Angelica Kaufmann (1741-1807; on the left, 1775) - "all I possess has been attained by my own work and industry" -
Anna Waser (1678-1714) at 13, when she was learning to paint - her family gave her much more education than was usual for girls at that time; she was Swiss but became court painter in a German court -
Rosalba Carriera, who started by drawing patterns for her lacemaker mother - Germaine Greer writes about her in The Obstacle Course, summarised here -
There's a list of more 18th century women artists here.And thanks to Sally for her comment about a distant ancestor of hers who was painting portraits early in the 18th century - Maria Verelst (1680-1744). Maria came from a Dutch painting family, a number of whom moved to England. There's a great anecdote about her. One night at the theatre some men near by were conversing at length in German and admiring Maria. She turned to them and, speaking in German, told them that to compliment her in such extravagant terms was no compliment. The men continued in Latin; when Maria then responded in Latin the men were impressed enough to make her acquaintance. Subsequently she painted a portrait of each, and as a result of the men's connections she built up a cultured clientele.
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