Artists and Practitioners

Abstract

As I suggested in my general introduction, social and cultural boundaries were far more flexible for artists and practitioners than those of headmistresses and women doctors. Hitherto, the autobiographical writings of women artists (whether they were painters, dancers, actresses, musicians, composers or sculptors), have primarily been researched and read for their recording of their public accomplishments and for information on the participants within these artistic circles. For example, Sophie Fuller submits a survey of Edwardian women composers and defines what and how their scores are remembered.¹ Suzanne Raitt wrote on female singers in the context of the paintings that John Singer Sargent undertook.² Women painters are either part of an overall survey of painters and sculptors across time, or they are the subject of conventional biography combined with a catalogue of their work.³ Much the same cursory treatment attends the biographical content of actresses. For example, Roger Manvell wrote of Ellen Terry concentrating upon her career rather than any private or personal aspects; and Sara Maitland tackled Vesta Tilley’s life in the context of issues of gender and cross-dressing.⁴