Kauffmann, (Maria Anna Catherina) Angelica (1741-1807)

Swiss neoclassical painter. She worked extensively in England, with the keen support of Joshua Reynolds, and became a founder-member of the Royal Academy in 1768. She was in great demand as a portraitist, but also painted mythological scenes for large country houses.

Born in Chur, in the Grisons, Switzerland, Kauffman was the daughter of a painter who gave her lessons in both music and visual art. She lived in Italy for three years as a child, painting precociously. On a second visit (1763-66) she painted the portrait of the art historian Johann Winckelmann and was no doubt strongly influenced by his neoclassicism. After visiting Milan, Rome, Bologna, and Venice, she arrived in London in 1766, one of her first sitters being the actor David Garrick.