Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.
by
Clara Erskine Clement
Part 1 out of 7
Produced by Suzanne Shell, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustration: Alinari, Photo.
In the Bologna Gallery
THE INFANT CHRIST
ELISABETTA SIRANI]
WOMEN
IN THE FINE ARTS
FROM THE SEVENTH CENTURY B. C.
TO THE
TWENTIETH CENTURY A. D.
BY
CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT
1904
PREFATORY NOTE
As a means of collecting material for this book I have sent to many
artists in Great Britain and in various countries of Europe, as well as
in the United States, a circular, asking where their studies were made,
what honors they have received, the titles of their principal works, etc.
I take this opportunity to thank those who have cordially replied to my
questions, many of whom have given me fuller information than I should
have presumed to ask; thus assuring correctness in my statements, which
newspaper and magazine notices of artists and their works sometimes fail
to do.
I wish especially to acknowledge the courtesy of those who have given me
photographs of their pictures and sculpture, to be used as illustrations.
CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE INFANT CHRIST _Elisabetta Sirani_
In the Bologna Gallery. By permission of Fratelli Alinari.
A PORTRAIT _Elizabeth Gowdy Baker_
A PORTRAIT _Adelaide Cole Chase_
From a Copley print.
A CANADIAN INTERIOR _Emma Lampert Cooper_
ANGIOLA _Louise Cox_
From a Copley print.
DOROTHY _Lydia Field Emmet_
From a Copley print.
JUDITH WITH THE HEAD OF HOLOFERNES _Artemisia Gentileschi_
In the Pitti Gallery. By permission of Fratelli Alinari.
GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD _Berthe Girardet_
THE DEPARTURE OF SUMMER _Louise L. Heustis_
From a Copley print.
MINIATURE OF PERSIS BLAIR _Laura Coombs Hills_
CHILD OF THE PEOPLE _Helen Hyde_
MOTHER AND CHILD _Phoebe A. Jenks_
MISS ELLEN TERRY AS "PORTIA" _Louise Jopling Rowe_
ANGELICA KAUFFMAN _Angelica Kauffman_
In the Uffizi Gallery. By permission of Fratelli Alinari.
PORTRAIT OF ROSA BONHEUR _Anna E. Klumpke_
A FAMILY OF DOGS _Matilda Lotz_
FRITZ _Clara T. MacChesney_
From a Copley print.
SAINT CATHERINE _Mary L. Macomber_
From a Copley print.
MONUMENT FOR A TOMB _Ida Matton_
In Cemetery in Gefle, Sweden.
DELFT _Blanche McManus Mansfield_
AN INDIAN AFTER THE CHASE _Rhoda Holmes Nichols_
FLOWERS _Helen Searle Pattison_
ST. CHRISTOPHER Engraved by _Caroline A. Powell_
In Doge's Palace, Venice
GENEVESE WATCHMAKER _Aimee Rapin_
In the Museum at Neuchatel.
MAY DAY AT WHITELANDS COLLEGE, CHELSEA. _Anna Mary Richards_
FRUIT, FLOWERS, AND INSECTS _Rachel Ruysch_
In the Pitti Gallery. By permission of Fratelli Alinari.
A FROG FOUNTAIN _Janet Scudder_
A FRENCH PRINCE _Marie Vigee Le Brun_
LA VIERGE AU ROSIER _Sadie Waters_
By courtesy of Braun, Clement et Cie.
SONG OF AGES _Ethel Wright_
From a Copley print.
STATUE OF DANIEL BOONE _Enid Yandell_
Made for St. Louis Exposition.
INTRODUCTION
In studying the subject of this book I have found the names of more than
a thousand women whose attainments in the Fine Arts--in various countries
and at different periods of time before the middle of the nineteenth
century--entitle them to honorable mention as artists, and I doubt not
that an exhaustive search would largely increase this number. The stories
of many of these women have been written with more or less detail, while
of others we know little more than their names and the titles of a few of
their works; but even our scanty knowledge of them is of value.
Of the army of women artists of the last century it is not yet possible
to speak with judgment and justice, although many have executed works of
which all women may be proud.
We have some knowledge of women artists in ancient days. Few stories of
that time are so authentic as that of Kora, who made the design for the
first bas-relief, in the city of Sicyonia, in the seventh century B. C.
We have the names of other Greek women artists of the centuries
immediately preceding and following the Christian era, but we know little
of their lives and works.
Calypso was famous for the excellence of her character pictures, a
remarkable one being a portrait of Theodorus, the Juggler. A picture
found at Pompeii, now at Naples, is attributed to this artist; but its
authorship is so uncertain that little importance can be attached to it.
Pliny praised Eirene, among whose pictures was one of "An Aged Man" and a
portrait of "Alcisthenes, the Dancer."
In the annals of Roman Art we find few names of women. For this reason
Laya, who lived about a century before the Christian era, is important.
She is honored as the original painter of miniatures, and her works on
ivory were greatly esteemed. Pliny says she did not marry, but pursued
her art with absolute devotion; and he considered her pictures worthy of
great praise.
A large picture in Naples is said to be the work of Laya, but, as in the
case of Calypso, we have no assurance that it is genuine. It is also said
that Laya's portraits commanded larger prices than those of Sopolis and
Dyonisius, the most celebrated portrait painters of their time.
