Spring flowers in a basket

Mary Moser RA (1744-1819) was a renowned British painter and one of only two female Founder members of the Royal Academy as well as its youngest Founder member at just 24. She was celebrated for her vibrant flower paintings and painted portraits and historical subjects as well. By the age of 14, Moser won her first Society of Arts medal, and she regularly exhibited at the Society of Artists of Great Britain. From the Royal Academy’s opening in 1769 until 1802, when her eyesight prevented her from continuing painting, Moser exhibited thirty-six pieces at the Royal Academy. She received a vote for Academy president twice. In 1792, Queen Charlotte paid Mary Moser £900 to decorate the South Pavilion at Frogmore House. Many of her works survive today in the ‘Mary Moser Room’ and across eminent museum collections in Britain and America.