Joan Carlile


Joan Carlile or Carlell or Carliell, was an English portrait painter. She was one of the first British women known to practise painting professionally. Before Carlile, known professional female painters working in Britain were born elsewhere in Europe, principally the low countries.

Biography

Joan Carlile was born as Joan Palmer, the daughter of William Palmer, an official in the Royal Parks.
Carlile copied the works of Italian masters and reproduced them in miniature. She was also an accomplished painter in her own right.
In July 1626 she married Lodowick Carlell or Carlile, Gentleman of the Bows to Charles I and a poet and dramatist, who, as keeper/deputy ranger at Richmond Park during the Commonwealth period, had accommodation at Petersham Lodge, which was demolished in the 1690s by Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester. The couple moved to Covent Garden in 1654 but returned to Petersham two years later after the restoration of the monarchy, when Lodowick was given the post of "Keeper of the house or Lodge and the Walk at Petersham". They returned to London in 1665.
Lodowick died in 1675 and was buried in the churchyard of Petersham Parish Church. Joan, who was then living in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, died in 1679, and was buried beside her husband on 27 February.
They had two children, James and Penelope.

Works

Carlile's portrait Lady Dorothy Browne and Sir Thomas Browne is held at London's National Portrait Gallery. The National Portrait Gallery's portrait of Sir Thomas Browne is also attributed to her.
In 2016, the Tate acquired Carlile's Portrait of an Unknown Lady which she painted between 1650 and 1655.
A painting from circa 1648 of Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart with her husband and sister has been attributed to Carlile and is held by the National Trust. It is on display at Ham House. Another painting of the Countess of Dysart, attributed to Carlile, is held by the Thirlestane Castle Trust.
The Carlile Family with Sir Justinian Isham in Richmond Park is held at Lamport Hall in Lamport, Northamptonshire. Also known as A Stag Hunt, The Stag Hunt, or Stag hunt in Richmond Park, it was exhibited at the Tate Gallery in 1972.
Her full-length portrait of a lady, believed be Lady Anne Wentworth, in a white dress and a purple mantle, is in a private collection.
A miniature portrait, attributed to Carlile, described as A Lady, Wearing White Dress With Brooch At Her Corsage... was auctioned by Sotheby's in London in 2005.