Margaret Sarah Carpenter
Margaret Sarah Carpenter
1793 - 1872
b. 1793 in Salisbury, England; d. 1872 in London, England.
Painter of portraits and figure subjects.
Margaret Sarah Carpenter (née Geddes) was largely self-taught although she did receive some practical training during her teenage years. Carpenter spent this formative period completing studies and copying directly from old master paintings belonging to Lord Radnor, held at Longford Castle. Carpenter discovered that she had a natural talent for figure subjects and set her sights firmly on London. With the financial assistance of Radnor, Carpenter entered London's highly competitive arts environment within which she fast established herself as equal among her male contemporaries. Aged 20 Carpenter won her first medal with the Society of Arts (she won 3 in total) and exhibited at the Royal Academy and British Institution between 1814 and 1868. Carpenter emerged as a leading portraitist and she was, without doubt, the most successful female painter of her time. She produced portraits of notable men including the painter Richard Parkes Bonington (c.1827-30), the sculptor John Gibson (1857), and the historian Patrick Fraser Tytler (1845); all held by the National Portrait Gallery.
Carpenter’s paintings typically contain figure subjects; men, women and children. Her delicate treatment of oil paint, combined with her ability to capture a sitter’s sense of character - whilst also giving her paintings her own feminine personality - was much admired by critics and contemporaries of her day. Carpenter’s output of some 1000 works is evidence of her popularity. She also produced chalk drawings, watercolours and etchings.
Among Margaret Sarah Carpenter’s children are the painters, William (1818–1899), Percy (1820–1895), and Henrietta (1822–1895).
Margaret Sarah Carpenter is represented by the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Government Art Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime Museum, English Heritage, Royal College of Physicians, Royal Society, National Trust & National Trust for Scotland, and the National Library Wales. Regional collections include those in Burton, Cheshire, Colchester and Ipswich, Durham University, Hull, Kew, Leeds, Norfolk, Nottingham, and University of Cambridge (Trinity College, St John’s College), among others.
The Southwark Art Collection holds a marble bust of Margaret Sarah Carpenter by the Irish sculptor, John Foley (GA1823).
(Benjamin Angwin - November 2014)
Painter of portraits and figure subjects.
Margaret Sarah Carpenter (née Geddes) was largely self-taught although she did receive some practical training during her teenage years. Carpenter spent this formative period completing studies and copying directly from old master paintings belonging to Lord Radnor, held at Longford Castle. Carpenter discovered that she had a natural talent for figure subjects and set her sights firmly on London. With the financial assistance of Radnor, Carpenter entered London's highly competitive arts environment within which she fast established herself as equal among her male contemporaries. Aged 20 Carpenter won her first medal with the Society of Arts (she won 3 in total) and exhibited at the Royal Academy and British Institution between 1814 and 1868. Carpenter emerged as a leading portraitist and she was, without doubt, the most successful female painter of her time. She produced portraits of notable men including the painter Richard Parkes Bonington (c.1827-30), the sculptor John Gibson (1857), and the historian Patrick Fraser Tytler (1845); all held by the National Portrait Gallery.
Carpenter’s paintings typically contain figure subjects; men, women and children. Her delicate treatment of oil paint, combined with her ability to capture a sitter’s sense of character - whilst also giving her paintings her own feminine personality - was much admired by critics and contemporaries of her day. Carpenter’s output of some 1000 works is evidence of her popularity. She also produced chalk drawings, watercolours and etchings.
Among Margaret Sarah Carpenter’s children are the painters, William (1818–1899), Percy (1820–1895), and Henrietta (1822–1895).
Margaret Sarah Carpenter is represented by the British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Government Art Collection, Royal Academy of Arts, National Portrait Gallery, National Maritime Museum, English Heritage, Royal College of Physicians, Royal Society, National Trust & National Trust for Scotland, and the National Library Wales. Regional collections include those in Burton, Cheshire, Colchester and Ipswich, Durham University, Hull, Kew, Leeds, Norfolk, Nottingham, and University of Cambridge (Trinity College, St John’s College), among others.
The Southwark Art Collection holds a marble bust of Margaret Sarah Carpenter by the Irish sculptor, John Foley (GA1823).
(Benjamin Angwin - November 2014)