Mary Beale's portrait of Anne Sotheby (1676), currently on display in our exhibition Fruit of Friendship: Portraits by Mary Beale, is a fascinating example of a work painted in collaboration between Mary and her son Charles.
We know from the diaries kept by Mary’s husband Charles that their sons were employed in the studio to assist with the painting of drapery and decorative stone cartouches. It is very rare, however, to be able to link a payment record to a specific portrait, which makes the present work so interesting. Recent research revealed that Charles was paid £1 for his work on the drapery in this work – considerably more than the five shillings he was paid to paint stone cartouches on bust-length portraits. The work is also recorded in another document from the period. The sitter’s husband, James Sotheby, kept detailed notebooks recording the portraits he commissioned from the leading artists of the day; the present work is recorded as ‘By Mrs Beal, The Picture of my Wife in her 20th year, a half-length. £14.50’.
The portrait will be on display at the gallery until Friday 3rd May, after which it will travel to Tate Britain where it will be included in their upcoming exhibition Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920.
The portrait will be on display at the gallery until Friday 3rd May, after which it will travel to Tate Britain where it will be included in their upcoming exhibition Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920.
Watch the short film below to find out more about how surviving records offer us an insight into this portrait as well as into Mary's business and the dynamics within her studio.
