1. A woman at the Royal Academy of Arts
Angelica Kauffman ( )
A woman at the Royal Academy of Arts

2. Some biographical information
Trained by her father, a travelling painter
Success in Italy & London: established a reputation thanks to her portraits and her history painting
One of the 40 founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts (only 2 were women)

3. History painting: an elite category closed to women?
Representation of human actions, based on themes from history, literature, mythology: requires extensive learning of art theory and a practical training  the study of anatomy from the male nude
Women were denied access to such a training, and yet A. Kauffman was recognized as a skilled history painter

4. Penelope Weeping Over the Bow of Ulysses , 1778 Oil on panel, 50x35cm
Calypso Mournful After the Departure Of Ulysses, 1778, Oil on panel, 50x35cm

6. A female approach of mythical themes
Paintings from the Odyssey: male adventures and yet females as the main figures/agents
These 2 paintings echoe thematically even though Penelope & Calypso are rivals: A. Kauffman refuses binary judgement
Gives form to absence and loss

7. The ambiguity of portraiture
A problematic professional pursuit for a woman : cultural limits
the artist stares at the sitter: notions of propriety and the ocular submission of women to men are not respected
A Domestic art :
history painting requires a capacity to abstract that women would not possess
portraiture reveals mimetic ability (a female quality)

8. Public practice of any art, and staring in men’s faces, is very indelicate in a female. 
Samuel Johnson

10. Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angelica Kauffman 1767

15. Female allegories Colour, 1778-80, Oil on canvas, 1300 X 1503 X 25 mm
Design, , Oil on canvas, 1300 X 1503 X 25 mm
Composition, , Oil on canvas, 1300 X 1503 X 25 mm
Invention, , Oil on canvas, 1300 X 1503 X 25 mm

17. Fraternal sociability: exclusion of the female academicians  unfinished portraits of Kauffman and Moser decorate the walls in the background
Denial of female presence/body: not active figures, turned into static objects

18. The Royal Academicians in General Assembly , Johann Zoffany 1771-72
The Royal Academicians in General Assembly , Johann Zoffany Oil on canvas, x cm. The Royal Collection, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, London

19. To go further …
Angelica Kauffman, Art & Sensibility by Angela Rosenthal
A. Kauffmann by art historian Dr. Vida Hull
hidden-from-history Hidden from history: the Royal Academy’s female founders