Lady Butler: Defying Victorian Conventions

Museum & Art Gallery

Elizabeth Thompson (1846-1933), later known as Lady Butler, was a painter of military art who went against Victorian tradition as well as gender expectations. She revolutionised the genre by focusing on the sacrifices and suffering of the individual soldier rather than following her male counterparts in glorifying combat and the triumph of the empire. This talk examines how this proud and brave lady overcame all barriers thrown into her path to become a successful artist redefining what a woman was capable of painting.