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Joséphine Bowes: A Woman of Taste and Influence

@ The Bowes Museum

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Who is the real Joséphine Bowes? With no diaries and just one letter written by her own fair hand we have so far had to view her via correspondence written by John and documented comments about her.

This exhibition will allow for closer inspection of Joséphine through her Museum’s many objects and archives, commencing with an introduction to her early life as the daughter of a Paris clockmaker, her starring roles in the theatre (thanks to her husband’s patronage), and her roles as wife, painter, collector  and social climber. As already known, John Bowes met Joséphine when she was an actress, though her critics weren’t particularly kind about her talents! See first-hand some of the theatre programmes along with the reviews. Joséphine – wife, Parisian socialite, woman of fashion, artist and museum collector – all will be explored alongside her constant ill health, early death and Museum legacy.

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