Laura Herford 1831 - 1870 - Pascal Theatre Company

Laura Herford 1831 – 1870

Painter.

16 October 1831 – 28 October 1870

Education

Attended Unitarian schools in Cheshire and Warwickshire.

Some Key Achievements and Interests

1850s Moved to London to study art.

Studied alongside Barbara Leigh Smith at Bedford College.

Frequented the British Museum to study exhibits.

Studied at Heatherley’s School of Art.

Attended Eliza Bridell Fox’s life drawing classes in Bridell Fox’s house which became a meeting place (as did Bodichon’s) for like-minded women who were fighting for education and professional openings for women in the art world.

1859 Was involved in a petition signed by thirty-eight professional women artists requesting women be admitted to the Royal Academy which was rejected.

Submitted a drawing to the Royal Academy signed ‘A L Herford’ and was offered a place on the assumption that A L Herford was a man, becoming the first woman to be admitted.

21 December 1860 Started as a probationer at the Royal Academy Schools to study painting receiving a mixed reception by fellow male students. Her admittance, however, led to other women being accepted.

Rented rooms and a studio in Fitzroy Square above William De Morgan holding ‘open evenings’ which were popular with artists in the Square.

1861, 1864, 1865, 1866 and 1867 Exhibited at the Royal Academy.

Throughout the 1860s exhibited at the Independent Society of British Artists, the British Institution and other academies.

1864 On hearing her brother had been wounded in the Maori wars, went to New Zealand but arrived too late to support him. Her painting The Little Emigrant was inspired by her meeting with a young girl who had left Leeds with her family to emigrate to New Zealand. Helen Paterson, Herford’s niece, posed as a model. She later sent the painting to the girl’s family.