Kauffmann work included in gifts to gallery
IN the past several columns, I have discussed the lives of several women artists who worked some centuries ago. Now, I want to do the same for Angelica Kauffmann (17411807), who was born in Switzerland and worked in several countries, including Britain. The Dunedin Public Art Gallery has a chalk drawing by her Head of a Young Woman.
It was given to the gallery in the 1950s by the Rev F.H.D. Smythe, an Englishman, who eventually donated to the gallery more than a thousand British watercolours, a very generous gift. He never visited this country but came to know the gallery’s then director, Annette Pearse.
In 1951 she visited Britain and went to Christie’s and looked up Sir Alec Martin, who had acted frequently as the gallery’s agent in the UK. She saw a small 16thcentury French illumination and asked if she could acquire it. Sir Alec had to tell her it belonged to a clergyman who had asked that it be sold to a British gallery.
Mrs Pearse wrote to Archdeacon Smythe and, charmed by her approach, he reversed his position and said Mrs Pearse could have the manuscript and sent along two more, as well. He had collected British watercolours since his childhood and by the 1950s had a very extensive collection of them. This field of painting is interesting for New Zealanders because our own watercolour tradition grows directly from it.
Having made Archdeacon Smythe’s acquaintance, Mrs Pearse wrote to him again asking if the gallery could buy some of his watercolours. The kind collector declined to do this. Instead, he wrote asking which artists the gallery was interested in and sent as a gift a parcel of 202 works attributed to various painters including Paul Sandby, Thomas Gainsborough, Rowlandson, Girtin, Constable, Turner, Cotman, Cox, De Wint, and Copley Fielding and these are only a few.
This wasn’t the end of his generosity: for years he continued these precious cargoes in the form of brown paper parcels. The gallery council and the Otago Daily Times ran out of words with which to express their gratitude. (But not deeds: in 1955 the gallery council sent Archdeacon Smythe a carcass of frozen New Zealand lamb which quite took the old gentleman’s breath away: ‘‘. . . such an unexpected gift, such a novel’’. One hopes he had a freezer.
Many of the works are unsigned but the archdeacon made his own attributions. Inspection by an overseas expert when I was at the gallery in the 1980s showed the archdeacon was overoptimistic in his attributions. Still, it remains a great collection. The work by Kauffmann survived this inspection. It is signed ‘‘A. Kauffman’’ which might make one suspicious but in Britain she used this anglicised form of her surname.
Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann was born at Chur, in Grauburden, Switzerland. Her father, Joseph Johann Kauffmann, was then working for the local bishop but she grew up in Schwarzenburg in Austria. Her mother, Cleophea Lutz, taught her several languages, including German, Italian, French and English. Her father was a muralist and painter. He trained her and she worked as his assistant, travelling between Switzerland, Austria and Italy.
She was also a talented musician but decided to focus on painting. By her 12th year she was known as a painter and had bishops and nobles as her sitters. Her mother died in 1754 and her father took her with him. There were also later long visits. In
1762, she became a member of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenzi. In 1763, and again in 1764, she visited Rome. Franke Winkelmann referred to her popularity writing from Rome in August 1764. He called her ‘‘beautiful’’.
Kauffmann painted English visitors and moved to Britain about 1765, persuaded by Lady Wentworth, the wife of the
British ambassador, while Kauffmann was in Venice. Her work appeared there in 1765 at an exhibition of the Free Society of Artists. She moved there shortly later and established herself as a leading artist.
She made tableaux based on Shakespearean plays. She painted actors such as David Garrick. She was well received and the Royal Family showed her favour. Sir Joshua Reynolds (172392) was a good friend. He painted her in 1766 and she painted him in her Portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
She was a signatory to the King on a petition for the establishment of the Royal Academy. It was established and she became a member with one other woman, Mary Moser (17441819).
Kauffmann’s Dunedin work shows a woman looking to the right, with a slightly inclined head. We see her face in profile. Her hair seems to be flying. One can see a garment below her shoulders. One supposes she is a life model, holding the garment in place. It’s not outstanding but it’s interesting it’s here.