Lydia Bates

Lydia Bates was a printmaker active during a five-year period in the late eighteenth century, spanning 1779 to 1784. While comprehensive biographical details remain limited, the verifiable facts regarding her artistic output are preserved through institutional collections.

Five known Lydia Bates prints are currently documented, confirming the artist's engagement with a diverse range of subject matter. These works include the potential classical or mythological interpretation Two Fleeing Figures (Atlanta and Hippomenes?), the genre scene A Choral Band, and the portrait study A Fellow of Maudlin. Her output also included the landscape Coast Scene and the illustrative plate Title Page.

The documentation of these works, created during a brief but productive period, establishes Bates’s place in the study of late 18th-century graphic arts. Examples of her work are preserved within the collection of the National Gallery of Art, confirming the museum-quality status of her output. Today, these historical records ensure the ongoing study of Lydia Bates prints, and high-quality prints are frequently available for research purposes.