A Space of Their Own

Catherine Read

February 3, 1723– December 15, 1778

Active in: Scotland, France, Italy, England, India
Alternate names: Katherine Read, Katharine Read

Biography

Born on February 3, 1723, Catherine Read (sometimes spelled Katherine) was one of thirteen children of Alexander and Elizabeth Read in Dundee, Scotland. Her family was connected to the Jacobite cause through her maternal uncle, Sir John Wedderburn, 5th Baronet of Blackness, and after the Jacobite rising in 1745, her family fled to Paris. There, she began her artistic education with the artist Robert Strange and was later a student of Maurice Quentine de la Tour (1704–1788).

In 1750, Read, along with the majority of Jacobites who had fled Scotland and England for Paris, moved to Rome. There, she began to accept commissions for oil and pastel reproductions. She remained in Rome until 1753, when she moved to England and quickly attracted a prestigious circle of friends and clients who admired her talents with pastels. On this return journey, she traveled through Venice where she met Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757). At the height of her career, she received commissions from Queen Charlotte and other members of the court, and she exhibited her work regularly with the Free Society and the Society of Artists, which accepted her as an honorary member in 1769. She later left the Society for the Royal Academy.

Before 1775, she traveled to India with her niece, Helena Beatson (1762–1839), to paint portraits of the English officers stationed there. Beatson married Charles Oakeley (1751–1826), who would become governor of Madras. In 1778, Read began the journey back to England due to her declining health. She died at sea on December 15, 1778.

Selected Works

An oval, bust-length portrait of a young girl turned to the left but looks directly at the viewer. She wears a light blue dress embellished with white lace and a large blue bow. Her bonnet is made of lace and blue ribbon and covers most of her hair. The young girl has bangs and rosy cheeks; she has a sweet expression, with a slight smile.

Catherine Read, Little Girl with a Bonnet, n.d. Oil on canvas, 50 x 45 cm. Canterbury Museums and Galleries.

A half-length portrait of a woman looking up from her book to meet the viewer’s gaze directly. One hand holds the book while she rests her head in the other, her elbow propped on a table. She is wearing an orange and marigold gown, with a green shawl draper around her. Her hair is pulled back to show her rosy cheeks and her expression is a slight smile.

Catherine Read, Portrait of Frances Brooke, ca. 1771. Oil on canvas, 72.4 x 60 cm. Private collection.

A bust-length portrait of a middle-aged woman, looking down and to the left. She is wearing a gray dress with a green shawl draped around her shoulders and a sheer scarf in her hair. She is holding a quill in her right hand, and she rests that hand on a book.

Catherine Read, Portrait of Elizabeth Carter, 1765. Oil on canvas, 66 x 54 cm. Dr. Johnson’s House, London.

A three-quarters length portrait of a young woman, elaborately dressed in a white gown with a blue cape that is lined in ermine fur. Her brown hair is pulled back and crowned with a braid, and she wears two strands of pearls at her neck and two at her wrist. She looks out with a slight smile. The setting includes a column and red curtain swag behind her, and she leans back, resting her left elbow on the stone ledge.

Catherine Read, Maria Constantia, née Hampden-Trevor, 12th Countess of Suffolk and 5th Countess of Berkshire, ca. 1764–67. Oil on canvas, 127 x 101.9 cm. English Heritage, Kenwood, London.

A half-length portrait of a young woman, seated on a blue chair and turned to meet the viewer’s gaze directly. She wears a cream dress with white lace and blue ribbons at her elbows, holding a sprig of white flowers in one hand. She wears a hat adorned with blue ribbons and bows, with more lace. Her expression is sweet, with a slight smile.

Catherine Read, Portrait of Polly Jones, n.d. Pastel on paper, 73 x 60.1 cm. Fargindon Collection.

Six men in eighteenth-century clothing are gathered in a group, with just one sitting and the others standing. They are engaged in two groups of conversation with all of the men gesturing to one another. The background includes Roman ruins and a blue sky with clouds.

