1741–1807 · Neoclassicism. Wikipedia
Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann, usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, Kauffman was a skilled portraitist, landscape and decoration painter. She was, along with Mary Moser, one of two female painters among the founding members of the Royal Academy of Art in London in 1768.
The Sorrow of Telemachus is an oil painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman, from 1783. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. This painting and Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso were painted for Monsignor Onorato Caetani (1742-1797). They show scenes from the French novel The Adventures of Telemachus published by François Fénelon in 1699, and based on the story of Telemachus, son of Odysseus.
Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman. It was painted in England in 1774. It is displayed in the Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston, Texas, as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III. It is an oil painting on canvas. Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus is one of Kauffman's few history paintings depicting a single figure. Angelica Kauffman was recognized to have talent in her youth and her father encouraged her development in painting and education in Italy. She lived in England for 15 years, where she was highly regarded and sought after. Kauffman was one of two women founders of the British Royal Academy of Arts. She painted Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus during her time at the English court when she was an annual exhibitor with the Royal Academy between 1769 and 1782. This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1774 with two other works of Kauffman's; Calypso Assenting to the Departure of Ulysses and Penelope Invoking Minerva's Aid for the Safe Return of Telemachus. All three of these paintings depict women in the absence of their lovers, or in the case of Penelope, her son. After Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus was exhibited, it was purchased by George Bowles, one of Kauffman's greatest supporters. It is unknown whether he commissioned the work or solely purchased it after exhibition.
Virgil Reading the Aeneid to Augustus and Octavia is an oil on canvas painting by Angelica Kauffman, from 1788. It is held in the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg, which it entered in 1902. A preparatory study is in the Royal Collection. It was commissioned by Stanisław August Poniatowski, who kept it in the Lazienki Palace, in Warsaw. It depicts a legend in Macrobius that Octavia the Younger fainted whilst Virgil was reading to her and Augustus a passage about her son Marcellus in the Book VI of his Aeneid.
Ferdinand I and His Family is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman, from 1782. It is held in the National Museum of Capodimonte, in Naples. The group portrait was created during Kauffmann's Neapolitan stay, between 1782 and 1783. She had come from London, and was welcomed by the Royal House with honors; she even became a close friend of Queen Maria Carolina of Austria. Kauffman completed the painting in Rome, where the work was praised by Ippolito Pindemonte.
Sappho Inspired by Love is an oil painting on canvas of 1775 by Angelica Kauffman, now in the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Florida, having been in John Ringling's collection. Sappho is shown holding a parchment inscribed "ἔλθε μοι καὶ νῦν, χαλέπαν δὲ λῦσον ἐκ μερίμναν" ('So come again and save me from unbearable pain'), the beginning of the last verse of her Ode to Aphrodite in ancient Greek from Joseph Addison's 1735 edition of the work.
Jupiter Disguised as Diana Seducing Callisto is a painting by Angelica Kauffman, painted during her 1766-1781 stay in Great Britain and now in a private collection. It shows Jupiter in disguise as Diana seducing Callisto. It was engraved by Thomas Burke. It is held in a private collection. The painting depicts a classic scene of seduction of a girl, but this time is between two beautiful girls. The one sitting on the left has a crescent moon in her hair, which is an attribute of the goddess Diana, but at her feet sits an eagle with lightning in its paws - a symbol of Jupiter, indicating that this is the supreme god in another form. Although the painting follows the European tradition, Kaufman's depiction has several significant deviations. In the 18th-century painting, it was usual to emphasize the differences between male and female characters, depicting the former in darker colors. In Kaufman’s painting there is no such contrast; there is no gender difference. In addition, in the depicted scene, the traditional gender roles of an active male and a passive female are absent. Although Diana (Jupiter) takes the initiative, leaning towards the nymph, Callisto does not look stiff and passive, she responds with her gaze, thereby expressing her own desire. It really seems to be a scene of lesbian seduction. To the left of Diana and Callisto is depicted Eros, who watches the scene from the bushes. He puts his finger on his lips, in a gesture indicating a call to silence, perhaps because he knows that Jupiter is deceiving, or maybe because he is witnessing something that cannot be mentioned openly, female seduction.
Portrait of Winckelmann is an oil on canvas painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffmann, from 1764. It was produced in Rome and represents the famous archaeologist and art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann, whose work greatly contributed to the revival of classical studies and the change in style from rococo to neoclassicism. It is signed at the lower right by the artist and is now in the Kunsthaus Zürich. The painting depicts Winckelmann seated at his work table, with a pen in his right hand. Both his hands rest on an open book, who is placed on a flat antique bas-relief representing the Three Graces. The bas-relief itself is placed on a red fabric.
Venus Persuading Helen to Love Paris or Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris is a 1790 oil on canvas painting by Angelica Kauffman. It is held in the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg. Preparatory sketches survive in the Royal Collection and the British Museum. Previously in the collection in the Yusupov Palace, the painting was seized by the state after the Russian Revolution and kept in the Palace (converted into the Yusupov Palace Museum) until 1925, when it was moved to its present home in the Hermitage Museum.
Telemachus and the Nymphs of Calypso is an oil painting by the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman, from 1782. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. This painting and The Sorrow of Telemachus were painted for Monsignor Onorato Caetani (1742-1797). They show scenes from the French novel The Adventures of Telemachus published by François Fénelon in 1699, and based on the story of Telemachus, son of Odysseus.
Hector Summoning Paris to Battle is an oil on canvas painting by Angelica Kauffman, from 1775. It is held in the Hermitage Museum, in Saint Petersburg. It shows a scene from the Iliad, with Paris sitting on a chair in the foreground with his bow at his feet, Helen of Troy and servants to the right and an armoured Hector with a lance to the left. It is signed at middle left Angelica Kaufmann pinx. Anno 1775, with the number 2894 (its Hermitage catalogue number) at bottom right in red paint. Two other autograph versions survive, both in private collections, one dating to 1793 and the other undated. A historic oil on canvas copy of the work by an unknown artist was put on auction at Berlin Lepke on 19 November 1932.
Self-Portrait is an oil on canvas self portrait by Angelica Kauffman, from 1784. It is held in the Neue Pinakothek, in Munich, having been acquired by Louis I of Bavaria for his collection in 1826. Kauffman is depicted wearing a turban and looking directly at the viewer, holding a pen and her drawing briefcase. She follows the Renaissance tradition of the portraits of a Sibyl, similarly to painters like Raphael and Domenichino.
The Parting of Abelard and Heloise or Abelard and Heloise Say Farewell is an oil on canvas painting by Angelica Kauffman. It is signed on a block of stone at bottom centre Angelica K. pinx. It shows Peter Abelard and Héloïse parting as she enters the convent of Sainte-Marie at Argenteuil. In 1780 it was engraved by the Russian artist Gavriil Skorodumov. It was already in a 1797 inventory of the Hermitage Museum, where it still hangs, but it is unclear when it entered the collection.