Famous Female Painters of The 19th Century
Women had always a great influence in all field and aspects of life, but if you ever asked anyone walking down street about some of the most influential female painters who created a shaft in the art field and opened the way for a new era where women can enjoy their participation as artists without feeling that something blocking their passion, future, and drag them from their acquired rights they probably wouldn’t tell one name. On the other hand, if you asked about a man artist you would have many names, for example, Picasso you won’t find one don’t know him. Women left their mark on the arts for centuries and the 19th century was a golden era for female artists to prove themselves it has witnessed some of the greatest painters art ever had who figure their way through many obstacles like, having no right for education or training on panting. They also couldn’t sell their paintings and most of the time their work had been attributed to men. Of course, only white and rich women had better chances than others. Most famous female painters were in Europe where art had a wide prevalence. America and Britan also have great painters who picturized the life back then.
Get Inspired by These Great Female Painters Who Got Through A lot to Reach Their Dreams
Maria Cosway (1760-1838)
Mrs. Cosway was born in Florence to English parents, she was a very talented artist and musician. She was married to Richard Cosway who was a painter at the court of the English royal family, Mrs. Cosway was an obstacle in maria’s art career. Although she had superior training under Pompeo Batoni with other remarkable artists; Anton Raphael Mengs, Henry Fuseli, and Joseph Wright of Derby and managed to exhibit more than thirty paintings at the Royal Academy, she couldn’t practice her career due to her husband’s reluctance. But during the Napoleonic period, Cosway was able to connect with the international art world, that is because her painting The Hour that she sent to her friend Jacques-Louis David. By time Cosway received huge demand for her work from all of Franc making her one of the most recognizable female painters in that era. She also had an interest in politics and she was the first person to see Napoleon face in England and even became a friend to his uncle. Maria Cosway wanted to help women for better education throughout Europe, she wanted to establish a college for young women but she was held back by Cardinal Joseph Fesch. She managed to establish a convent and girls’ school in Italy, she also leads the Collegio Delle Grazie in the north until she was dead in 1838.
Marie Nicole Dumont (1767-1846)
Mrs. Dumont was born in Paris her father was Antoine Vestier; a painter known for his important portraits. She was married to Francois Dumont also a pinter, they were given a living area in Louver by King Louis IX. Dumont couldn’t display her works at The Paris Salon for years, but in 1794 she managed to display a self-portrait of her called The Artist at Her Occupations.
Marguerite Gerard (1761-1837)
Gerard was born in Gresse and she was the daughter of Marie Gilette and Claude Gérard who was a perfumer. Marguerite lived with her brother in law Jean-Honoré Fragonard who tutored her. She didn’t have the chance for academic training but it didn’t stop her, she studied the 17th Dutch painters and had informal apprenticeship beside her early stages of training studying Fragonard’s work to develop her own unique style. Her artwork picturized everyday life and by 1780s she became one of the recognizable leading female painters in the annual salon exhibits, but in the 1790s Gerard managed to display her paintings in The Paris Salon which draw the attention of wealthy patrons. She known for being an attractive woman, that is why many artists have demanded her for modeling.
Marie-Eleonore Godefroid (1778-1849)
Mrs. Godefroid was born in Paris, her father was Ferdinand-Joseph Godefroid a well-known artist back then. She firstly trained at her father studio as his assistant meanwhile she was developing her skills. Marie was supposed to work at the Institute of Saint-Germain-en-Laye de Jeanne Campan, a place where young elite women of the Napoleonic period were training, as music and art illustrator but she refused that position. After that, she went to work and train under famous artists like Baron François Gérard and Jean-Baptiste Isabey. Godefroid specialized in portraits of women and children later she exhibited her works in nineteen exhibitions at The Paris Salon, she also won medals for her significant works.
Ann Hall (1792-1863)
Another great female artist was born in Connecticut and was the most successful miniature female painter of the 19th century in New York, besides being the first woman to be joined to the National Academy of Design. Mrs. Hall participated in many exhibitions at the American Academy of Fine Arts and she was famous for her significant and high prices miniatures.
Marie-Victoire Lemoine (1754-1820)
Marie-Victoire was born in Paris, she was a portraitist and miniturist besides her works of genre scenes. Mrs. Lemione was belonging to a generation of women who had the ability to enjoy their success in different fields, she displayed her works in numerous elite salons and to the public in different salons after the French revolution.
