Pasquarosa, Vase of Flowers, Vaso con fiori, c1916, oil on board, 35 x 27cm [Images courtesy Archivio Nino e Pasquarosa Bertoletti, Rome]

FROM the time of her earliest show, the third Roman Secessionist exhibition in 1915, Pasquarosa Marcelli consistently won praise for the spontaneity and originality of her paintings.

Self-taught, and known as Pasquarosa (1896-1973), she was one of the first Italian artists to have a UK solo show, at the Arlington Gallery in Mayfair in 1929.

And, after 95 years, some 50 of her works are now on display at the Estorick Collection in Canonbury, paintings and drawings on loan from Rome’s Archivio Nino e Pasquarosa Bertoletti and from private collections.

Born in Anticoli Corrado, about 25 miles north east of Rome, Pasquarosa moved to the capital to work as a model, met her future husband, the artist Nino Bertoletti (1889-1971), and began to paint.

Estorick director Roberta Cremoncini says Pasquarosa: “was fiercely independent and driven to succeed, being considered ‘the best-known woman painter in Italy’ during the inter-war years, according to one review of her London show”.

And Dr Cremoncini adds that while the work might appear rather quiet in comparison to that of some of her contemporaries, “…any such reading is ultimately challenged by the vigour of her brush strokes and the vibrancy of her palette, while her refusal to follow trends reflects admirable single-mindedness and artistic integrity”.

Indeed, what the current show demonstrates is a remarkable progression and development.

Small Nude, for example, oil on cardboard from about 1913, is direct and simple while revealing real lack of precision or care with under drawing, composition, or technique. But then the steep learning curve is seen in works such as Vase of Flowers, 1916, as so much more assured and balanced, and with that vibrant palette.

Pasquarosa, Jug and Little Bird, c1918-30, Brocca e uccellino, oil on pressed cardboard, 68 x 48cm

Still lifes and, particularly, flowers predominate, with hardly a figure to be seen; but a growing quality is evident, for instance in Jug and Little Bird, intriguingly listed as from c1918-1930, much of her work being difficult to date.

An accompanying catalogue has show curator Pier Paolo Pancotto outlining her “unconventional” life and her “original artistic personality”, and her participation in significant exhibitions. And Pasquarosa’s artistic friendships and position within Italy’s cultural scene are also examined.

Between the wars she travelled extensively. And while there’s no evidence she visited London, also in the catalogue, Flavia Matitti remarks on the “exceptional character of Pasquarola’s British debut” in 1929 and overseas success. She says: “In March 1929 she took part in the First Exhibition of Lazio’s Fascist Union of Artists at Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni with almost 20 works… one of the most influential critics of the day, wrote of her work at length in a review… that essentially constituted a consecration of the artist”.

And the successes would continue, among them solo shows, Venice Biennale and Rome Quadriennale across the decades, until shortly before the artist’s death.

• Pasquarosa: From Muse to Painter is at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, Canonbury Square, N1 2AN until 28 April.
www.estorickcollection.com

A founding member

Angelica Kauffman, Self-portrait in the Traditional Costume of the Bregenz Forest, 1781, oil on canvas, 61.4 x 49.2cm. Innsbruck, TLM, Ältere kunst-geschichtliche Sammlung, inv. Gem 301. [Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseen]

THE Royal Academy of Arts is celebrating the life and work of Swiss-born Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807), with over 30 of her works on show, from history paintings and portraits to self-portraits, many never been seen in the UK before. Kauffman moved to London two years before the RA was established in 1768 and she and Mary Moser (1744-1819) were the only two women founding members of the RA.

• Angelica Kauffman is at the RA, Piccadilly, until June 30. www.royalacademy.org.uk #RAAngelicaKauffman