Born Mary Martha Dutton, Mary Pearson would grow to be a renowned portrait painter whose work still hangs in many of the esteemed galleries of the UK today.
Daughter of bookseller and circulating library owner Robert Dutton, Mary was born on June 18, 1798. Tutored by a drawing master named Lewis, by 1913 she was copying the masters in Pall Mall and received an award in 1815 for her copy of The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba. Mary married solicitor Charles Pearson, who later was the solicitor to the City of London and served as a member of parliament. Even in marriage, Mary continued her studies while painting portraits and landscapes.
Her portraits were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1821 and 1842 and also showed work at the Society of British Artists gallery in Suffolk Street, to which she was an early member. She famously painted portraits for many of the Lord Mayors of London, a Baron, a Viscount and other political people.
Here is the Lady Monthly Museum’s 1826 spotlight on Mary:
Nice to hear about a woman carving (painting) a career successfully. Small typo in 2nd paragraph 3rd line.