Angelica Kauffman

Fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the life and work of one of its two female founding members, Angelica Kauffman.

At first sight the information in this show seemed sparse but if you took time to read the labels you found some charming stories which lifted the art for example a painting of “Christ and the Samarian Woman” in the show was carried at her funeral which was organised by Canova.

I liked her portraits best including the numerous self-portraits. Her portrait of Joshua Reynolds showed him as a real, relatable person and I loved the detail on her portrait of a woman in Turkish dress.

The allegorical and historical works felt overblown to contemporary taste however I found her comparable in style and technique to her contemporaries.

It was nice that the Zoffany group portrait of the early members was included albeit that Kauffman and Mary Moser are only shown as pictures on the wall as it is set in the life drawing room where they were not allowed to go. It was also good to see her paintings for the ceiling of Somerset House where the Royal Academy was based at the time as they showed her standing in the art world to be chosen for such a commission.

Closed 30 June 2024


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