Known for her celebrity portraits and trail blazing history paintings, Angelika Kauffman was a woman artist in a man’s world- an artist who helped to shape the direction of European art in the 18th century. She painted queens, countesses, actors and the celebrities of her day and she reshaped history painting highlighting the stories of heroines-not heros- from classical history and mythology. Cindy Polemis delves into the fascinating world of Angelika Kauffman, known by her contemporaries as ‘the most cultivated woman in Europe’.

Cindy Polemis is an art historian, independent lecturer and art guide. She has a BA in Modern History from Oxford University and as a mature student she went back to university to study first for a BA and then for a Masters in History of Art at Birkbeck College, London University. Before that she spent many years as a radio producer and presenter for the BBC World Service working in news and current affairs. Since 2016 Cindy has worked as  a lecturer and an official art guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. She has also been a trustee at the Museum of the Home, formerly the Geffrye Museum. Cindy has accumulated a wide range of art historical knowledge ranging from 18th European and British art to the contemporary international art scene. She has been an official guide for  Frieze Masters art fair in London. She is particularly keen to draw parallels with art and social history and her lectures are accessible and engaging, drawing out the stories of art and artists which are steeped in human emotions and experiences which we all share.