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Mary Beale

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EntityQ2347846· pop 30· linked from 81 articles

Mary Beale

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Also known as Mary Cradock, Mary Beall, Mrs. Beale, M. Beale, M. Beall, beale m., Mrs. Beal, Beale

English painter (1633–1699)

Person · Open Library

Works
2

Top works

  • Mary Beale - Paintings and Drawings
  • St John a poem

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Key facts

Born
Mary Cradock , Late March 1633, Barrow, Suffolk
Died
Early October 1699, (bur. 10 October 1699. ), Pall Mall, London
Resting place
St James's Church, Piccadilly
Known for
Portrait painting
Spouse
Charles Beale

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Mary
Family name
Beale
Gender
female
Citizenship
United Kingdom
Place of birth
Barrow
Place of death
London
Occupation
artist
Languages spoken
English language
Field of work
portrait painting
Movement
Baroque
Image
Mary beale self portrait.JPG
Work location
Walton-on-Thames
Show 8 more facts
Commons category
Mary Beale
date of birth
1633-03-26
date of death
1699-10-08
Commons Creator page
Mary Beale
date of baptism
1633-03-26
name in native language
Mary Beale
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

11 objects attributed to Mary Beale, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~15 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Mary Beale (née Cradock) (1633‍–‍1699) was an English painter who specialised in portrait painting. She was part of a small band of female professional artists working in London. Beale became the main financial provider for her family through her professional work – a career she maintained from 1670/71 to the 1690s. Beale was also a writer, whose prose Discourse on Friendship of 1666 presents a scholarly, uniquely female take on the subject. Her 1663 manuscript Observations, on the materials and techniques employed "in her painting of Apricots", though not printed, is the earliest known instructional text in English written by a female painter.

Praised first as a "virtuous" practitioner in "Oyl Colours" by Sir William Sanderson in his 1658 book Graphice: Or The use of the Pen and Pensil; In the Excellent Art of PAINTING, Beale's work was later commended by court painter Sir Peter Lely and, soon after her death, by the author of "An Essay towards an English-School", his account of the most noteworthy artists of her generation.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mary Beale” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.