Angelica Kauffmann
Encyclopedia
Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman (30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807) was a Swiss-Austrian Neoclassical
painter
. Kauffman (not Kauffmann) is the preferred spelling of her name; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.
in Graubünden
, Switzerland
, but grew up in Schwarzenberg
in Vorarlberg
/Austria
where her family originated. Her father, Joseph Johann Kauffman, was a relatively poor man but a skilled painter, who was often traveling for his work. It was he who taught his precocious daughter. Angelica rapidly acquired several languages from her mother, Cleophea Lutz, read incessantly and showed talent as a musician, but her greatest progress was in painting, and by her twelfth year she had become a notability, with bishops and nobles for her sitters.
In 1754 her father took her to Milan
. Later visits to Italy
of long duration followed. In 1763 she visited Rome
, returning again in 1764. From Rome she passed to Bologna
and Venice
, everywhere feted for her talents and charm. Writing from Rome in August 1764 to his friend Franke, Winckelmann refers to her popularity. (She was then painting his picture, a half-length; of which she also made an etching.) She spoke Italian as well as German, he says, and expressed herself with facility in French and English - one result of the last-named accomplishment being that she became a popular portraitist for British visitors to Rome. “She may be styled beautiful,” he adds, “and in singing may vie with our best virtuosi.”
While at Venice, she was induced by Lady Wentworth, the wife of the British ambassador, to accompany her to London
. One of her first works in London was a portrait of David Garrick
, exhibited in the year of her arrival at “Mr Moreing's great room in Maiden Lane
.” The rank of Lady Wentworth opened society to her, and she was everywhere well received, the royal family especially showing her great favor. Her firmest friend, however, was Sir Joshua Reynolds
. In his pocket-book her name as “Miss Angelica” or “Miss Angel” appears frequently; and in 1766 he painted her, a compliment which she returned by her Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Another instance of her intimacy with Reynolds is to be found in her variation of Guercino's Et in Arcadia ego, a subject which Reynolds repeated a few years later in his portrait of Mrs Bouverie
and Mrs Crewe
.
When, in about November 1767, she was entrapped into a clandestine marriage with an adventurer who passed for a Swedish
count (the Count de Horn), Reynolds helped extricate her, and it was doubtless owing to Reynolds's good offices that she was among the signatories to the petition to the king for the establishment of the Royal Academy
. In its first catalog of 1769 she appears with “R.A.” after her name (an honor she shared with one other woman, Mary Moser
); and she contributed the Interview of Hector
and Andromache
, and three other classical compositions.
Her friendship with Reynolds was criticized in 1775 by fellow Academician Nathaniel Hone in his satirical picture The Conjurer. This attacked the fashion for Italianate Renaissance
art, ridiculed Reynolds and included a nude caricature of Kauffman, later painted out by Hone. The work was rejected by the Royal Academy.
From 1769 until 1782 Kauffman was an annual exhibitor with the Royal Academy, sending sometimes as many as seven pictures, generally on classical or allegoric subjects. One of the most notable was Leonardo
expiring in the Arms of Francis the First
(1778).
In 1773 she was appointed by the Academy with others to decorate St Paul's Cathedral
; and it was she who, with Biagio Rebecca
, painted the Academy's old lecture room at Somerset House
.
, the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during the 18th century. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds
, the Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes. Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, esteemed, and patronized.
It is possible that her popularity declined as a consequence of her unfortunate marriage; but in 1781, after her first husband's death (she had been long separated from him), she married Antonio Zucchi
(1728–1795), a Venetian
artist then resident in Britain.
Shortly thereafter she retired to Rome, where she befriended, among others, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
, who said she worked harder and accomplished more than any artist he knew; yet, always restive, she wanted to do more and lived for 25 years with much of her old prestige.
In 1782, Kauffman's father died, as did her husband in 1795. She continued at intervals to contribute to the Royal Academy in London, her last exhibit being in 1797. After this she produced little, and in 1807 she died in Rome, being honored by a splendid funeral under the direction of Canova. The entire Academy of St Luke, with numerous ecclesiastics and virtuosi, followed her to her tomb in San Andrea delle Fratte, and, as at the burial of Raphael
, two of her best pictures were carried in procession.
, in the Hermitage
at St Petersburg, and in the Alte Pinakothek
at Munich
. The Munich example was another portrait of herself; and there was a third in the Uffizi
at Florence. A few of her works in private collections were exhibited among the Old Masters at Burlington House
.