Our scanty knowledge of individual women artists of antiquity--mingled
with fable as it doubtless is--serves the important purpose of proving
that women, from very ancient times, were educated as artists and
creditably followed their profession beside men of the same periods.
This knowledge also awakens imagination, and we wonder in what other
ancient countries there were women artists. We know that in Egypt
inheritances descended in the female line, as in the case of the Princess
Karamat; and since we know of the great architectural works of Queen
Hashop and her journey to the land of Punt, we may reasonably assume that
the women of ancient Egypt had their share in all the interests of life.
Were there not artists among them who decorated temples and tombs with
their imperishable colors? Did not women paint those pictures of
Isis--goddess of Sothis--that are like precursors of the pictures of the
Immaculate Conception? Surely we may hope that a papyrus will be brought
to light that will reveal to us the part that women had in the decoration
of the monuments of ancient Egypt.
At present we have no reliable records of the lives and works of women
artists before the time of the Renaissance in Italy.
* * * * *
M. Taine's philosophy which regards the art of any people or period as
the necessary result of the conditions of race, religion, civilization,
and manners in the midst of which the art was produced--and esteems a
knowledge of these conditions as sufficient to account for the character
of the art, seems to me to exclude many complex and mysterious
influences, especially in individual cases, which must affect the work of
the artists. At the same time an intelligent study of the art of any
nation or period demands a study of the conditions in which it was
produced, and I shall endeavor in this _resume_ of the history of women
in Art--mere outline as it is--to give an idea of the atmosphere in which
they lived and worked, and the influences which affected the results of
their labor.
It has been claimed that everything of importance that originated in
Italy from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century bore the distinctive
mark of Fine Art. So high an authority as John Addington Symonds is in
accord with this view, and the study of these four centuries is of
absorbing interest.
Although the thirteenth century long preceded the practice of art by
women, its influence was a factor in the artistic life into which they
later came. In this century Andrea Tan, Guido da Siena, and other devoted
souls were involved in the final struggles of Mediaeval Art, and at its
close Cimabue and Duccio da Siena--the two masters whose Madonnas were
borne in solemn procession through the streets of Florence and Siena, mid
music and the pealing of bells--had given the new impulse to painting
which brought them immortal fame. They were the heralds of the time when
poetry of sentiment, beauty of color, animation and individuality of form
should replace Mediaeval formality and ugliness; a time when the spirit of
art should be revived with an impulse prophetic of its coming glory.
But neither this portentous period nor the fourteenth century is
memorable in the annals of women artists. Not until the fifteenth, the
century of the full Renaissance, have we a record of their share in the
great rebirth.
It is important to remember that the art of the Renaissance had, in the
beginning, a distinct office to fill in the service of the Church. Later,
in historical and decorative painting, it served the State, and at
length, in portrait and landscape painting, in pictures of genre subjects
and still-life, abundant opportunity was afforded for all orders of
talent, and the generous patronage of art by church, state, and men of
rank and wealth, made Italy a veritable paradise for artists.
Gradually, with the revival of learning, artists were free to give
greater importance to secular subjects, and an element of worldliness,
and even of immorality, invaded the realm of art as it invaded the realms
of life and literature.
This was an era of change in all departments of life. Chivalry, the great
"poetic lie," died with feudalism, and the relations between men and
women became more natural and reasonable than in the preceding centuries.
Women were liberated from the narrow sphere to which they had been
relegated in the minstrel's song and poet's rhapsody, but as yet neither
time nor opportunity had been given them for the study and development
which must precede noteworthy achievement.
Remarkable as was the fifteenth century for intellectual and artistic
activity, it was not productive in its early decades of great genius in
art or letters. Its marvellous importance was apparent only at its close
and in the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the works of
Leonardo, Michael Angelo, Raphael, Titian, and their followers emphasized
the value of the progressive attainments of their predecessors.
The assertion and contradiction of ideas and theories, the rivalries of
differing schools, the sweet devotion of Fra Angelico, the innovations of
Masolino and Masaccio, the theory of perspective of Paolo Uccello, the
varied works of Fabriano, Antonello da Messina, the Lippi, Botticelli,
Ghirlandajo, the Bellini, and their contemporaries, culminated in the
inimitable painting of the Cinquecento--in works still unsurpassed, ever
challenging artists of later centuries to the task of equalling or
excelling them.
The demands of the art of the Renaissance were so great, and so unlike
those of earlier days, that it is not surprising that few women, in its
beginning, attained to such excellence as to be remembered during five
centuries. Especially would it seem that an insurmountable obstacle had
been placed in the way of women, since the study of anatomy had become a
necessity to an artist. This, and kindred hindrances, too patent to
require enumeration, account for the fact that but two Italian women of
this period became so famous as to merit notice--Caterina Vigri and
Onorata Rodiana, whose stories are given in the biographical part of this
book.
* * * * *
In Flanders, late in the fourteenth and early in the fifteenth centuries,
women were engaged in the study and practice of art. In Bruges, when the
Van Eycks were inventing new methods in the preparation of colors, and
painting their wonderful pictures, beside them, and scarcely inferior to
them, was their sister, Margaretha, who sacrificed much of her artistic
fame by painting portions of her brothers' pictures, unless the fact that
they thought her worthy of thus assisting them establishes her reputation
beyond question.
In the fifteenth century we have reason to believe that many women
practised art in various departments, but so scanty and imperfect are the
records of individual artists that little more than their names are
known, and we have no absolute knowledge of the value of their works, or
where, if still existing, they are to be seen.
