Tory’s struggle in Hazardous to a Duke’s Heart to provide women with more opportunities to be artists was very real. As with many other organizations, the Royal Academy of Arts took centuries to include women. That’s ironic because two of its founders (it was founded in 1768) were women painters: Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffmann (whose participation was nonetheless limited by the 32 men founders because, well, they were women). It took nearly 100 more years for the first woman, Laura Herford, to be accepted into the school, and then only because she put her initials instead of her first name on the application. It took another 60 years for a woman (Annie Swynnerton, a portrait painter) to be elected as an associate (not an Academician) to the organization, and another 10 years (1932) for a woman (Laura Knight) to be elected as an Academician. The first female professors came along in 2011. And the first female president was elected in 2019. Yes, you read that right: 6 years ago and 251 years after its founding (for more info, check out “A Brief History of Women at the Royal Academy”). So, is it any wonder that Tory’s desire to run an art school for women surprised the duke?