Kauffman is also well known by the numerous engravings from her designs by Schiavonetti, Francesco Bartolozzi
and others. Those by Bartolozzi especially found considerable favour with collectors.
Charles Willson Peale
(1741–1827), artist, patriot, and founder of a major American art dynasty, named several of his children after notable European artists, including a daughter, Angelica Kauffman Peale.
Her biography was written in 1810 by Giovanni de Rossi. It has also been used as the basis of a romance by Léon de Wailly (1838) and it prompted the novel contributed by Anne Isabella Thackeray
to the Cornhill Magazine
in 1875 entitled “Miss Angel”.
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Kauffman (not Kauffmann) is the preferred spelling of her name; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.
Early years
She was born at ChurChur
Chur or Coire is the capital of the Swiss canton of Graubünden and lies in the northern part of the canton.-History:The name "chur" derives perhaps from the Celtic kora or koria, meaning "tribe", or from the Latin curia....
in Graubünden
Graubünden
Graubünden or Grisons is the largest and easternmost canton of Switzerland. The canton shares borders with the cantons of Ticino, Uri, Glarus and St. Gallen and international borders with Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, but grew up in Schwarzenberg
Schwarzenberg, Austria
Schwarzenberg is a village in the Bregenzerwald, Vorarlberg, Austria, part of the district Bregenz. As of 2002 it has a population of 1,805. The village center is heritage-protected for its clapboard houses....
in Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
/Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
where her family originated. Her father, Joseph Johann Kauffman, was a relatively poor man but a skilled painter, who was often traveling for his work. It was he who taught his precocious daughter. Angelica rapidly acquired several languages from her mother, Cleophea Lutz, read incessantly and showed talent as a musician, but her greatest progress was in painting, and by her twelfth year she had become a notability, with bishops and nobles for her sitters.
In 1754 her father took her to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Later visits to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
of long duration followed. In 1763 she visited Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, returning again in 1764. From Rome she passed to Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, everywhere feted for her talents and charm. Writing from Rome in August 1764 to his friend Franke, Winckelmann refers to her popularity. (She was then painting his picture, a half-length; of which she also made an etching.) She spoke Italian as well as German, he says, and expressed herself with facility in French and English - one result of the last-named accomplishment being that she became a popular portraitist for British visitors to Rome. “She may be styled beautiful,” he adds, “and in singing may vie with our best virtuosi.”
Years in Britain
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. One of her first works in London was a portrait of David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, exhibited in the year of her arrival at “Mr Moreing's great room in Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane
Maiden Lane may refer to:* Maiden Lane , a street in Covent Garden, London* Maiden Lane , a street in Manhattan* Maiden Lane , a street in San Francisco...
.” The rank of Lady Wentworth opened society to her, and she was everywhere well received, the royal family especially showing her great favor. Her firmest friend, however, was Sir Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
. In his pocket-book her name as “Miss Angelica” or “Miss Angel” appears frequently; and in 1766 he painted her, a compliment which she returned by her Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Another instance of her intimacy with Reynolds is to be found in her variation of Guercino's Et in Arcadia ego, a subject which Reynolds repeated a few years later in his portrait of Mrs Bouverie
Bouverie
Bouverie may refer to:* Bouverie, Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, Scotland, United Kingdom* Jacob des Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone * William Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor * Bartholomew Bouverie , British MP...
and Mrs Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
.
When, in about November 1767, she was entrapped into a clandestine marriage with an adventurer who passed for a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
count (the Count de Horn), Reynolds helped extricate her, and it was doubtless owing to Reynolds's good offices that she was among the signatories to the petition to the king for the establishment of the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
. In its first catalog of 1769 she appears with “R.A.” after her name (an honor she shared with one other woman, Mary Moser
Mary Moser
Mary Moser was an English painter and one of the most celebrated women artists of 18th century Britain. One of only two female founding members of the Royal Academy , Moser is particularly noted for her depictions of flowers.-Life and career:London-born Moser was trained by her Swiss-born artist...
); and she contributed the Interview of Hector
Hector
In Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...
and Andromache
Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache was the wife of Hector and daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled...
, and three other classical compositions.
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
art, ridiculed Reynolds and included a nude caricature of Kauffman, later painted out by Hone. The work was rejected by the Royal Academy.
From 1769 until 1782 Kauffman was an annual exhibitor with the Royal Academy, sending sometimes as many as seven pictures, generally on classical or allegoric subjects. One of the most notable was Leonardo
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
expiring in the Arms of Francis the First
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
(1778).
