Richard Samuel facts for kids

Richard Samuel was an English artist who painted portraits in the late 1700s. He won several important awards in London during the 1770s. He is most famous for a painting from 1778 called The Nine Living Muses of Great Britain. In this painting, he showed nine of the most important "blue stocking" women of his time.

About Richard Samuel

Not much is known about Richard Samuel's parents, childhood, or how he learned to paint.

His Early Career

Samuel first became known when he won an important award twice from the Society of Artists. He won for the best historical drawing. He joined the Royal Academy's art schools in 1770. Later, he received money for improving a painting technique called mezzotint. However, it's strange that none of his surviving artworks use this method.

Samuel painted different kinds of pictures. These included paintings of groups of people and full-length portraits. Many of his works were shown at exhibitions at the Royal Academy between 1772 and 1779. In 1779, Samuel started working as an assistant secretary at the Royal Academy. He kept this job until he passed away.

He also painted a larger-than-usual portrait of Robert Pollard, an engraver. This painting showed Pollard, who was a unique printseller and earned a good living from his work.

The Nine Muses Painting

In 1777, Samuel created a print that showed portraits of nine leading "blue stocking" women. He presented them as the nine Muses from ancient Greek stories. The Muses were goddesses who inspired arts and sciences.

Who Were the Muses?

Samuel chose important women from different fields, just like the original Nine Muses.

• The poet he chose was Anna Laetitia Barbauld.
• The scholar was Elizabeth Carter.
• Angelica Kauffman was the only female founding member of the Royal Academy.
• Elizabeth Griffith was a playwright.
• Charlotte Lennox was a writer.
• Catharine Macaulay was a historian.
• The last three were Elizabeth Montagu, a leader in society, Hannah More, a religious writer and playwright, and the singer Elizabeth Ann Sheridan.

The Painting's Reception

In 1778, Samuel painted these women hoping to boost his career. He painted them without meeting them first. The finished painting was shown at an exhibition in 1778 but didn't get much attention. The people in the painting looked very perfect, perhaps because he hadn't met them. Elizabeth Carter even said she couldn't recognize herself or anyone else in the picture!

His Later Life and Legacy

In 1786, the year he died, Samuel published a short book. It was called On the utility of drawing and painting. People believe he passed away at a young age because his art career didn't seem to fully develop.

Samuel didn't create many artworks, but the ones he did are important. Some of his paintings are kept at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Others are at the Tate Gallery. His painting of the nine muses is seen as a symbol of how important "bluestockings" became in the 1700s.

Samuel's painting of the nine muses was famously recreated in 1996. Photographer Derry Moore took a photograph that is also at London's National Portrait Gallery. Moore's photo includes famous British women from modern times, like Darcey Bussell and Vivienne Westwood.

Images for kids

• 

  Robert Pollard by Richard Samuel, 1784. National Portrait Gallery, London.

• 

  The 1777 print showing Britannia rather than Apollo.