The art of the Renaissance reached its greatest excellence during the
last three decades of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth
century. This was a glorious period in the History of Art. The barbarism
of the Middle Ages was essentially a thing of the past, but much barbaric
splendor in the celebration of ceremonies and festivals still remained to
satisfy the artistic sense, while every-day costumes and customs lent a
picturesqueness to ordinary life. So much of the pagan spirit as endured
was modified by the spirit of the Renaissance. The result was a new order
of things especially favorable to painting.
An artist now felt himself as free to illustrate the pagan myths as to
represent the events in the lives of the Saviour, the Virgin and the
saints, and the actors in the sacred subjects were represented with the
same beauty and grace of form as were given the heroes and heroines of
Hellenic legend. St. Sebastian was as beautiful as Apollo, and the
imagination and senses were moved alike by pictures of Danae and the
Magdalene--the two subjects being often the work of the same artist.
The human form was now esteemed as something more than the mere
habitation of a soul; it was beautiful in itself and capable of awakening
unnumbered emotions in the human heart. Nature, too, presented herself in
a new aspect and inspired the artist with an ardor in her representation
such as few of the older painters had experienced in their devotion to
religious subjects.
This expansion of thought and purpose was inaugurating an art attractive
to women, to which the increasing liberty of artistic theory and
practice must logically make them welcome; a result which is a
distinguishing feature of sixteenth-century painting.
* * * * *
The sixteenth century was noteworthy for the generous patronage of art,
especially in Florence, where the policy of its ruling house could not
fail to produce marvellous results, and the history of the Medici
discloses many reasons why the bud of the Renaissance perfected its bloom
in Florence more rapidly and more gloriously than elsewhere.
For centuries Italy had been a treasure-house of Greek, Etruscan, and
Byzantine Art. In no other country had a civilization like that of
ancient Rome existed, and no other land had been so richly prepared to be
the birthplace and to promote the development of the art of the
Renaissance.
The intellectually progressive life of this period did much for the
advancement of women. The fame of Vittoria Colonna, Tullia d'Aragona,
Olympia Morata, and many others who merit association in this goodly
company, proves the generous spirit of the age, when in the scholastic
centres of Italy women were free to study all branches of learning.
The pursuit of art was equally open to them and women were pupils in all
the schools and in the studios of many masters; even Titian instructed a
woman, and all the advantages for study enjoyed by men were equally
available for women. Many names of Italian women artists could be added
to those of whom I have written in the biographical portion of this
book, but too little is known of their lives and works to be of present
interest. There is, however, little doubt that many pictures attributed
to "the School of" various masters were painted by women.
* * * * *
Art did not reach its perfection in Venice until later than in Florence,
and its special contribution, its glorious color, imparted to it an
attraction unequalled on the sensuous plane. This color surrounded the
artists of that sumptuous city of luxurious life and wondrous pageants,
and was so emphasized by the marvellous mingling of the semi-mist and the
brilliancy of its atmosphere that no man who merited the name of artist
could be insensible to its inspiration.
The old Venetian realism was followed, in the time of the Renaissance, by
startling developments. In the works of Tintoretto and Veronese there is
a combination of gorgeous draperies, splendid and often licentious
costumes, brilliant metal accessories, and every possible device for
enhancing and contrasting colors, until one is bewildered and must adjust
himself to these dazzling spectacles--religious subjects though they may
be--before any serious thought or judgment can be brought to bear upon
their artistic merit; these two great contemporaries lived and worked in
the final decades of the sixteenth century.
We know that many women painted pictures in Venice before the seventeenth
century, although we have accurate knowledge of but few, and of these an
account is given later in this book.
We who go from Paris to London in a few hours, and cross the St. Gothard
in a day, can scarcely realize the distance that separated these capitals
from the centres of Italian art in the time of the Renaissance. We have,
however, abundant proof that the sacred fire of the love of Art and
Letters was smouldering in France, Germany, and England--and when the
inspiring breath of the Renaissance was wafted beyond the Alps a flame
burst forth which has burned clearer and brighter with succeeding
centuries.
From the time of Vincent de Beauvais, who died in 1264, France had not
been wanting in illustrious scholars, but it could not be said that a
French school of art existed. Francois Clouet or Cloet, called Jehannet,
was born in Tours about 1500. His portraits are seen in the Gallery of
the Louvre, and have been likened to those of Holbein; but they lack the
strength and spirit of that artist; in fact, the distinguishing feature
of Clouet's work is the remarkable finish of draperies and accessories,
while the profusion of jewels distracts attention from the heads of his
subjects.
The first great French artists were of the seventeenth century, and
although Clouet was painter to Francis I. and Henry II., the former, like
his predecessors, imported artists from Italy, among whom were Leonardo
da Vinci and Benvenuto Cellini.
In letters, however, there were French women of the sixteenth century who
are still famous. Marguerite de Valois was as cultivated in mind as she
was generous and noble in character. Her love of learning was not easily
satisfied. She was proficient in Hebrew, the classics, and the usual
branches of "profane letters," as well as an accomplished scholar in
philosophy and theology. As an author--though her writings are somewhat
voluminous and not without merit--she was comparatively unimportant; her
great service to letters was the result of the sympathy and encouragement
she gave to others.
