Mary Beale

1633–1699

Mary Beale, ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ c.1681
Portrait of a Young Girl c.1681
License this image
In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1650

Free entry

Biography

Mary Beale (née Cradock; late March 1633 – 8 October 1699) was one of the most successful professional female Baroque-era portrait painters of the late 17th century due to her perseverance of her business. Praised by Richard Gibson and court painter Peter Lely, she is considered as successful as Joan Carlile. Joan Carlile was also an English portrait painter, who was one of the first women to practise painting professionally. Mary Beale managed to be the financial provider for her family through her professional portrait business. Her book Observations, though never officially published, was one of the first instructional books ever written by a woman, and boldly announced her authority on painting. Mary Beale stood apart from other women due to her outspokenness and successful business that allowed her to be the breadwinner of the family.

This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Spotted a problem? Let us know.

Read full Wikipedia entry
Later Stuart

Artworks

Mary Beale, ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ c.1681

Mary Beale Portrait of a Young Girl

c.1681
On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art T06612
Mary Beale, ‘Sketch of the Artist’s Son, Bartholomew Beale, Facing Left’ c.1660

Mary Beale Sketch of the Artist’s Son, Bartholomew Beale, Facing Left

c.1660
T13246
Unknown artist, Britain, attributed to Mary Beale, ‘Portrait of Robert Colman’ c.1690

Unknown artist, Britain, attributed to Mary Beale Portrait of Robert Colman

c.1690
T07240
Mary Beale, ‘Sketch of the Artist’s Son, Bartholomew Beale, in Profile’ c.1660

Mary Beale Sketch of the Artist’s Son, Bartholomew Beale, in Profile

c.1660
T13245

Sorry, no image available

Mary Beale Charles Beale

c.1680–5
T15197

Features

Mary Beale, ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ c.1681
Essay

Portrait of a Young Girl c.1681: By Mary Beale

Rica Jones and Joyce H. Townsend

Read technical information about this painting resulting from examination and scientific analysis by conservators and conservation scientists at Tate

Jo Spence, ‘The Highest Product of Capitalism (after John Heartfield)’ 1979
In the Gallery

Women and Power: A walk through Tate Britain

Explore stories of women’s empowerment across the centuries through works in our collection

You might like

Sir Godfrey Kneller, ‘John Smith the Engraver’ 1696

Sir Godfrey Kneller

1646–1723
Simon Du Bois, ‘Portrait of a Gentleman, probably Arthur Parsons MD’ 1683

Simon Du Bois

1632–1708
Unknown artist, Britain, ‘Portrait of Richard Colman’ c.1662

John Greenhill

1642–1676
John Riley, ‘James Sotheby’ c.1690

John Riley

1646–1691
Sir Peter Lely, ‘Two Ladies of the Lake Family’ c.1660

Sir Peter Lely

1618–1680
Haerman Verelst, ‘Portrait of a lady, thought to be Dionesse Cullum, wife of Robert Colman’ c.1685

Haerman Verelst

1641 or 2 –1699
Willem Wissing, ‘Portrait of Henrietta and Mary Hyde’ c.1683–5

Willem Wissing

1656–1687
Edward Bower, ‘Sir John Drake’ 1646

Edward Bower

active 1629–c.1667
John Michael Wright, ‘Sir Neil O’Neill’ 1680

John Michael Wright

1617–1694
William Dobson, ‘Endymion Porter’ c.1642–5

William Dobson

1611–1646
Gilbert Soest, ‘Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk’ c.1670–5

Gilbert Soest

c.1605–1681
David Des Granges, ‘The Saltonstall Family’ c.1636–7

David Des Granges

1611 or 13–?1675
Benedetto Gennari, ‘Elizabeth Panton, Later Lady Arundell of Wardour, as Saint Catherine’ 1689

Benedetto Gennari

1633–1715
Peter Borseller, ‘Portrait of Katherine Hoby’ c.1670

Peter Borseller

active 1644–1687
Michael Dahl, ‘Portrait of Mrs Haire’ 1701

Michael Dahl

1659–1743