Eighteenth-century women artists: their trials, tribulations & triumphs

The eighteenth century was an age when not only the aristocracy but a burgeoning middle class could enjoy a remarkable flowering of the arts.

But it was a man's world; any woman who wished to succeed as an artist had to overcome numerous obstacles.

In a society in which women were required to marry, reproduce, and conform to rigid social conventions a professional artist risked becoming an object of gossip and hostility.

Nevertheless, for a woman who had charm and good looks, was ambitious, and allied talent with hard work, success was attainable.

As well as assessing the work itself - from history and genre painting to portraits - it considers artists' studios, the functioning of the print market, how art was sold, the role of patrons and the flourishing world of the lady amateur.