This section explores the often-overlooked contributions of women artists represented in the V&A and Barber portrait miniature collections including loans. Through their works, these artists offer a compelling glimpse into the lives, challenges, and motivations of women working in portrait miniatures from the mid-1600s to the early 1900s. Their stories reveal remarkable resilience from earning an income with a physical disability, defying social expectations, and, in some cases, surviving financial ruin.
Women often faced limited access to lucrative and prestigious art forms such as painting, portraiture and sculpture which were typically dominated by men throughout the 400-year span of this exhibition. Although pocket-sized, portrait miniatures provided women with narrow but significant avenues for professional, financial and creative advancement. In some cases, such as that of Anne Mee, they even earnt more than some of their male colleagues.
Delve further to discover how this tiny artform gave women opportunities for visibility, independence, and a measure of agency in the artworld otherwise denied to them.