In 1773 she was appointed by the Academy with others to decorate St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
; and it was she who, with Biagio Rebecca
Biagio Rebecca
Biagio Rebecca was an Italian painter, active mainly as a fresco decorator in England. Born in Rome, his apprenticeship is unknown. In England, he was known for neoclassical scenes from mythology, often collaborating with Robert Adam for example at Harewood House and at Kedleston Hall. He also...
, painted the Academy's old lecture room at Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
.
History Painting
Kauffman's strength was her work in history paintingHistory painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by subject matter rather than an artistic style, depicting a moment in a narrative story, rather than a static subject such as a portrait...
, the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during the 18th century. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, the Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes. Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, esteemed, and patronized.
Later years in Rome
Antonio Zucchi
Antonio Zucchi was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period. Born in Venice and died in Rome. He married the painter Angelica Kauffmann, who late in life, moved with him to Rome. He produced a number of etchings of capriccio and veduta of classical buildings or ruins. He worked with Robert Adam...
(1728–1795), a Venetian
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
artist then resident in Britain.
Shortly thereafter she retired to Rome, where she befriended, among others, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, who said she worked harder and accomplished more than any artist he knew; yet, always restive, she wanted to do more and lived for 25 years with much of her old prestige.
In 1782, Kauffman's father died, as did her husband in 1795. She continued at intervals to contribute to the Royal Academy in London, her last exhibit being in 1797. After this she produced little, and in 1807 she died in Rome, being honored by a splendid funeral under the direction of Canova. The entire Academy of St Luke, with numerous ecclesiastics and virtuosi, followed her to her tomb in San Andrea delle Fratte, and, as at the burial of Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, two of her best pictures were carried in procession.
Legacy
The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait (NPG 430). There were other pictures by her at Paris, at DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, in the Hermitage
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
at St Petersburg, and in the Alte Pinakothek
Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum situated in the Kunstareal in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses one of the most famous collections of Old Master paintings...
at Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. The Munich example was another portrait of herself; and there was a third in the Uffizi
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
at Florence. A few of her works in private collections were exhibited among the Old Masters at Burlington House
Burlington House
Burlington House is a building on Piccadilly in London. It was originally a private Palladian mansion, and was expanded in the mid 19th century after being purchased by the British government...
.
Kauffman is also well known by the numerous engravings from her designs by Schiavonetti, Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi
Francesco Bartolozzi was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London.He was born in Florence...
and others. Those by Bartolozzi especially found considerable favour with collectors.
Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale
Charles Willson Peale was an American painter, soldier and naturalist. He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, as well as establishing one of the first museums....
(1741–1827), artist, patriot, and founder of a major American art dynasty, named several of his children after notable European artists, including a daughter, Angelica Kauffman Peale.
Her biography was written in 1810 by Giovanni de Rossi. It has also been used as the basis of a romance by Léon de Wailly (1838) and it prompted the novel contributed by Anne Isabella Thackeray
Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie
Anne Isabella, Lady Ritchie, née Thackeray was an English writer. She was the eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray.- Life :...
to the Cornhill Magazine
Cornhill Magazine
The Cornhill Magazine was a Victorian magazine and literary journal named after Cornhill Street in London.Cornhill was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and was published until 1975. It was a literary journal with a selection of articles on diverse subjects and serialisations of new novels...
in 1875 entitled “Miss Angel”.
Further reading
This source reports she procured a divorce from the impostor Count Horn.- Kauffmann, Angelica. (2001). "»Mir träumte vor ein paar Nächten, ich hätte Briefe von Ihnen empfangen«. Gesammelte Briefe in den Originalsprachen. Ed. Waltraud Maierhofer. Lengwil: Libelle, 2001. ISBN 978-3-909081-88-2 (Letters in German, English, Italian, French; introduction and commentary in German.)
- Kauffmann, Angelika. (1999) "Briefe einer Malerin." Ed. Waltraud Maierhofer. Mainz: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
- Natter, Tobias (ed.). "Angelica Kauffmann: A Woman of Immense Talent." Ostfildern: Hatje-Cantz, 2007. ISBN 978-3-7757-1984-1.
- Rosenthal, Angela. (2006). Angelica Kauffman: Art and Sensibility. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300103336
External links
- Information Angelika Kauffmann in Schwarzenberg (GERMAN; also contains information and articles both in ENGLISH and ITALIAN)
- Vorarlberg Landesmuseum in Bregenz
- Index to the edition of her correspondence on the publisher's site