Wherever she might be, she was the centre of a literary and religious
circle, as well as of the society in which she moved. She was in full
sympathy with her brother in making his "_College_" an institution in
which greater liberty was accorded to the expression of individual
opinion than had before been known in France, and by reason of her
protection of liberty in thought and speech she suffered much in the
esteem of the bigots of her day.
The beautiful Mlle. de Heilly--the Duchesse d'Etampes--whose influence
over Francis I. was pre-eminent, while her character was totally unlike
that of his sister, was described as "the fairest among the learned, and
the most learned among the fair." When learning was thus in favor at
Court, it naturally followed that all capacity for it was cultivated and
ordinary intelligence made the most of; and the claim that the
intellectual brilliancy of the women of the Court of Francis I. has
rarely been equalled is generally admitted. There were, however, no
artists among them--they wielded the pen rather than the brush.
* * * * *
In England, as in France, there was no native school of art in the
sixteenth century, and Flemish, Dutch, and German artists crossed the
channel when summoned to the English Court, as the Italians crossed the
Alps to serve the kings of France.
English women of this century were far less scholarly than those of Italy
and France. At the same time they might well be proud of a queen who
"could quote Pindar and Homer in the original and read every morning a
portion of Demosthenes, being also the royal mistress of eight
languages." With our knowledge of the queen's scholarship in mind we
might look to her for such patronage of art and literature as would rival
that of Lorenzo the Magnificent; but Elizabeth lacked the generosity of
the Medici and that of Marguerite de Valois. Hume tells us that "the
queen's vanity lay more in shining by her own learning than in
encouraging men of genius by her liberality."
Lady Jane Grey and the daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke are familiar
examples of learned women, and many English titled and gentlewomen were
well versed in Greek and Latin, as well as in Spanish, Italian, and
French. Macaulay reminded his readers that if an Englishwoman of that day
did not read the classics she could read little, since the then existing
books--outside the Italian--would fill a shelf but scantily. Thus English
girls read Plato, and doubtless English women excelled Englishmen in
their proficiency in foreign languages, as they do at present.
* * * * *
In Germany the relative position of Art and Letters was the opposite to
that in France and England. The School of Cologne was a genuinely native
school of art in the fourteenth century. Although the Niebelungen Lied
and Gudrun, the Songs of Love and Volkslieder, as well as Mysteries and
Passion Plays, existed from an early date, we can scarcely speak of a
German Literature before the sixteenth century, when Albert Duerer and the
younger Holbein painted their great pictures, while Luther, Melanchthon
and their sympathizers disseminated the doctrines of advancing
Protestantism.
At this period, in the countries we may speak of collectively as German,
women artists were numerous. Many were miniaturists, some of whom were
invited to the English Court and received with honor.
In 1521 Albert Duerer was astonished at the number of women artists in
different parts of what, for conciseness, we may call Germany. This was
also noticeable in Holland, and Duerer wrote in his diary, in the
above-named year: "Master Gerard, of Antwerp, illuminist, has a daughter,
eighteen years of age, named Susannah, who illuminated a little book
which I purchased for a few guilders. It is wonderful that a woman could
do so much!"
Antwerp became famous for its women artists, some of whom visited France,
Italy, and Spain, and were honorably recognized for their talent and
attainments, wherever they went.
* * * * *
In the later years of the sixteenth century a difference of opinion and
purpose arose among the artists of Italy, the effects of which were shown
in the art of the seventeenth century. Two distinct schools were formed,
one of which included the conservatives who desired to preserve and
follow the manner of the masters of the Cinquecento, at the same time
making a deeper study of Nature--thus the devotional feeling and many of
the older traditions would be retained while each master could indulge
his individuality more freely than heretofore. They aimed to unite such a
style as Correggio's--who belonged to no school--with that of the
severely mannered artists of the preceding centuries. These artists were
called Eclectics, and the Bolognese school of the Carracci was the most
important centre of the movement, while Domenichino, a native of
Bologna--1581-1631--was the most distinguished painter of the school.
The original aims of the Eclectics are well summed up in a sonnet by
Agostino Carracci, which has been translated as follows: "Let him who
wishes to be a good painter acquire the design of Rome, Venetian action
and Venetian management of shade, the dignified color of Lombardy--that
is of Leonardo da Vinci--the terrible manner of Michael Angelo, Titian's
truth and nature, the sovereign purity of Correggio's style and the just
symmetry of a Raphael, the decorum and well-grounded study of Tibaldi,
the invention of the learned Primaticcio, and a _little_ of
Parmigianino's grace; but without so much study and weary labor let him
apply himself to imitate the works which our Niccolo--dell Abbate--left
us here." Kugler calls this "a patchwork ideal," which puts the matter in
a nut-shell.
At one period the Eclectics produced harmonious pictures in a manner
attractive to women, many of whom studied under Domenichino, Giovanni
Lanfranco, Guido Reni, the Campi, and others. Sofonisba Anguisciola,
Elisabetta Sirani, and the numerous women artists of Bologna were of this
school.
The greatest excellence of this art was of short duration; it declined as
did the literature, and indeed, the sacred and political institutions of
Italy in the seventeenth century. It should not, however, be forgotten,
that the best works of Guercino, the later pictures of Annibale Carracci,
and the important works of Domenichino and Salvator Rosa belong to this
period.
The second school was that of the Naturalists, who professed to study
Nature alone, representing with brutal realism her repulsive aspects.
