English Female Artists

English female artists, in two volumes
Author	Ellen Creathorne Clayton
Language	English language
Genre	Art history
Publisher	Tinsley Brothers
Publication date	1876
Publication place	United Kingdom
Pages	369 & 331
OCLC	608634722

English Female Artists, in two volumes, assembled and edited by Ellen Creathorne Clayton, lists an overview of prominent English women painters up to 1876, the year of publication.

The purpose of the book was to provide "a roll call of honourable names".^[1] The book is considered an useful reference work for anyone studying British women's art.

Brief overview

English Female Artists was published by the now extinct printing firm of the Tinsley Brothers. An untitled review by Pamela Gerrish Nun described English Female artists as “not the work of an art historian nor of a feminist, and is ultimately an unsatisfying and unsatisfactory work” in reference to the story-like style within the volumes.^[2] However, María Begoña Lasa Álvarez stated that the work is a celebration of the women mentioned and all their lifelong work, the biographical and social descriptions of them within the novel, is to illustrate all the hardships that these women overcame as an artist in a male dominated era. The book has overall sentiments of the fight for women's rights and recognition. As well as a critique for her home country of Ireland, as she emphasises the way English society regards its women artists in a higher light versus how Irish society regards women artists. This critique shows Ms. Clayton’s steps for early feminism. It is noted that Clayton refers to some of the women highlighted as “sisters'' showing a deeper connection between the author and her muses and can be inferred that they are a sisterhood fighting for women's rights. Overall, English Female Artists is not only an ode to women artists but an early feminist novel as well.^[3]

About the author

Ellen Creathorne Clayton was a woman author who lived from 1834 to 1900. She was born in Dublin, Ireland and came from a family of engravers and artists. Clayton was artistic herself and had a talent for writing, publishing articles at the age of just fourteen. She went on to write seven books, English Female Artists being her most notable publication. Clayton moved to London with her family and father Benjamin Clayton III, aged seven, and continued to publish under her maiden name even after her marriage to James Henry Needham.^[4] Clayton died in London on 19 July 1900.^[5]

Volume I (historical female artists)

Volume II (contemporary artists)

The second volume is a list of biographies of women active in the 19th century, most of whom were contemporaries whose works were known to the author. It is grouped by painting genre and includes an appendix of amateurs and women who were "Honourary Members" of the "Society of Lady Artists". The second volume also includes the index for both volumes.