Ambitious female artists of the 18th Century found it immensely difficult to establish careers as professional painters, but it was not impossible. However, there was one artistic endeavour that was to remain strictly off limits.
The hammer and chisel are archetypal male tools, both muscular and inspired; women were seen to lack both the physical strength and the intellectual vigour for such a virile art.
And yet there was to be a woman in Britain who would defy convention and risk her whole reputation to become the first female sculptor in Britain. While it was ‘desirable’ that a painter have knowledge of anatomy it was absolutely essential for a sculptor… But it remained unthinkable for a young woman to study, let alone recreate, the naked form.
Fortunately for Anne Seymour Damer, she had a very lucky start in life. She was born in 1748 into a wealthy family of enlightened parents. As the only daughter, Anne got all the attention and received a cosmopolitan education. When she showed an unusual interest in sculpture they indulged her and paid for specialist tuition from practicing sculptors and crucially, from an eminent surgeon and anatomist.
Damer had the training no Academy or Workshop would offer a woman… But her career, like that of so many woman before and since, was derailed by marriage…
Amanda:
Aged 17, Anne was married off to the son of a lord, John Damer. It was not a love match, and the lack of sympathy was compounded by his gross extravagance and massive gambling debts. After 7 years, her patience ran out and she separated from him, inviting public censure. But far worse scandal was to come; two years later in 1776, in a pub near here in Covent Garden after a long night’s entertainment with 4 prostitutes and a blind fiddler, John Damer put a pistol to his head and shot himself.
Now a widow, Anne Damer was finally free to pursue her sculpting career. She embraced a neo-classical style, the Greek and Roman influence was popular at the time thanks to recent discoveries of artefacts from the ancient world – but neo-classicism also allowed Damer to send a clear message to those who disapproved of what she was doing – shown here in her marble bust of the Actress, Elizabeth Farren…
She has a bit of classical drapery over her bosom, and she’s crowned with a wreath of ivy leaves. So in many ways this is quite a conventional bust. But remember – it’s created by a woman and a formidably educated woman at that. She’s chiselled on the side, in Greek, Anna Damer of London made me.
What she’s asserting here is that there’s substance behind her classical style; that she’s a thinker as well as a maker.
The bust was praised, but Damer’s very skill put her in the firing line. She was now on male turf and her rivals were quick to react…Gossips revelled in whispering about her butch qualities: One painter wrote in his diary that ‘Mrs Damer wears a Man’s Hat, and Shoes—and a Jacket also like a man’s,’ there were even rumours that her close relationship with one Mary Berry was more than just a friendship.
That unease only grew when in 1789 Damer was hired to create a piece for the exterior of the Drury Lane theatre – a statue of the god Apollo. The male body in public and ten foot high. The statue no longer exists but the scurrilous cartoon it provoked does… showing Damer carving the naked bottom of her Apollo. Damer is wielding her mallet with emasculating force, while prudish classical gods look on, hiding their genitalia.
But despite facing public mockery and private gossip Damer refused to back down – and she went on to model national hero Admiral Nelson and even King George the third himself, with the royal academy, over 3 decades, showcasing 34 of her works.
Like most successful female artists in the past – Anne Damer stands out in history as a glorious exception – she was born into privilege, wit support, training and the self confidence to risk her reputation for her art – but for most women the costs were far too great… certainly enough to put them off trying to be professional artists in the public arena.
Video summary
We examine how women of the 18th century faced many obstacles to becoming artists.
The area of art that women found most difficult to get into was sculpting.
Historian Amanda Vickery tells us women were thought to lack the strength and intelligence to do it.
Shots of portraits of Anne Seymour Damer (1749 - 1828) are mixed with sketches of the male form and statues and we learn that she became the first recognised female sculptor in Britain.
Women were not allowed to study the male form in detail as it was thought not proper and immoral.
Amanda explains that Anne Seymour Damer had wealthy parents who hired a surgeon to help her understand the male form so she could study sculpting.
Damer decided to make sculptures in a neo-classical style similar to Roman and Greek.
We see a marble bust of actress Elizabeth Allen made by Anna Seymour Damer.
Damer wrote on the side in Greek and signed it to show other people she was a well-educated woman.
Newspaper columnists and commentators made fun of her for being too butch or manly because she was doing sculpting, which people thought was men's work.
Images of a bust of Admiral Nelson and a statue of King George III demonstrate that important people liked her work and hired her to sculpt for them.
Amanda praises Anne Seymour Damer for overcoming and ignoring prejudice and becoming a successful sculptor at a time when it was thought women could and should not do that.
She points out that this was only possible because she had a lot of support and encouragement from her parents and money to hire teachers.
Other women would have found it impossible to be successful as sculptors without these advantages.
Contains adult themes. Teacher review recommended prior to use in class.
This clip is from the series The Britain That Women Made.
Teacher Notes
This could be used in lessons on relevant key historical concepts such as change and continuity and causation, or relevant historical periods like the Industrial Revolution and the social, political and economic change of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Students could be asked to discuss the barriers to women becoming sculptors.
What were the factors which helped Seymour become successful?
In their answers they could consider the importance of her determination, her education and the popular tastes in art at the time.
Which of these factors was most important in her success?
This clip is suitable for teaching Art and Design and History at Key Stage 3 and Third Level.
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