Naples was the centre of these painters, and the poisoning of Domenichino
and many other dark and terrible deeds have been attributed to them. Few
women were attracted to this school, and the only one whose association
with the Naturalisti is recorded--Aniella di Rosa--paid for her temerity
with her life.
* * * * *
In Rome, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and other Italian cities, there were,
in the seventeenth century, many women who made enviable reputations as
artists, some of whom were also known for their literary and musical
attainments. Anna Maria Ardoina, of Messina, made her studies in Rome.
She was gifted as a poet and artist, and so excelled in music that she
had the distinguished honor of being elected to the Academy of Arcadia.
Not a few gifted women of this time are remembered for their noble
charities. Chiara Varotari, under the instruction of her father and her
brother, called Padovanino, became a good painter. She was also honored
as a skilful nurse, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany placed her portrait in
his gallery on account of his admiration and respect for her as a
comforter of the suffering.
Giovanna Garzoni, a miniaturist, conferred such benefits upon the Academy
of St. Luke that a monument was there erected to her memory. Other
artists founded convents, became nuns, and imprinted themselves upon
their age in connection with various honorable institutions and
occupations.
* * * * *
French Art in the seventeenth century was academic and prosaic, lacking
the spontaneity, joyousness, and intensely artistic feeling of Italian
Art--a heritage from previous centuries which had not been lost, and in
which France had no part. The works of Poussin, which have been likened
to painted reliefs, afford an excellent example of French Art in his
time--1594-1665--and this in spite of the fact that he worked and studied
much in Rome.
The Academie des Beaux-Arts was established by Louis XIV., and there was
a rapidly growing interest in art. As yet, however, the women of France
affected literature rather than painting, and in the seventeenth century
they were remarkable for their scholarly attainments and their influence
in the world of letters.
Madame de Maintenon patronized learning; at the Hotel Rambouillet men and
women of genius met the world of rank and fashion on common ground.
Madame Dacier, of whom Voltaire said, "No woman has ever rendered greater
services to literature," made her translations from the classics; Madame
de Sevigne wrote her marvellous letters; Mademoiselle de Scudery and
Madame Lafayette their novels; Catherine Bernard emulated the manner of
Racine in her dramas; while Madame de Guyon interpreted the mystic Song
of Solomon.
Of French women artists of this period we can mention several names, but
they were so overshadowed by authors as to be unimportant, unless, like
Elizabeth Cheron, they won both artistic and literary fame.
* * * * *
The seventeenth century was an age of excellence in the art of Flanders,
Belgium, and Holland, and is known as the second great epoch of painting
in the Netherlands, this name including the three countries just
mentioned.
After the calamities suffered under Charles V. and Philip II., with
returning peace and prosperity an art was developed, both original and
rich in artistic power. The States-General met in 1600, and the greatest
artists of the Netherlands did their work in the succeeding fifty years;
and before the century closed the appreciation of art and the patronage
which had assured its elevation were things of the past.
Rubens was twenty-three years old in 1600, just ready to begin his work
which raised the school of Belgium to its highest attainments. When we
remember how essentially his art dominated his own country and was
admired elsewhere, we might think--I had almost said fear--that his
brilliant, vigorous, and voluptuous manner would attract all artists of
his day to essay his imitation. But among women artists Madame O'Connell
was the first who could justly be called his imitator, and her work was
done in the middle of the nineteenth century.
When we turn to the genre painting of the Flemish and Dutch artists we
find that they represented scenes in the lives of coarse, drunken boors
and vulgar women--works which brought these artists enduring fame by
reason of their wonderful technique; but we can mention one woman only,
Anna Breughel, who seriously attempted the practice of this art. She is
thought to have been of the family of Velvet Breughel, who lived in the
early part of the seventeenth century.
Like Rubens, Rembrandt numbered few women among his imitators. The women
of his day and country affected pleasing delineations of superficial
motives, and Rembrandt's earnestness and intensity were seemingly above
their appreciation--certainly far above their artistic powers.
A little later so many women painted delicate and insipid subjects that I
have not space even for their names. A critic has said that the Dutch
school "became a nursery for female talent." It may have reached the
Kindergarten stage, but went no farther.
Flower painting attained great excellence in the seventeenth century. The
most elaborate masters in this art were the brothers De Heem, Willem
Kalf, Abraham Mignon, and Jan van Huysum. Exquisite as the pictures by
these masters are, Maria van Oosterwyck and Rachel Ruysch disputed
honors with them, and many other women excelled in this delightful art.
An interesting feature in art at this time was the intimate association
of men and women artists and the distinction of women thus associated.
Gerard Terburg, whose pictures now have an enormous value, had two
sisters, Maria and Gezina, whose genre pictures were not unworthy of
comparison with the works of their famous brother. Gottfried Schalken,
remarkable for his skill in the representation of scenes by candle light,
was scarcely more famous than his sister Maria. Eglon van der Neer is
famous for his pictures of elegant women in marvellous satin gowns. He
married Adriana Spilberg, a favorite portrait painter. The daughters of
the eminent engraver Cornelius Visscher, Anna and Maria, were celebrated
for their fine etching on glass, and by reason of their poems and their
scholarly acquirements they were called the "Dutch Muses," and were
associated with the learned men of their day. This list, though
incomplete, suggests that the co-education of artists bore good fruit in
their co-operation in their profession.
