In the Victorian Era, was it improper for women to paint?

Question

I'm writing a book and the main character is a woman painter, so this is one of the things I would like to know.

Answer 1

In the United States, painting was done for recreation.  The few serious female artists were living in France.

Answer 2

No, I think they did but as a hobby. But there must have been some professionals. They do it movies all the time. Scetching, painting nature.

Answer 3

In the late 18th to mid–19th century, the ultra–pale look persisted. A “lady” didn’t need to work in the sun, and therefore should be pale...translucent, even. Some historians even speculate that consumption was so common, it became fashionable to look as though you were suffering from TB. Indeed, the white skin, flushed cheek, and luminous eye of the illness was frequently imitated with white lead and rouge To make they eyes bright, some women ate small amounts of arsenic or washed their eyes with orange and lemon juice—or, worse yet, rinsed them with belladonna, the juice of the poisonous nightshade.

In the 19th century, “natural” makeup became fashionable. Victorian propriety denounced excessive makeup as the mark of “loose” women. Naively, most men believed their ladies wore no makeup, but cosmetic vendors abounded and beauty books of the era recount how carefully Victorian women used their concoctions. Above all, lip and cheek rouge were considered scandalous; instead of their use, beauty books of the era suggested women bite their lips and pinch their cheeks vigorously before entering a room.

Some commercial makeup, mostly manufactured in France, was also becoming available; these included powders, bases, and waxes containing light, “natural” color. To help scrape off all this makeup, fashion magazines proclaimed cold cream a must for every woman’s beauty regime. Also heavily advertised were anti–aging creams and wrinkle cures. (One suggestion aging women should sleep with their face bound in strips of raw beef.)

Despite growing medical knowledge, dangerous cosmetics continued to be used. Whiteners, still quite popular, contained substances such as zinc oxide, mercury, lead, nitrate of silver, and acids; some women even ate chalk or drank iodine to achieve whiteness.

Answer 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_artis...

For the most part ladies were discouraged from having any real profession, although drawing and painting was considered an acceptable feminine recreation and was taught at almost all finishing schools at the time.