Joan Carlile (1606-1679)

- Joan Carlile, "Portrait of an Unknown Lady" 1650–5. Oil on canvas, 110,7 x 90 cm. Tate Britain, London.

Tal día como hoy, en el año 1606, pudo haber nacido en Londres la retratista barroca británica Joan Carlile, de soltera Palmer.

Está considerada la primera pintora inglesa en dedicarse al arte profesionalmente.

Se conoce muy poco de su vida y apenas se han podido identificar diez cuadros suyos.

Ha quedado constancia de que en su tiempo gozó de una gran reputación como artista, ya que está incluida en el libro “Graphice, the use of the pen and pensil or The most excellent art of painting”, editado en 1658 y escrito por el historiador Sir William Sanderson (1586-1676).

Joan Carlile murió en Londres en 1679.

En el año 2016 la Tate Britain de Londres adquirió una de sus obras, que se ha convertido en la pieza más antigua realizada por un mujer dentro de esta colección museística.

La pintura había sido erróneamente atribuida a un hombre hasta el año 2014, cuando el marchante e historiador de arte británico Bendor Grosvenor (1977) la adquirió en una subasta en Salisbury, al tener la intuición acertada de que se trataba de un trabajo de Joan Carlile.

Otras obras suyas también se encuentran en varias colecciones del Reino Unido, como en la National Portrait Gallery de Londres, en la Colección de arte del Gobierno Británico, en la Ham House (Richmond-upon-Thames), en la mansión Lamport Hall (Northampton), en la Burghley House (Cambridgeshire) y en el Berkeley Castle (Gloucestershire).

On this day, in the year 1606, the British Baroque portraitist Joan Carlile (née Palmer) may have been born in London.

She is considered the first English woman painter to practice art professionally. Very little is known about her life, and barely ten of her paintings have been identified.

Records show that she enjoyed a great reputation as an artist during her lifetime, as she is included in the book Graphice, the use of the pen and pensil or The most excellent art of painting, published in 1658 and written by the historian Sir William Sanderson (1586–1676).

Joan Carlile died in London in 1679.

In 2016, the Tate Britain in London acquired one of her works, which became the oldest piece by a female artist within this museum collection. The painting had been mistakenly attributed to a man until 2014, when the British art dealer and historian Bendor Grosvenor acquired it at an auction in Salisbury, having the correct intuition that it was a work by Joan Carlile.

Other works of hers are also found in various collections across the United Kingdom, such as the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Government Art Collection, Ham House (Richmond-upon-Thames), the Lamport Hall mansion (Northampton), Burghley House (Cambridgeshire), and Berkeley Castle (Gloucestershire).

- Joan Carlile, "Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart, with Her First Husband, Sir Lionel Tollemache, and Her Sister, Margaret Murray, Lady Maynard", c. 1648. National Trust, Ham House, Surrey.

- Joan Carlile, "Dorothy, Lady Browne (née Mileham) & Sir Thomas Browne", c. 1641. Oil on panel, 18,4 x 23 cm. The National Portrait Gallery, London.

- Joan Carlile, "Portrait of a Lady", c. 1650. Oil on canvas. Sold by Philip Mould & Company, London.

- Joan Carlile, "The Carlile Family with Sir Justinian Isham in Richmond Park", s. XVII. Lamport Hall (Northampton).

- Joan Carlile, "Portrait of a Lady wearing an oyster satin dress", c. 1650. Government Art Collection, London.