A new portrait of Mary Beale acquired by Tate Britain

13/7/24 - Acquisition - London, Tate Britain - No sooner had it joined the collections of Tate Britain than it was included in the exhibition Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520-1920, the umpteenth of these highly fashionable anthologies of women artists. The Portrait of Anne Sotheby by Mary Beale (ill. 1) was acquired, thanks to the support of the Nicholas Themans Trust, from the Philip Mould Gallery in London, which is also devoting an exhibition to the portrait painter until 19 July, accompanied by a remarkable catalogue that can be consulted online. Kept in private British hands since its sale by Sotheby’s in October 1955 as the "Portrait of Sarah Gooding by Mary Beale", it was recently rediscovered by the London dealer at a sale organised by Mallams Auctioneers in Oxford…