Conclusion
The RKDartists& database contains 838 artists from the Low Countries who travelled to Britain before 1800 (reference date 7 March 2024). Only 18 (2.15%) of them were female artists, matching the average number of all Netherlandish artists in the database up to 1800. Almost all female artists had a father, husband or brother who was also an artist and with whom they collaborated. The fragmentary information of their activities in Britain illustrates that travelling and migrating was usually a family affair.
Until 1800, slightly more Southern Netherlandish artists in total travelled to Britain than Northern Netherlandish ones. As for Netherlandish painters, printmakers and architects, the Northern Netherlanders were dominant; Netherlandish gold- and silversmiths, sculptors and tapestry weavers in Britain were mainly Southern Netherlandish. There is a striking difference in the departure dates of artists from the Northern and those from the Southern Netherlands who travelled to Britain. The same applies to the dates of their presence in Britain. The peaks in the visualisations of the dates reflect historical events, economic conditions and the appeal of different monarchs, especially those of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), King Charles I (1600-1649) and King Charles II (1630-1685). The highest peak in the Southern Netherlandish artists' departure dates is seen in 1568, when the Eighty Years' War broke out; among those of the Northern Netherlanders, we see the highest peak during the Disaster Year in 1672-1673.
The visualisation of the presence of Northern and Southern Netherlandish artists in Britain shows a clear dichotomy in dominance. From the early 16th century until the year 1658, Southern Netherlandish artists were more active in Britain every year. From 1658 until the end of the 18th century, however, it was the other way around, with the exception of a few years in 1730s and 1740s. In the art-historical literature of recent decades, Northern and Southern Netherlandish art and artists are often seen as an inseparable whole. However, when studying the mobility of Netherlandish artists, in this case to Britain, it is important to distinguish between the two groups and consider their mobility separately, because the development of political and economic conditions in the two areas, which largely determined mobility, differed considerably.