Research Notes: Views of Their Own: Rediscovering and Re-Presenting the Work of Women Artists

Why It Matters

Re‑examining women’s contributions reshapes the art historical canon and guides museums toward more equitable collecting and exhibition strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Exhibition highlights ten British women landscape artists, 1760‑1860.
• Women navigated professional and amateur categories in Royal Academy shows.
• Data shows women contributed 52% portraits, 16% landscapes at Academy.
• Scholarship interest surged: 90 proposals from global scholars for conference.
• Ongoing effort needed to rediscover and integrate women artists historically.

Summary

The video announces a conference “Views of Their Own” linked to the exhibition “A View of One’s Own” at the Portal Gallery, Somerset House, which brings together scholars, curators and artists to reassess British women landscape painters from 1760‑1860 and beyond.

The exhibition features ten artists, ranging from private amateurs like Lady Mary Louther to commercially ambitious figures such as Elizabeth Batty, illustrating the fluid boundary between professional and amateur status. Dr. Paris Gans’ data reveal that between 1769‑1830 roughly 600 named women exhibited 3,612 works at the Royal Academy, with portraits accounting for 52% and landscapes 16%, a proportion higher than today’s museum representation.

Speakers highlighted the role of early collectors like Michael H. Broton, whose pioneering acquisitions made the show possible, and cited contemporary critiques that praised works by anonymous “ladies” and “Miss Ford,” underscoring how many pieces have vanished despite contemporary acclaim. The conference received nearly 90 proposals from scholars on every continent, evidencing a surge in interest.

The event underscores a broader imperative to locate, document and integrate women artists into the canon, challenging the assumption that women were merely amateurs or confined to “polite” subjects. By expanding research beyond the ten featured painters, institutions can reshape exhibition practices, collecting policies and art‑history curricula for a more inclusive narrative.

Original Description

Timed to coincide with the Courtauld Gallery’s current exhibition, A View of One’s Own: Landscape Drawings by British Women Artists, 1760-1860, this conference aims to investigate the challenges and opportunities presented by the recovery and re-presentation of historic women artists whose work and reputations have fallen out of art historical narratives.

Bringing together art historians and curators, this conference will explore various approaches to the complexities of bringing to light artists long overlooked by art history, whether in an exhibition or through the written word.

This conference is organised by Dr. Rachel Sloan, Associate Curator for Works on Paper, the Courtauld, and is also supported by the Richard McDougall Fund, administered by the University of London.

Full programme: https://courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/views-of-their-own/