female silhouettists

Historically, silhouette portraits are a male-dominated art. Today, the opposite is true. How did this happen? Here are stories of significant female silhouettists.

Portrait and caricature silhouettes by Inger Eidem

Portraits and Caricatures by Inger Eidem

I HEARD ABOUT Inger Eidem long before I knew her name. Whilst cutting silhouettes at events I’d occasionally meet people who’d tell me about silhouettes they had done in their childhood. Apparently the artist cut through two pieces of paper at the same time, one of which became a portrait and the other a caricature.

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Sarah Harrington hollow cuts

Sarah Harrington’s hollow-cuts

I RECENTLY CAME ACROSS the work of a talented silhouettist called Sarah Harrington.  She was a professional silhouettist who worked during the latter part of the eighteenth century.  What struck me about about her work (apart from her obvious love of hats) is that they’re all cut inside-out!

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Marie Antoinette, by Isabella Beetham

LAST WEDNESDAYI picked up an eighteenth-century silhouette by Isabella Beetham. Beetham is a well-known Georgian artist and her work is much prized by collectors today. She is something of a feminist icon. She is one of very few eighteenth-century female artists to build a successful career in the male-dominated art world of her time. I came

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