Kauffmann, A
NAME:
Kauffmann, Angelica.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
One of the first professional woman painters
NICKNAME/ALIAS:
None.
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH:
30th October 1741, in Coire, Switzerland.
DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH:
5th November 1807, in Rome, Italy. Aged 66.
DISCIPLINE:
Painter
FIELD:
Art
LANGUAGE:
German/Italian/English.
PARENTS:
Father: Johann Joseph Kauffmann. Mother: Cleofe Lucia.
SIBLINGS:
None.
SPOUSE:
Antonio Zucchi.
CHILDREN:
None.
EDUCATION:
Mainly at home.
MAJOR WORK:
Portraits, decorative panels.
LIFE AND TIMES:
When Kauffmann was eleven, the family moved to Como where her artistic gifts and intelligence were recognised. The Bishop of Como asked to meet her and when the she was only twelve she painted his portrait.
In 1754, the family went to Milan, where, for the first time, Kauffmann was able to study masterpieces, many of which were in the collection of the Duke of Modena. The Duchess asked Kauffmann to paint her portrait, so everybody else at court followed suit.
Two years later, Kauffmann's mother died and she went with her father to Germany, where she helped him decorate the parish church at Schwartzenburg. For the next few years they moved around, with Kauffmann taking commissions, while continuing to read widely in history, art and literature.
Her father couldn’t afford to send her on a Grand Tour to study the masters, so Kauffmann decided to plan her own tour of Italy, earning her living as she went. She and her father went first to Parma, then Bologna and on to Florence, where they arrived in 1762.
Copies she made at the Uffizi gallery in Florence paid for their keep, and she even exhibited a portrait and a historical painting at the Uffizi. In 1763, Kauffmann and her father went to Rome. She was already so well known that she was able to move into the highest levels of Roman society, where she found many clients.
One of the first portraits she did there was of <painted> Winckelmann*, the eminent and powerful art historian. She was then invited to Naples, where she was welcomed as a famous artist and invited to copy pictures in the royal gallery.
After a year there, she went back to Rome where, despite her standing as an artist, she became a student, taking a course in perspective and studying classical architecture.
Kauffmann was at the height of her beauty and attracted many friends, in particular <was fallen for by> Dance-Holland*, a young English artist, who fell in love with her.
Still with her father, she visited Venice in 1765, where she became friendly with Lady Wentworth, the wife of the English Resident in Venice. Lady Wentworth invited Kauffmann to join her on a trip to London and she accepted.
On the way, she visited the Paris art galleries, where she particularly admired the paintings of the Flemish artist <influenced by> Rubens* who proved to be a strong influence on her narrative paintings.
She arrived in London in 1766 and immediately fitted into the heart of the capital's social life. Dance-Holland still carried a torch for her, and the painter <was fallen for by> Fuseli*, was also in love with her.
Kauffmann became reacquainted with people she had met in Rome, and through Lady Spencer she was introduced to <was fallen for by> Reynolds*, who was then the pivotal figure on the London art scene. He encouraged and advised her, even telling her what to charge for a portrait.
Kauffmann had no shortage of clients, and even Reynolds himself sat for her. She was presented at Court and was invited to paint Queen Charlotte. The King of Denmark visited London and asked her to paint him. Her first portrait to be exhibited in London was of the actor-manager <painted> Garrick*.
She gave many of her portraits historical or allegorical backgrounds and her real ambition was to be a historical painter. Engraving was then popular and Kauffmann's paintings were eagerly sought by engravers. The vogue for colour prints also suited her style of work, and she was making a very good living.
In 1767, she fell briefly under the spell of the self-named Count Frederick de Horn, who claimed to be a Swedish diplomat. She was tricked by him into a secret marriage, before discovering that that he was a bigamist.
In 1768, the Royal Academy of Art was established, with Reynolds as President, and in the first catalogue in 1769, Kauffmann was listed as a member, a rare honor for a woman.
She was represented at the Academy by four paintings in the hall. She was by now being swamped with requests for her work and exhibited at the Academy every year from 1769-82.
In 1773, Kauffmann was the only woman among the six artists chosen to decorate Somerset House, the palatial mansion on the Thames. She worked with the distinguished architect <worked with> Adam* who was much in demand for his neo-classical houses and decorated chimney pieces, ceilings and walls.
Together with Dance-Holland, she provided paintings for least one stage show. She also painted fans and produced small paintings and sketches use on for furniture such as fire screens and even commodes.
Her work was so popular and available in engravings and prints that it was
seen everywhere. When <commissioned by> Mrs Elizabeth Wortley Montagu*, the famous queen of the 'blue stockings', refurbished Montague House in London, Kauffmann produced some of the decorations.
In 1781, she married Antonio Zucchi, left London and after six months in Venice, where her husband's family lived, went to Naples. The Neapolitan royal family were anxious to keep Kauffmann at Court but she neither wanted, nor needed, to be in service to anyone. She and Zucchi settled in Rome, where she was in demand as much as ever.
Among those who wanted her services were Emperor Joseph II, Empress Catherine of Russia, the Elector of Bavaria, the Duchess of Parma and the prime minister of Naples. The German philosophers <a pal of> Goethe* and <a pal of> Herder* both became great friends.
In 1795, Zucchi died. The following year Rome was occupied by French troops, and Kauffmann stayed in Rome until her death.
ASSESSMENT: A leading figure in the art world at the end of the eighteenth century in London and was one of the most successful women artists before end of nineteenth century.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: Her work was shown by <exhibited by> Roscoe*
She painted the <painted> Duchess of Devonshire*
ONELINER: Angelica Kauffmann, early woman painter
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Hartcuup, Adeline, Angelica, The Portrait of an Eighteenth-Century Artis, William Heinemann Ltd., London, 1954.
Roworth, Wendy Wassyng, Ed., Angelica Kauffmann, A Continental Artist in
Georgian England, Reaktion Books Ltd., London, 1992.