Mary Beale facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Mary Beale
Mary Beale, Self-portrait
Born	Mary Cradock Late March 1633 Barrow, Suffolk, England
Died	8 October 1699(1699-10-08) (aged 66) Pall Mall, London, England
Resting place	St James's Church, Piccadilly
Nationality	English
Known for	Portrait painting
Spouse(s)	Charles Beale

Mary Beale (born Mary Cradock; baptised 26 March 1633 – buried 8 October 1699) was a famous English portrait painter. She was one of the few professional female artists in London during her time. Mary Beale became the main provider for her family through her art. She worked as a painter from about 1670 until the 1690s.

Beale was also a writer. Her book Discourse on Friendship (1666) shared a unique female view on friendship. Her 1663 notes, called Observations, explained how she painted apricots. This was the first known art instruction text written by a female painter in English. Many people praised her work, including the famous court painter Peter Lely.

Mary Beale's Life Story
Becoming a Professional Artist
The Beale Children's Paths
Mary Beale's Painting Style
Images for kids
See also

Mary Beale's Life Story

Mary Beale was born in Barrow, Suffolk, England, in late March 1633. Her father, John Cradock, was a church leader and also enjoyed painting. He might have taught Mary how to paint. It was common for fathers to teach their daughters art back then.

Mary's mother, Dorothy, died when Mary was ten years old. This happened after her brother, John, was born in 1643. During the English Civil War, Mary's father asked a relative, Walter Cradock, to look after his children.

Mary Cradock met Charles Beale (1632-1705) when she visited friends. Charles was a cloth merchant and also liked to paint. They married on 8 March 1652, when Mary was eighteen. Her father was very ill and died a few days after her wedding.

The couple later moved to Walton-on-Thames. Charles Beale worked as a clerk, but he later became Mary's studio manager. He helped her with her art business. Around 1660–1664, the family moved to Allbrook to avoid the plague. Mary and Charles worked together as partners, which was unusual for couples at that time.

Mary and Charles had three sons. Their first son, Bartholomew, died young. Their second son, also named Bartholomew, was born in 1655/56. Their third son, Charles, was born in 1660.

Mary Beale died on 8 October 1699, at age sixty-five. She was buried under the communion table at St James's Church, Piccadilly in London. Sadly, her tomb was destroyed during the World War II. A special memorial for her is now in the church.

Becoming a Professional Artist

To learn painting in Mary Beale's time, artists often copied famous artworks. Mary liked to paint with oil and watercolours. When she drew, she used crayon.

Peter Lely, a very important court painter, was interested in Mary's progress. She often practiced by copying his paintings. Mary started her career by painting for friends. They would give her small gifts or favors in return.

Charles Beale kept detailed notes about Mary's work. He wrote down how she painted, her business deals, and the praise she received. He filled thirty notebooks, often calling Mary "my dearest heart." Mary became a professional portrait painter in the 1650s and 1660s. She worked from her home in London.

How Mary Beale Learned to Paint

Mary Beale did not go to a formal art school or join an artist's guild. Her father, who had a good education, probably taught her how to draw and paint. When she was young in Suffolk, her father knew other artists like Robert Walker and Peter Lely. These artists might have taught young Mary.

It's debated when Mary first met Lely. Some think they met before her marriage, when she lived in Suffolk. Others believe they met in 1655 or 1656, after she moved to London and became Lely's neighbor.

Charles Beale's notes show that Lely often visited Mary's home. He would watch her paint and praise her work. Lely even lent Mary and her family some of his old master paintings for them to copy. The Beales also asked Lely to paint portraits of themselves and their friends.

Mary Beale's Writings

In 1663, Mary Beale wrote Observations. This was a guide on how to paint apricots using oil paints. It was one of the first writings about oil painting by an English artist, male or female. It was not printed as a book, but copies were shared. Scholars believe this work shows a unique teamwork between husband and wife in art instruction.

Mary Beale also wrote a manuscript called Discourse on Friendship in 1666. She wrote four poems in 1667 as well.

Running an Art Business

For a woman to be a successful painter, she needed a good reputation. Mary's father, an amateur artist, helped her get a general education, which likely included art lessons. It was important to avoid any misunderstandings when strangers came to a woman's home for business.

When Mary started painting for money in the 1670s, she chose her clients carefully. She used praise from her friends to build a good name as a painter. Some of her clients included Queen Henrietta Maria and John Tillotson, a church leader who became a close friend. Mary's connections to church leaders helped her get many customers.

Mary Beale usually charged five pounds for a painting of a head and ten pounds for half a body. She earned about two hundred pounds a year. She gave ten percent of her earnings to charity. This income was enough to support her family, which was very special for a woman at that time. By 1681, Mary's painting jobs started to slow down.

In 1681, Mary Beale took on two students, Keaty Trioche and Mr. More. They worked with her in her studio. In 1691, Sarah Curtis became another student.

Important People Mary Painted

Dr. John Tillotson (1630–1694), a respected church leader, was a frequent client. Mary painted him five times between 1664 and 1687. Dr. Tillotson was related to the Cromwell family and was a close friend of Mary's.

Colonel Giles Strangways (1615–1675) was another important supporter of Mary's art. He fought for King Charles I during the English Civil War. Mary painted portraits of him, his wife, and his children in the 1670s.

Nobleman Henry Cavendish (1630–1691) also had his portrait painted by Mary Beale. He became the 2nd Duke of Newcastle in 1676. He and his wife, Frances, often asked Mary to paint them. They learned about Mary's work from Frances's father, William Pierrepont, whose portrait Mary also painted.

The Beale Children's Paths

Mary and Charles's sons, Charles and Bartholomew, helped in the art studio when they were young. They painted backgrounds and shaped oval frames for Mary's portraits.

Young Charles Beale, the third son, was very talented at painting. He studied miniature painting from 1677 to 1688. After his eyesight began to fail, he started painting full-sized portraits.

Bartholomew Beale, the second son, also started with painting but later chose to study medicine. He went to Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1680 and became a doctor in 1682. Bartholomew opened his medical practice in Coventry.

Mary Beale's Painting Style

Mary Beale painted in the Baroque style. Baroque art was popular in Europe from the early 1600s to the mid-1700s. This style uses strong light and shadow, shows movement, and has rich colors. It aims to create a feeling of greatness and wonder. Baroque portraits are known for their deep colors, bright contrasts, and detailed fabrics.

Mary Beale's paintings are often described as strong and powerful. People praised her colors as pure, sweet, and natural. Because she copied Italian masterpieces, her work was said to have an "Italian air." Many believed few could match her "color, strength, force, or life."

Peter Lely admired her work, saying she "worked with a wonderful body of colour." Other critics sometimes found her work to have weak expressions or less pleasing colors. They also noted that her paintings often looked very similar to Lely's style.

After her death, art historian George Vertue praised her, saying "Mrs. Mary Beale painted in oil very well."

You can see some of her paintings at the Geffrye Museum in London. The largest public collection of her work is at Moyse's Hall museum in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.