* * * * *
In England, while there was a growing interest in painting, the standard
was that of foreign schools, especially the Dutch. Foreign artists found
a welcome and generous patronage at the English Court. Mary Beale and
Anne Carlisle are spoken of as English artists, and a few English women
were miniaturists. Among these was Susannah Penelope Gibson, daughter of
Richard Gibson, the Dwarf. While these women were not wanting in
artistic taste, they were little more than copyists of the Dutch artists
with whom they had associated.
* * * * *
In the early years of the seventeenth century there were a number of
Danish women who were painters, engravers, and modellers in wax. The
daughter of King Christian IV., Elenora Christina, and her daughter,
Helena Christina, were reputable artists. The daughter of Christian V.,
Sophie Hedwig, made a reputation as a portrait, landscape, and flower
painter, which extended beyond her own country; and Anna Crabbe painted a
series of portraits of Danish princes, and added to them descriptive
verses of her own composition.
* * * * *
The Art of Spain attained its greatest glory in the seventeenth
century--the century of Velasquez, Murillo, Ribera, and other less
distinguished but excellent artists.
In the last half of this century women artists were prominent in the
annals of many Spanish cities. In the South mention is made of these
artists, who were of excellent position and aristocratic connection. In
Valencia, the daughter of the great portrait painter Alonzo Coello was
distinguished in both painting and music. She married Don Francesco de
Herrara, Knight of Santiago.
In Cordova the sister of Palomino y Vasco--the artist who has been called
the Vasari of Spain on account of his Museo Pictorio--was recognized as a
talented artist. In Madrid, Velasquez numbered several noble ladies among
his pupils; but no detailed accounts of the works of these artists is
available--if any such exist--and their pictures are in private
collections.
* * * * *
The above outline of the general conditions of Art in the seventeenth
century will suggest the reasons for there being a larger number of women
artists in Italy than elsewhere--especially as they were pupils in the
studios of the best masters as well as in the schools of the Carracci and
other centres of art study.
* * * * *
Italian artists of the eighteenth century have been called scene
painters, and, in truth, many of their works impress one as hurried
attempts to cover large spaces. Originality was wanting and a wearisome
mediocrity prevailed. At the same time certain national artistic
qualities were apparent; good arrangement of figures and admirable
effects of color still characterized Italian painting, but the result
was, on the whole, academic and uninteresting.
The ideals cherished by older artists were lost, and nothing worthy to
replace them inspired their followers. The sincerity, earnestness, and
devotion of the men who served church and state in the decoration of
splendid monuments would have been out of place in the service of
amateurs and in the decoration of the salons and boudoirs of the rich,
and the painting of this period had little permanent value, in comparison
with that of preceding centuries.
Italian women, especially in the second half of the century, were
professors in universities, lectured to large audiences, and were
respectfully consulted by men of science and learning in the various
branches of scholarship to which they were devoted. Unusual honors were
paid them, as in the case of Maria Portia Vignoli, to whom a statue was
erected in the public square of Viterbo to commemorate her great learning
in natural science.
An artist, Matilda Festa, held a professorship in the Academy of St. Luke
in Rome, and Maria Maratti, daughter of the Roman painter Carlo Maratti,
made a good reputation both as an artist and a poetess.
In Northern Italy many women were famous in sculpture, painting, and
engraving. At least forty could be named, artists of good repute, whose
lives were lacking in any unusual interest, and whose works are in
private collections. One of these was a princess of Parma, who married
the Archduke Joseph of Austria, and was elected to the Academy of Vienna
in 1789.
* * * * *
In France, in the beginning of this century Watteau, 1684-1721, painted
his interesting pictures of _La Belle Societe_, reproducing the court
life, costumes, and manners of the reign of Louis XIV. with fidelity,
grace, and vivacity. Later in the century, Greuze, 1725-1805, with his
attractive, refined, and somewhat mannered style, had a certain
influence. Claude Vernet, 1714-1789, and David, 1748-1825, each great in
his way, influenced the nineteenth as well as the eighteenth century.
Though Vien, 1716-1809, made a great effort to revive classic art, he
found little sympathy with his aim until the works of his pupil David
won recognition from the world of the First Empire.
French Art of this period may be described by a single
word--eclectic--and this choice by each important artist of the style he
would adopt culminated in the Rococo School, which may be defined as the
unusual and fantastic in art. It was characterized by good technique and
pleasing color, but lacked purpose, depth, and warmth of feeling. As
usual in a _pot-pourri_, it was far enough above worthlessness not to be
ignored, but so far short of excellence as not to be admired.
In France during this century there was an army of women artists,
painters, sculptors, and engravers. Of a great number we know the names
only; in fact, of but two of these, Adelaide Vincent and Elizabeth Vigee
Le Brun, have we reliable knowledge of their lives and works.
The eighteenth century is important in the annals of women artists, since
their numbers then exceeded the collective number of those who had
preceded them--so far as is known--from the earliest period in the
history of art. In a critical review of the time, however, we find a
general and active interest in culture and art among women rather than
any considerable number of noteworthy artists.
Germany was the scene of the greatest activity of women artists. France
held the second place and Italy the third, thus reversing the conditions
of preceding centuries.
* * * * *
Many German women emulated the examples of the earlier flower painters,
but no one was so important as to merit special attention, though a
goodly number were elected to academies and several appointed painters to
the minor courts.
Among the genre and historical painters we find the names of Anna Amalia
of Brunswick and Anna Maria, daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa, both
of whom were successful artists.
