Recently Opened: Mary Linwood - Art, Stitch and Life
October 10 2025
Picture: Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I'm a little slow to news that the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery opened a new show last month dedicated to the pioneering textile artist. Mary Linwood (1755-1845).
According to the museum's website:
Leicester’s Mary Linwood was a celebrity artist in the early 1800s but has since been largely forgotten.
She created detailed embroidered versions of famous British paintings using a technique known as needle painting. Linwood was not only a talented artist but also an innovator and entrepreneur. Alongside running a successful school for young ladies in Leicester, she exhibited her embroidered works in touring exhibitions and established the first gallery in London to be run by a woman.
In her lifetime, she was supported by the wealthy and powerful, and was widely respected and well known. Since her death, however, she has been overlooked and undervalued.
The exhibition will run until 22nd February 2026.
