Sarah Sophia Beale (5 November 1837 – 1920) was a British portrait painter and author who wrote about art and architecture.

Biography

Sarah Sophia Beale The pleasures of art 1871

Beale was born in London. Her father was the surgeon Lionel John Beale and her mother was Frances Smith. Her brother,

Lionel Smith Beale Lionel Smith Beale (5 February 1828 – 28 March 1906) was a British physician, microscopist, and professor at King's College London. He graduated in medicine from King's College in 1851. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Lif ...

, was a surgeon and her sister, Ellen Brooker Beale, was also an artist and the two sisters would often work together. Both Sophia and Ellen Beale attended

Queen's College, London Queen's College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged 11–18 with an adjoining prep school for girls aged 4–11 located in the City of Westminster, London. It was founded in 1848 by theologian and social ...

and took lessons at a private art school run by the artist Matthew Leigh. They spent considerable periods in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

copying Old Masters and antiquities. From 1860 to 1867 the two sisters had a studio in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

Long Acre Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its Coach_(carriage), co ...

. In 1869, and again in 1872, Beale travelled to Paris where she studied at

Charles Joshua Chaplin Charles Joshua Chaplin (8 June 1825 – 30 January 1891) was a French painter and printmaker who painted both landscapes and portraits. He worked in techniques such as pastels, lithography, watercolor, chalk, oil painting and etching. He wa ...

's studio and also worked as a supervisor at another studio. When she returned to London, Beale used the money she had earned to open an art school on

Albany Street Albany Street is a road in London running from Marylebone Road to Gloucester Gate following the east side of Regent's Park. It is about three-quarters of a mile in length. History The street was laid out during the 1820s, and takes its nam ...

near

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

. The techniques she had learned in Paris were in considerable demand at the time. In 1889 she was among the 2,000 signatories to a declaration supporting women's suffrage and she also advocated for the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

and the universities to allow greater access to women. Although during her career the major exhibition space open to Beale was the Sussex Street gallery of the

Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

where she showed some thirty works, she also had eight works accepted by the Royal Academy between 1863 and 1887. Between 1868 and 1882 she exhibited at the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

and with the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and sell ...

from 1860 to 1881. In 1908 Beale published her autobiography, ''Recollections of a Spinster Aunt''.

Published works

Published works by Beale include, * ''The Louvre, a complete and concise handbook to all the collections of the museum, being an abridgement of the French official catalogues'', 1883. * ''The Amateur's Guide to Architecture'', 1887. * ''The Churches of Paris from Clovis to Charles X'', 1893. * ''Recollections of a Spinster Aunt'', 1908.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beale, Sarah Sophia 1837 births 1920 deaths 19th-century English women artists British writers British suffragists English autobiographers English women painters Painters from London People educated at Queen's College, London Sibling artists Women of the Victorian era