Catherine Read, British Gentlemen in Rome, ca. 1750. Oil on canvas, 94.6 x 134.6 cm. Yale Center for British Art.

An oval portrait of the artist against a blue background, with her right hand lifting as though she is pointing. Her elbow and sleeve extend beyond the frame of the portrait. She wears a white dress with a sheer cream scarf covering part of her hair and draped around her shoulder. She looks directly at the viewer with a faint smile, her lips slightly parted.

Catherine Read, Self-Portrait, before 1750. Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 48 cm. Private collection.

A full-length portrait of three children, two girls and a boy. The boy is wearing a bronze-colored outfit with lace trim and the girls are wearing gray dresses with lace trim and other embellishments. The older girl has her curls pulled half-back while the young girl wears a lace cap. There are two white and brown dogs seated on either side of the group and the younger girl is holding the hand and arm of the boy.

Attributed to Catherine Read, The Children of Charles I (after Anthony van Dyck) , n.d. Oil on canvas, 122 x 143 cm. Hall i’ th’ Wood Museum, Manchester.

A three-quarters length portrait of a woman holding a stringed instrument, like a small guitar. She is wearing a very elaborate blue dress with white lace trim and a spray of flowers at her bust. She wears a large string of pearls at her neck and another string of pearls adorns her hair, as does a blue bow. She looks directly at the viewer with a slight smile.

Catherine Read, Willielma Campbell (1741–1786, née Maxwell), Lady Glenorchy, 1762. Oil on canvas, 127.2 x 101.9 cm. The McManus, Dundee.

Continue Exploring

View artist timeline
Selected works
 

Circle

Acquaintance of
Rosalba Carriera (1673–1757)

Aunt of
Helena Beatson (1762–1839)

Student of
Robert Strange (1721–1792)

Student of
Maurice Quentine de la Tour (1704–1788)

Bibliography

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Edwards, Edward. Anecdotes of painters who have resided or been born in England […]. London: Leigh and Sotheby, 1808.

Gordon, Catherine and Mary Peskett Smith. British and Irish Paintings in Public Collections. London: Yale University Press, 2006.

Graves, Algernon. The Society of Artists of Great Britain, 1760-1791 […]. London: George Bell & Sons, 1907.

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and their Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.

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Ingamells, John. Dictionary of British and Irish travellers in Italy, 1701-1800. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997.

Lemoine-Bouchard, Nathalie. Musée Cognacq-Jay: les miniatures. Paris: Paris Musées, 2002.

Lemoine-Bouchard, Nathalie. Les Peintres en miniature actifs en France 1650-1850. Paris: Editions de l’Amateur, 2008.

Manners, Victoria. “Catherine Read: The English Rosalba.” Connoisseur 88 (1931): 376–86; 89 (1932): 35–40, 171–8.

Martin, Joanna. Wives and Daughters: Women and Children in the Georgian Country House. London: Bloomsbury, 2004.

Morgan, Margery. "Katherine Read: A Woman Painter in Romney's London.” Transactions of the Romney Society IV (1999): 12-17.

Morgan, Margery. "Jacobitism and Art after 1745: Katherine Read in Rome.” British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies XXVII/2 (2004): 233-44.

Morgan, Margery. "British connoisseurs in Rome. Was it painted by Katherine Read (1723-78)?” British Art Journal VII (2006): 40-44.

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Sée, Robert René Meyer. English pastels 1750-1830. London: G. Bell & Sons, 1911.

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Sparrow, Walter Shaw. Women Painters of the World. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1905.

Steuart, A. Francis. “Miss Katherine Read, court paintress.” Scottish Historical Review II (1904): 38-46.

Stewart, Brian and Mervyn Cutten. Dictionary of Portrait Painters in Britain up to 1920. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club, 1997.

Torrance, D. Richard. The Reads of Auchenleck, Balmachie, Cairney, Drumgeith, Logie, Montpelier, Turfberg, and in India. Edinburgh, 1985.

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Wright, Christopher. The French Painters of the Seventeenth Century. London: Orbis, 1985.