Emily Mary Osborn 1828 – 1925
Genre, portrait painter, feminist.
11 February 1828 – 14 April 1925
English: The Queen, The Ladies Newspaper and Court Chronicle via British Newspaper Archive Saturday 05 October 1889 page 465. The Queen, The Ladies Newspaper and Court Chronicle, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Education
Attended Dickinson’s Academy, Maddox Street, London then privately with James Leigh at his house and at Leigh’s General Practical School of Art in Newman Street.
Some Key Achievements and Interests
1851 Exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy aged 17.
1852-6 Exhibited at the British Institution and Royal Society of British Artists
1855 Commissioned to paint Mrs Sturgis and her Children shown at the Royal Academy, her commission enabling her to add a studio to her home at 30 Upper Gower Street.
1855 My Cottage Door, exhibited at the Royal Academy, was bought by Queen Victoria.
1857 Nameless and Friendless exhibited at the Royal Academy.
Nameless and Friendless. “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, etc.” Emily Mary Osborn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1859 Signed the petition for the admission of women to the Royal Academy Schools.
1859 Exhibited Tough and Tender at the Royal Academy this winning a silver medal when shown at the Society of British Artists in 1862.
1860 The Governess shown at the Royal Academy and also bought by Queen Victoria.
From 1860s included historical genre works in her portfolio, her painting 1861 Escape from the Tower, 1716, exhibited at the Royal Academy.
The Escape of Lord Nithisdale from the Tower, 1716 by Emily Mary Osborn; Emily Mary Osborn, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
1864 Half the world knows not how the other half lives given an award as ‘the best historical or figure subject in oil by a British artists’.
Travelled in Germany and became inspired by German subjects.
1866 Studied with Piloty at the Accademia in Venice before moving to Munich.
1870s Exhibited at the Dudley Gallery, the Society of Lady Artists, the Grosvenor Gallery and the New Gallery.
1870 Nursed the wounded at Heidelberg for six months during the Franco-Prussian War.
1873 Returned to London continuing to exhibit in London and the provinces and winning medals.
Extended her repertoire to include landscape paintings and pastel works.
Travelled to Venice and Algeria and around the Norfolk Broads painting the scenery.
Painted portraits of Bodichon (1884 & 1888) and Jane Cobden (1890 exhibited at the National Gallery) and a portrait of Mary E Dunn (exhibited at the Society of Lady Artists).
1889 Signed the declaration in favour of women’s suffrage.
Issues
Was greatly upset by the death of her mother in 1868, this interrupting her work.
Connection to Bloomsbury
1851 – 1855 Lived at 37 Bernard Street, Bloomsbury.
1855 – c1865 Lived 30 Upper Gower Street (renamed/numbered 133 Gower Street in 1864).
Female Networks
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (who she painted), Ellen Cobden, close friend Emily Davies, Mary Elizabeth Dunn.
Works include:
1855 My Cottage Door.
1857 Nameless and Friendless.
1859 Tough and Tender.
1860 The Governess.
1864 Half the world knows not how the other half lives.
See Emily Mary Osborn – Wikipedia
Further reading