Nameless and Friendless, from "Illustrated London News"

Edward Skill|Emily Mary Osborn

July 12, 1862 · Wood engraving · Drawings and Prints

This print reproduces a painting (Tate Britain) exhibited by Osborn at the Royal Academy in 1857. When a subsequent owner lent the work to the International Exhibition in 1862, this related wood engraving was published in the "Illustrated London News." It shows a young woman artist, accompanied by a brother, standing nervously in the shop of an art dealer whom she hopes will buy a work—her black dress suggests the recent loss of parents and their support. Osborn added a Biblical quote to her title, "Nameless and Friendless: 'The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, etc.'—Proverbs, x, 15," to emphasize the plight of women artists who lacked financial means and were denied institutional access. The work should be read as a plea for reform rather than an illustration of personal experience, since Osborn's own family funded her training, and she sold paintings to influential clients such as Queen Victoria. From 1857, Osborn was active in feminist causes, joining the newly established Society of Female Artists that year, signing a petition addressed to the Royal Academy Schools in 1859 that asked for female students be admitted, and campaigning for women's suffrage in the 1880s.

Artist

Edward Skill|Emily Mary Osborn

Date

July 12, 1862

Medium

Wood engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Donato Esposito, 2013