Women Painters

Making these paintings is deeply personal to me — I am interested in artistic legacy and the female experience of creating art. These small paintings are my way of honouring women who made me feel it was possible to have a creative life.

I first encountered painting on copper when I saw some of Lucian Freud’s portraits on copper. I found working on the smooth surface a process akin to drawing, which I enjoyed and found challenging, but also reassuringly familiar.

• Sofonisba Anguissola – Italian Renaissance painter (c.1532–1625), known for portraiture and influential court paintings.
• Eileen Agar – British painter and photographer (1899–1991), key figure in Surrealism, known for experimental and abstract works.
• Vanessa Bell – British painter (1879–1961), member of the Bloomsbury Group, noted for modernist portraits and decorative compositions.
• Mary Beale – English portraitist (1633–1699), one of the first professional female painters in England.
• Leonora Carrington – British-Mexican surrealist (1917–2011), celebrated for dreamlike, mythological imagery.
• Artemisia Gentileschi – Italian Baroque painter (1593–c.1656), noted for dramatic biblical and mythological scenes.
• Nora Heysen – Australian painter (1911–2003), first woman awarded the Archibald Prize; known for portraiture and still life.
• Laura Knight – British painter (1877–1970), known for portraits, landscapes, and wartime works; first female Royal Academy full member.
• Winifred Knights – British painter (1899–1947), recognized for figurative compositions influenced by Renaissance and modern symbolism.
• Paula Rego – Portuguese-British artist (1935–2022), focused on figurative painting and prints exploring narrative and social themes.