In Berlin and Dresden the interest in art was much greater in the
eighteenth than in previous centuries, and with this new impulse many
women devoted themselves to various specialties in art. Miniature and
enamel painting were much in vogue, and collections of these works, now
seen in museums and private galleries, are exquisitely beautiful and
challenge our admiration, not only for their beauty, but for the delicacy
of their handling and the infinite patience demanded for their execution.
The making of medals was carried to great excellence by German women, as
may be seen in a medal of Queen Sophie Charlotte, which is preserved in
the royal collection of medals. It is the work of Rosa Elizabeth
Schwindel, of Leipsic, who was well known in Berlin in the beginning of
the century.
The cutting of gems was also extensively done by women. Susannah Dorsch
was famous for her accomplishment in this art. Her father and grandfather
had been gem-cutters, and Susannah could not remember at what age she
began this work. So highly was she esteemed as an artist that medals were
made in her honor.
As frequently happens in a study of this kind, I find long lists of the
names of women artists of this period of whose lives and works I find no
record, while the events related in other cases are too trivial for
repetition. This is especially true in Holland, where we find many names
of Dutch women who must have been reputable artists, since they are
mentioned in Art Chronicles of their time; but we know little of their
lives and can mention no pictures executed by them.
* * * * *
A national art now existed in England. Hogarth, who has been called the
Father of English Painting, was a man of too much originality to be a
mere imitator of foreign artists. He devoted his art to the
representation of the follies of his time. As a satirist he was eminent,
but his mirth-provoking pictures had a deeper purpose than that of
amusing. Lord Orford wrote: "Mirth colored his pictures, but benevolence
designed them. He smiled like Socrates, that men might not be offended at
his lectures, and might learn to laugh at their own folly."
Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough were born and died in the
eighteenth century; their famous works were contemporary with the
founding of the Royal Academy in 1768, when these artists, together with
Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser, were among its original members.
It was a fashion in England at this time for women to paint; they
principally affected miniature and water-color pictures, but of the many
who called themselves artists few merit our attention; they practised but
a feeble sort of imitative painting; their works of slight importance
cannot now be named, while their lives were usually commonplace and void
of incident. Of the few exceptions to this rule I have written in the
later pages of this book.
* * * * *
The suggestion that the nineteenth century cannot yet be judged as to its
final effect in many directions has already been made, and of nothing is
this more true than of its Art. Of one phase of this period, however, we
may speak with confidence. No other century of which we know the history
has seen so many changes--such progress, or such energy of purpose so
largely rewarded as in the century we are considering.
To one who has lived through more than three score years of this period,
no fairy tale is more marvellous than the changes in the department of
daily life alone.
When I recall the time when the only mode of travel was by stage-coach,
boat, or private carriage--when the journey from Boston to St. Louis
demanded a week longer in time than we now spend in going from Boston to
Egypt--when no telegraph existed--when letter postage was twenty-five
cents and the postal service extremely primitive--when no house was
comfortably warmed and women carried foot-stoves to unheated
churches--when candles and oil lamps were the only means of "lighting
up," and we went about the streets at night with dim lanterns--when women
spun and wove and sewed with their hands only, and all they accomplished
was done at the hardest--when in our country a young girl might almost as
reasonably attempt to reach the moon as to become an artist--remembering
all this it seems as if an army of magicians must incessantly have waved
their wands above us, and that human brains and hands could not have
invented and put in operation the innumerable changes in our daily life
during the last half-century.
When, in the same way, we review the changes that have taken place in the
domains of science, in scholarly research in all directions, in printing,
bookmaking, and the methods of illustrating everything that is
printed--from the most serious and learned writing to advertisements
scattered over all-out-of-doors--when we add to these the revolutions in
many other departments of life and industry, we must regard the
nineteenth as the century _par excellence_ of expansion, and in various
directions an epoch-making era.
* * * * *
When we turn to our special subject we find an activity and expansion in
nineteenth-century art quite in accordance with the spirit of the time.
This expansion is especially noticeable in the increased number of
subjects represented in works of art, and in the invention of new methods
of artistic expression.
Prior to this period there had been a certain selection of such subjects
for artistic representation as could be called "picturesque," and though
more ordinary and commonplace subjects might be rendered with such
skill--such drawing, color, and technique--as to demand approbation, it
was given with a certain condescension and the feeling was manifested
that these subjects, though treated with consummate art, were not
artistic. The nineteenth century has signally changed these theories.
Nothing that makes a part in human experience is now too commonplace or
too unusual and mysterious to afford inspiration to painter and sculptor;
while the normal characteristics of human beings and the circumstances
common to their lives are not omitted, the artist frequently endeavors to
express in his work the most subtle experiences of the heart and soul,
and to embody in his picture or statue an absolutely psychologic
phenomenon.
The present easy communication with all nations has awakened interest in
the life of countries almost unknown to us a half-century ago. So
customary is it for artists to wander far and wide, seeking new motives
for their works, that I felt no surprise when I recently received a
letter from a young American woman who is living and painting in Biskra.
How short a time has passed since this would have been thought
impossible!
