Maria Cosway book review – British Art Journal: Online Thomas Tuohy reviews a new biography of the remarkable Maria Cosway

Diane Boucher, Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering #MariaCosway
Reviewed by Tom Tuohy for @britishartjournal.bsky.social
britishartjournal.co.uk/maria-cosway...

#womenartists #artherstory

A half-length portrait of a young, pale-skinned woman in an oval frame, with her body turned toward the right edge of the artwork and her face turned over her right shoulder to gaze at the viewer. She wears a reddish or rust-colored dress with a gauzy white scarf around her shoulders, tied at the front. Resting on top of her long blond hair, which is pulled back at the forehead and temples and hangs in curls to her shoulders, is some kind of white cap, almost turban-like in shape.

Self Portrait, 1778, by #MariaHadfieldCosway (Italian-English, 1760-1838), who was born #otd, Jun 11. Held at the Uffizi Galleries; source, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ma... #womenartists #artherstory #MariaCosway

#MariaCosway (1760-1838)
Portrait of #GeorgianaCavendish (1757-1806), Duchess of Devonshire, who was #BornOnThisDay
ca. 1781-2
Chatsworth
#GeorgianaSpencer #Cavendish

A painting in which a woman in a gold gown at the viewer's right holds a woman on a bed or large couch wearing a white dress. The woman in white appears to be in some distress; her right arm is raised, with her finger pointing heavenward, as she turns her face to the woman beside her. According to the website where the image appears: " Miss Gardiner is shown dying while being supported by her aunt Lady Townshend, having a vision of her deceased mother, & expressing a desire to join her; a feminine vision of death, ie emotional expressiveness contrasted with masculine stoic heroism."

Death of Miss Gardiner, 1789, by #MariaHadfieldCosway (Italian-English, 1730-1838), who died #otd, Jan 5. Held at the Musée de la Révolution française; source, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mo... #artherstory #womenartists #MariaCosway