Tate and Museum of the Home jointly acquire Rebecca Solomon’s A Young Teacher

Tate and Museum of the Home today announced joint ownership of a landmark painting by acclaimed painter Rebecca Solomon. A Young Teacher (1861) has been acquired for the national collection and will be held equally by both institutions, enabling this significant Pre-Raphaelite work to be enjoyed by the public for generations to come.

A Young Teacher will be displayed in Tate Britain’s new Pre-Raphaelite gallery from the end of June. Hung alongside many works by Solomon’s male counterparts, including her brother Simeon, its inclusion offers visitors the chance to experience a fresh perspective on this ground-breaking art movement. In autumn 2024 it will move to the Museum of the Home, providing a new context in which to see this ambitious painting, after which it will be available to both institutions as well as to museums and galleries across the UK as part of the national collection.

Rebecca Solomon’s painting is a complex reflection on gender, race, religion and education in mid-nineteenth century London. As with many of her works, it considers women who worked in better-off households as professional carers. In A Young Teacher, Solomon modifies a traditional domestic scene between mother and child, with the surrounding books stressing the theme of learning. The woman at the centre of the image was modelled by Jamaican-born Fanny Eaton, who became a prominent muse for many Victorian artists and featured in some of the most iconic paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite period. Several examples of these are currently on display in Tate Britain’s exhibition The Rossettis until 24 September 2023.

Believed to be the first Jewish woman to become a professional artist in England, Rebecca Solomon’s work shone a light on inequality and prejudice at a time when these subjects were far from mainstream. She was active in social reform movements, including as part of a group of 38 artists who petitioned the Royal Academy of Arts to open its schools to women.

Polly Staple, Director of Collection, British Art, Tate, said: “Tate has been actively increasing the representation of women artists in the national collection, and we are thrilled to be acquiring this wonderful painting by an important figure in the Pre-Raphaelite era. Bringing Rebecca Solomon’s A Young Teacher into public ownership will allow Tate, Museum of the Home, and other museums and galleries around the country to better represent the incredible range of talent found in British art history.”

Sonia Solicari, Director at Museum of the Home, commented: “For Museum of the Home the acquisition of A Young Teacher by Rebecca Solomon underpins the redevelopment of our world-famous period rooms. Not only do we now hold three of Solomon's paintings, we're also bringing to light the neglected history of the South Asian Ayah into our 1870s period room alongside that of Fanny Eaton, the painter's model who lived for a while in Shoreditch. We're so grateful to everyone who worked with us to acquire this socially and historically important painting.”

Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, commented: “Rebecca Solomon’s A Young Teacher is important for many reasons; not just because Solomon was a remarkable pre-Raphaelite painter overlooked in the art historical canon for being female and Jewish, but also for her sensitive depiction of the Jamaican-born Fanny Eaton when people of colour were rarely the subject of Victorian painting. I’m delighted that Art Fund has supported this shared acquisition by Tate and Museum of the Home, bringing the work into public display for current and future generations.”

Andrew Hochhauser KC, Chair of the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest, commented on behalf of the Committee: “I am delighted that Rebecca Solomon's painting, A Young Teacher has been saved for the nation, having been acquired jointly by Tate and Museum of the Home. Rebecca Solomon was a pioneering Jewish painter who campaigned for women artists. The painting is a bold and ambitious meditation on issues of gender, race, intimacy and education, and will enrich our understanding of Victorian art and culture.”

Minister for Arts & Heritage, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said: “As well as demonstrating Rebecca Solomon's artistry, this wonderfully layered piece reveals her deep social consciousness and invites us to reflect on people's different experiences of nineteenth-century society. I am delighted that the export bar placed on the painting has allowed the Museum of the Home and Tate to acquire it so that the public can continue to engage with it for generations to come."