German writers, were close friends of hers thanks to the Academy. “she was sensitive to all that is true and beautiful, and she is incredibly modest” he wrote with admiration of his painting buddy. After a poem by a friend, she painted A Scene in Arcady in 1790. With Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and many other poets and authors, she enjoyed a personal letter-writing correspondence.

Until the early 1800s, Kauffman continued to paint and mingle. In Rome, sculptor Antonia Canova was a regular visitor and a close friend of hers. Kauffman’s legacy remained strong in England, where he was a household name. In particular, the line engraver William Wynne Ryland took an interest in Kauffman’s work and copied and circulated it extensively. In fact, the stipple engraving, in which etched or engraved dots are utilised to build up tone, was inspired by her paintings and became a new form of ornamental printing method. Kauffman’s paintings were often shown at London’s most prestigious establishments.

He died on November 5th, 1807. Her friend, the renowned sculptor, Canova, organised her burial and it was regarded as the most elaborately organised for a painter dying in Rome since Raphael’s death. Along with other significant clerics and musicians, the whole Accademia di San Luca was part of the solemn procession. Two of her paintings were even carried beside the parade as a symbol of great respect. Although she was born and raised in New York City, Kauffman’s early years of training were spent in Rome.

One of the first people to use the term “pioneer.” Angelica Kauffman left a lasting impression everywhere she went. One of the most sought-after portrait painters during her lifetime, second only to her great friend Sir Joshua Reynolds. There have been a wide range of memoirs and articles published on her career because of her incredible talent and unwavering commitment to painting.

Kauffman used historical painting, the most esteemed and revered style of art at the time, to question prevailing views about gender. Because she was so attractive, wealthy, and well-known, society had no option but to take her extremely seriously. Angelica Madness had taken hold everywhere, according to a fellow artist at the time, based on how many reproductions of her work were in circulation. Perhaps the painter had celebrity status in the 18th century similar to that of a movie star today.

Kauffman was a talented artist and a successful entrepreneur in her own day, but she was not well accepted by subsequent generations. Landscape painters like as John Constable believed that the English School would not develop until Kauffman’s influence had waned, and the Victorian era did not pay attention to her work. While Goethe was a staunch admirer of Kauffman’s abilities, he also noted that her true expertise was weakened by cheap replicas and the impact that over-commercialization had on her career..

After all, Kauffman is still a really talented and vital female artist. Allegory, female muses and mythology were utilised by her, but it was not until the 20th century that painters began to depict active and powerful female mystics and goddesses more publicly.” Male painters presented female characters as docile and exploited them to convey a concept, but this is no longer the case. Kauffman’s effect on self-portraiture has lasted for a long time and continues to increase as the art form has evolved.

Famous Art by Angelica Kauffman

Self Portrait Aged Thirteen

1753

Kauffman created this stunning self-portrait at the age of thirteen to demonstrate that she was equally brilliant in both music and painting. At the same time, she boldly displays her abilities and reveals her interest in self-discovery and self-investigation. When it comes to her colour pallet, she evokes previous Rococo paintings by Jean-Antoine Watteau as well as other artists from the period. She was already well-versed in art history and had visited art galleries with her father, a well-known artist, by the time she was this young.

Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (1723-1792)

1767

In this painting by Kauffman, the eminent English painter Joshua Reynolds is seen. He is a close friend of hers, therefore the mood is laid-back in this photograph. Reynold’s desk is cluttered with books and papers, and a Michelangelo bust sits on the far left for inspiration. When looking at the setting and Reynolds’s attire, one can’t help but be reminded of Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck’s portraits. When Kauffman first came in London, she was already being heralded as van Dyck’s heir apparent. Kauffman, on the other hand, expertly catches a more intimate peek into her subject’s life; she reveals a moving emotion that would become an essential distinguishing quality of her portraiture.

Self-portrait

1770-1775

In this and a subsequent self-portrait dated 1787, Kauffman depicts herself with a crayon ready and her portfolio, which is unusual for the artist. During the seventeenth century, particularly in England, portraits of woman amateurs began to use this position. Amateur female artists had an uphill battle since they lacked formal training, couldn’t sell their work, and, in general, produced work that was of mediocre quality. Although Kauffman’s connection with the amateur remains a mystery, she has painted herself in the same stance frequently throughout her life.

Portrait of a Lady

1775

The painting’s tone, detail, and proportion are all excellent examples of technical mastery. The neoclassical-styled column on which the unidentified woman sits is part of a plinth. A statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of knowledge, stands on the table to the left of the poised and elegant lady. Throughout her life, Kauffman drew inspiration from Minerva, who fought with Neptune for control over Attica, and she wore a belt depicting that conflict. Kauffman’s depiction of Minerva’s victory over the male deity serves as a subliminal reminder that he believes in and supports women’s abilities. The fact that Kauffman depicts an unknown lady holding a book and a writing instrument has caused some viewers to speculate that the sitter was a female scholar of the period, such as historian Catherine Macaulay or writer Elizabeth Montagu, among other possibilities. A Roman goddess would be proud of the poise and confidence the sitter exudes.

