[title not known] 

Editor: This watercolour painting of a woman, created by Elizabeth Rigby, shows a figure in a pink dress seated near a window, it looks like it's from the 1800's. It feels very intimate and quiet. What can you tell me about this work? Curator: Rigby, later Lady Eastlake, was a fascinating figure. Considering her era, she was both a successful art critic and a painter, which were often conflicting roles for women. How do you think her position shaped her artistic choices and the reception of her work? Editor: I hadn't considered that angle. Maybe the intimacy comes from her own lived experience as a woman in that time? Curator: Precisely. Her artwork can offer insights into the social and cultural expectations placed upon women and how they navigated their lives within those constraints. Editor: That's a fresh way to view her work! Thanks! Curator: My pleasure! It highlights how art reflects and influences the society it's created in.