Moser, Mary (1744–1819)

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Moser, Mary (1744–1819)

German-born flower painter. Born in Germany in 1744; died in 1819; daughter of a Swiss gold-chaser and enameller; educated in England.

As a child, Mary Moser was exhibiting her flower paintings at the Society of Artists. By age 20, she was elected a founder member of the Royal Academy, along with one other woman, Angelica Kauffmann , and exhibited there from 1768 to 1790. Moser was paid £900 to decorate one of the rooms at Frogmore for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1744–1818), wife of George III. The queen was so pleased that she dubbed it "Miss Moser's room." Mary Moser painted professionally until age 53, when she married a friend's widower. Wrote Germaine Greer: "One of the pieces in the British Royal Collection shows that if she was the first significant British flower painter, she was also one of the best."

sources:

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race. NY: Farrar, Straus, 1979.

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