Jane Hinckley introduces three eighteenth-century women who resisted sexism and inspired the world.
Life in the eighteenth century wasn’t always ideal for women. But despite marital hardships, struggles against sexism, and more, many women in history cultivated and shared their unique talents to make lasting impacts on the world. Jane Hinckley (18th-Century British Women Writers and Artists) introduced three of these inspirational women—Mary Beale, Mary Delany, and Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun—and shared their stories in her Education Week lecture on August 21.
Mary Beale
Born Mary Craddock, Mary Beale was one of the most innovative painters of her time. Working with her husband, she developed a successful portrait studio in London where she helped earn a living for her family. But perhaps most revolutionary was her introduction of the concept of smiling within portraits. Because sitting for a portrait took many hours, many subjects chose to keep a straight face rather than holding a smile for so long. However, Beale encouraged her subjects to smile, which helped her work stand out from her competitors’ and attract a large number of commissions.
Mary Delany
After both her first and second husband passed away, English artist Mary Delany discovered a passion for botany. Her friends, the Duke and Duchess of Portland, England, invited her to stay with them and gave her access to a large natural history collection. She created “paper mosaicks,” or pieces of paper cut in the shapes of flowers and plants. These works of art required her to combine her extensive scientific and artistic talents. She made at least 1,000 of these mosaicks and labeled them with their botanical name and common name. Her work was so impressive that Kew and Chelsea Physic Gardens commissioned her to document new plant varieties that explorers brought back from other countries. Her contribution to the arts and sciences made her a revolutionary for her time as she documented both the beauty and anatomy of these plants.
Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun
An aspiring painter from birth, Frenchwoman Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun is perhaps most well-known for her paintings of women in the eighteenth century. Vigée-LeBrun accomplished something almost unheard of for female painters: she got accepted to not only one, but two artistic guilds. Her talent impressed Marie Antoinette, who commissioned her for various paintings in an attempt to improve the Queen’s public image. Her affinity for simple clothing influenced the fashion of the time, as she did not paint herself or her subjects in elaborate clothes or hair—in fact, she even painted Marie Antoinette in her chemise, or underwear!
Hinckley ended her presentation by commending these three women for their accomplishments. She said, “Thank goodness Mary Beale, Mary Delany, and Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun developed their full potential to give the world the best they had.”