Ann Forbes’s determination to make a successful living as an artist is forcefully conveyed in David Allan’s portrait, which shows her hard at work on a drawing. Like her grandfather, the celebrated Scottish portrait painter William Aikman, Forbes studied in Rome before establishing a studio in London. Finding it difficult to keep pace with the demands of her profession, however, and falling into poor health as a result, Forbes was forced to abandon her attempt at a London career and to return to Edinburgh. Although she never attained the professional reputation she craved in Scotland, she maintained a successful portrait practice that saw her being appointed Portrait Painter to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1788.