Constance Mayer (1775-1821)
Mayer was born in Paris and she was very talented as she painted portraits, genre scenes, miniature and specialized in melodramatic and allegorical themes. Her work was attributed to her touters or people she works especially when they were displayed to the public after the French revolution, as she faced this claims back then we can’t define her works until now especially through the period she worked and collaborated with Pierre-Paul Prud’hon.
Rolinda Sharples (1793-1838)
Rolinda was born in New York to artists parents James and Ellen, she learned how to paint and draw by her mother who was a talented miniturist and painter. Sharples displayed her works at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists, she was also one of the first British female painters to outline multi-figure compositions.
Elisabeth-Louise Vigee-Lebrun (1755-1842)
Elisabeth-Louise was a Parisian woman and considered the most successful female painter of her time, she enjoyed the patronage of Queen Marie-Antoinette besides painting many portraits for her. Although being known for royal loyalty, she managed to earn acceptance as an artist through the post-revolutionary regime and being elected Academie Royale.
Maria Bashkirtseff (1858-1884)
Maria was born in Gavrintsi, Russia to a wealthy noble family, she had a private education and went around Europe when she was young with her mother until her family still down in Paris. Bashkirtseff is a great painter, sculptor, and musician. She studied painting at the Académie Julian, one of the establishments which accepted female students, and the Robert-Fleury studio. She displayed her works at The Paris Salon but, unfortunately, a large number of them have been destroyed through WWII. She was also a diarist and has the credit in publishing many documents concerned at the struggles women artist had faced back then in her published journals.
Mary Ellen Best (1809-1891)
An English artist was born in York and known for her watercolor works whose subjects were women mostly. She received art lessons by a qualified art teacher called George Haugh, for just leisure and attracting a sustainable husband like any middle-class woman in that time, but Mary had achieved great success in the painting like a professional that is why she decided to continue her artistic career. She was able to display her works throughout England and received a silver medal from the Royal Society Of Arts to be one of the famous female painters throughout history.
Anna Bilinska (1857-1893)
Mrs. Anna was born in Ukraine and studied both art and music in Russia, she was known for her portraits and paintings with intuition. Anna displayed her work in Warsaw at first, but when she moved to Paris she started studying at the Académie Julian where she developed her marvelous skills. Anna Bilinska was awarded a gold medal at Paris Exposition Universelle.
Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899)
Rosa was born in Bordeaux and she received her art education from her parents, her father played a role in shaping her ideas about feminism and her own style of painting. Her paintings mainly picturized animals. She was one of the most famous 19th artists and female painters. As a unique woman at her time; she was the first female to win the Legion of Honor, also used to wear pants, had short hair, smoked and rode horses astride when it was only restricted to men. Mrs. Rosa earned her own money and was independent throughout her life while women were mostly financially dependent.
The point of departure must always be a vision of the truth. The eye is the route of the soul, and the pencil or brush must sincerely and naïvely reproduce what it sees.
Rosa Bonheur
Eva Gonzalez (1849-1883)
Mrs. Eva was born in Paris and her father was the novelist Emmanuel Gonzalez, she began to learn drawing from he the well-known teacher Charles Chaplin. She received well training by the famous artist Edouard Manet who had a huge influence in her style, Eva didn’t only display her work in France she also exhibited her paintings in England and Belgium.
Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Berthe was born in Bourges, France in an art-loving family. she received private art teaching from Geoffroy-Alphonse Chocarne and Joseph Guichard with her sister Edma. Both sisters continued studying and discovering art together until Edma got married. Mrs. Berthe was a member at the circle of painters in Paris which known back then as the Impressionists, her works were displayed at The Paris Salon seven times and she picturized women in all aspects.
Rebecca Solomon (1832-1886)
Rebecca Solomon was borne in London to a Jewish artistic family, her big brother was an award-winning artist to the Royal Academy while the younger one was a member of the Pre-Raphaelites. She was taught by her elder brother Abraham Solomon, then she received art lessons at Spitalfields School of Design. Rebecca exhibited her paintings at The Royal Academy Of Art and they were known for genre scenes, she joined to a group of thirty-eight female artists who were petitioning Royal Academy of Art in order to open its schools to women because of them Laura Herford was the first woman to be admitted to the Academy in 1860.