Henrietta Laura Pulteney

1777

Additionally, Kauffman toyed with and adjusted the size and scale of her portraits to emphasise human emotion and give a feeling of drama. At eleven years old, she depicts a youngster who is neither tiny nor full-length, but rather somewhere in the middle. Reynold’s great adversary, Thomas Gainsborough, is also evident in the play of light, the handling of the cloth, and the wispy countryside in the distance. Similarly, many wealthy young ladies were shown in Gainsborough’s work as they went about their daily lives. Henrietta was characterised as a “indefatigable dancer” in this painting, and Kauffman depicts her in this stance with such elegance that the fabric and belt of her dress seem to be nearly springing out of the canvas.

Zeuxis Selecting Models for His Painting of Helen of Troy

1780-1782

When it comes to portraying the world’s most beautiful lady, Zeuxis uses the greatest attributes of five previous models to achieve her goal: portraying the goddess Helen of Troy. Anatomical examination is in progress as Zeuxis examines one of the models while three more await his attention. However, it is the fifth’model’, who possesses Kauffman’s characteristics, that holds the picture together. It is the fifth model on the far right of the picture who rejects the patriarchal rules of representation in this tale, moves behind the male artist, takes up his brush, and begins painting.

Design

1778-1780

For the Council Room ceiling of the Royal Academy’s first purpose-built house, Kauffman was commissioned to create four paintings (the others being Invention, Composition, and Color). Benjamin West, a well-known American historical painter, also contributed to the project by painting his own interpretation of The Four Elements, complete with dead naked women and the traits that go with them. While Kauffman’s four circular ceiling panels are allegories in the sense that each figure symbolises a concept, they are not as impersonal as West’s representations. Kauffman, on the other hand, depicts women in the midst of their creative endeavours. While the figures in Composition and Invention are engaged in meditation, in Design and Color they are actively involved in the process of production. Her head is resting on her hands in Composition, but in Invention she glances to the sky for inspiration. A practical and theoretical painting are exhibited on each side of the room when the paintings are hung together.

Study of a Standing Woman

1792-1796

In 1782, Kauffman made his way back to Rome. Cardinal Ignazio Buoncompagni asked her to create an altar for the Vatican in 1791. As a result, she devoted more time to religious themes in her latter works than she did in early ones. But this preparatory sketch, which depicts Kauffman’s painting Let the Little Children Come unto Me (1796), indicates that she remained committed to the Neoclassical style.

Self-portrait of the Artist hesitating between the Arts of Music and Painting

1794

Upon returning to Rome, Kauffman created this self-portrait for Princess Holstein-Beck of Russia as a commission. During her early years, Kauffman was able to choose between painting and music as a professional path. This image clearly illustrates this. Despite the fact that some female singers became mistresses at the royal courts in where they sang, the modern view of female singers was typically associated with promiscuity. Indeed, Kauffman had sought the opinion of a priest when she was a young woman, and he advised her to pursue a career in art because he felt it would be more rewarding in the long run.

BULLET POINTED (SUMMARISED)

Best for Students and a Huge Time Saver

• As a trailblazing pioneer, Angelica Kauffman’s work is comparable to that of other accomplished female painters, although she did it from a position of prominence within the well-established British art world.
• From an early age, she was well-educated, well-traveled, and fluent in many languages.
• Friendship with Joshua Reynolds and Johann Wolfgang Goethe made her a powerful figure in the artistic community of her day.
• Thus, she was one of only two women to sign the foundation deed of London’s Royal Academy of Arts.
• Because of her gender, she was spared the harmful mockery and sexual innuendo that typically accompanied female artists at this period.
• Conceived as a self-taught artist, Kauffman was always aware of the need of following the rules of the art world, even if she was rebellious by nature and always preferred an innovative approach to painting.
• As a Neoclassical painter, she has a propensity to reflect and to continue to produce self-portraits alongside her portraits of prominent persons and enormous historical paintings.
• In her death, she was honoured by the famous sculptor Antonio Canova, who helped plan her burial and carve her grave in Venice.
• Kauffman, a child prodigy, was a household name.
• At the tender age of thirteen, she was taught by her artist father, who had a profound impact on her throughout her life.
• When it came to securing a solid reputation in a male-dominated industry, this was a common tactic for female artists, such as Sofonisba Anguissola and Anna Waser, to prove that they had a natural gift.
• Kauffman’s self-portraits as a child and as an adult demonstrate that she was a skilled musician as well as an artist, and that she felt divided between the two careers her whole life.
• She clutches a sheet of music in her infancy picture, and she subsequently puts herself between the figures of art and music in an allegorical artwork.
• In her work, she skillfully reveals an inner conflict, and we may expect to see her grapple with identity via art in the future (a pursuit by many in the 20th century). Kauffman depicted herself in a variety of roles, including as a historical figure, a professional artist, and more.
• Her portfolio is also shown in a casual stance, which is typical of a female amateur artist at work.
• This affiliation with amateurs might potentially devalue the work of professional artists.
• It appears to me that Kauffman has the courage to exhibit her superior skill while retaining a deep connection to the average lady.
• For history painters, which is the most prestigious and profitable genre in painting, it was accepted as tradition that muses and personifications of ideas were often shown as female.
• Male painters, on the other hand, were the norm.
• The person wielding the brush or pencil was invariably a woman in Kauffman’s work, making a striking early statement that women are not merely models for inspiration, but they are also the producers of art.

Information Citations

En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.

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