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"Looking at Art" is the Society's Art Appreciation Group.
Page edited by Michael Culverwell
“The Whole World is Angelicamad”
Angelica Kauffman (1741 – 1807) was an exceptionally talented, well educated and highly intelligent artist whose ground breaking achievements in art and culture proved that a woman could successfully make her way in the public sphere during the 18th century.
Her meteoric rise from a Swiss child prodigy in both music and painting to one of the most sought after history painters and portraitist was seen as a shining example to her contemporaries as well as to subsequent generations.
She trained in Italy, lived in Rome and London and secured commissions from international aristocratic and upper class clients becoming so popular and in demand that the Danish Ambassador wrote home saying “… the whole world is Angelicamad”
With Mary Moser she was a founder member of the Royal Academy and it was not until 1936 when Laura Knight was elected to full membership that another woman became a full member of the academy.
When she died in 1807 her funeral cortege was worthy of any great statesman and she was described as “the most highly cultured woman in Europe” – “a woman respected and loved by everyone”.
All Is Not What It Seems
The art of illusion has been used over centuries in various media to play with the viewer’s gaze and to confuse our perceptions. The technique can be traced back to classical times, and has appeared in murals, portraits, still life paintings, linear and aerial perspectives, architectural decoration, Op Art, ceramics, wallpaper, and perspective boxes.
Masters of the art include Hans Holbein the Younger, M.C. Escher, Andrea Mantegna, Jean-Etienne Liotard, Grinling Gibbons, René Magritte, Rembrandt, and many others. Prepare to be amused and surprised!
Michael Culverwell: The Glasgow Girls: Unveiling the forgotten heroines of Scottish art.
“The Glasgow Girls were a group of women artists and designers active in Glasgow at the turn of the 20th century, particularly associated with the Glasgow School of Art. They are known for their contributions to various art forms, including painting, illustration, stained glass, and decorative arts. Key figures include Margaret Macdonald, Frances Macdonald, Jessie M. King, Bessie MacNicol, and Jessie Newbery.”