It is also true that subjects not new in art are treated in a
nineteenth-century manner. This is noticeable in the picturing of
historical subjects. The more intimate knowledge of the world enables the
historical painter of the present to impart to his representations of the
important events of the past a more human and emotional element than
exists in the historical art of earlier centuries. In a word,
nineteenth-century art is sympathetic, and has found inspiration in all
countries and classes and has so treated its subjects as to be
intelligible to all, from the favored children for whom Kate Greenaway,
Walter Crane, and many others have spent their delightful talents, to men
and women of all varieties of individual tastes and of all degrees of
ability to comprehend and appreciate artistic representations.
A fuller acquaintance with the art and art-methods of countries of which
but little had before been known has been an element in art expansion.
Technical methods which have not been absolutely adopted by European and
English-speaking artists have yet had an influence upon their art. The
interest in Japanese Art is the most important example of such influence,
and it is also true that Japanese artists have been attracted to the
study of the art of America and Europe, while some foreign artists
resident in Japan--notably Miss Helen Hyde, a young American--have
studied and practised Japanese painting to such purpose that Japanese
juries have accorded the greatest excellence and its honors to their
works, exhibited in competition with native artists.
Other factors in the expansion of art have been found in photography and
the various new methods of illustration that have filled books,
magazines, and newspapers with pictures of more or less (?) merit. Even
the painting of "posters" has not been scorned by good artists, some of
whom have treated them in such a manner as to make them worthy a place in
museums where only works of true merit are exhibited.
Other elements in the nineteenth-century expansion in art are seen in the
improved productions of the so-called Arts and Crafts which are of
inestimable value in cultivating the artistic sense in all classes.
Another influence in the same direction is the improved decoration of
porcelain, majolica, and pottery, which, while not equal to that of
earlier date in the esteem of connoisseurs, brings artistic objects to
the sight and knowledge of all, at prices suited to moderate means.
* * * * *
In America the unparalleled increase of Free Libraries has brought, not
books alone, but collections of photographs and other reproductions of
the best Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in the world, as well as
medals, book-plates, artistic bindings, etc., within reach of students of
art.
Art Academies and Museums have also been greatly multiplied. It is often
a surprise to find, in a comparatively small town, a fine Art Gallery,
rich in a variety of precious objects. Such an one is the Art Museum of
Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Me. The edifice itself is the most
beautiful of the works by McKim that I have seen. The frescoes by La
Farge and Vedder are most satisfactory, and one exhibit, among many of
interest--that of original drawings by famous Old Masters--would make
this Museum a worthy place of pilgrimage. Can one doubt that such a
Museum must be an element of artistic development in those who are in
contact with it?
I cannot omit saying that this splendid monument to the appreciation of
art and to great generosity was the gift of women, while the artists who
perfected its architecture and decorations are Americans; it is an
impressive expression of the expansion of American Art in the nineteenth
century.
* * * * *
The advantages for the study of Art have been largely improved and
increased in this period. In numberless studios small classes of pupils
are received; in schools of Design, schools of National Academies, and in
those of individual enterprise, all possible advantages for study under
the direction of the best artists are provided, and these are
supplemented by scholarships which relieve the student of limited means
from providing for daily needs.
All these opportunities are shared by men and women alike. Every
advantage is as freely at the command of one as of the other, and we
equal, in this regard, the centuries of the Renaissance, when women were
Artists, Students, and Professors of Letters and of Law, filling these
positions with honor, as women do in these days.
In 1859 T. Adolphus Trollope, in his "Decade of Italian Women," in which
he wrote of the scholarly women of the Renaissance, says: "The degree in
which any social system has succeeded in ascertaining woman's proper
position, and in putting her into it, will be a very accurate test of the
progress it has made in civilization. And the very general and growing
conviction that our own social arrangements, as they exist at present,
have not attained any satisfactory measure of success in this respect,
would seem, therefore, to indicate that England in her nineteenth century
has not yet reached years of discretion after all."
Speaking of Elisabetta Sirani he says: "The humbly born artist, admirable
for her successful combination in perfect compatibility of all the duties
of home and studio." Of how many woman artists we can now say this.
Trollope's estimate of the position of women in England, which was not
unlike that in America, forty-five years ago, when contrasted with that
of the present day, affords another striking example of the expansion of
the nineteenth century.
* * * * *
Although no important changes occur without some preparation, this may be
so gradual and unobtrusive in its work that the result appears to have a
Minerva-like birth. Doubtless there were influences leading up to the
remarkable landscape painting of this century. The "Norwich School,"
which took shape in 1805, was founded by Crome, among whose associates
were Cotman, Stark, and Vincent. Crome exhibited his works at the Royal
Academy in 1806, and the twelve following years, and died in 1821 when
the pictures of Constable were attracting unusual attention; indeed, it
may be said that by his exhibitions at the Royal Academy, Constable
inaugurated modern landscape painting, which is a most important feature
of art in this century.
Not forgetting the splendid landscapes of the Dutch masters, of the early
Italians, of Claude and Wilson, the claim that landscape painting was
perfected only in the nineteenth century, and then largely as the result
of the works of English artists, seems to me to be well founded. To this
excellence Turner, contemporary with Constable, David Cox, De Wint,
Bonington, and numerous others gloriously contributed.
The English landscapes exhibited at the French Salon in the third decade
of the century produced a remarkable effect, and emphasized the interest
in landscape painting already growing in France, and later so splendidly
developed by Rousseau, Corot, Millet, and their celebrated
contemporaries. In Germany the Achenbachs, Lessing, and many other
artists were active in this movement, while in America, Innes, A. H.
Wyant, and Homer Martin, with numerous followers, were raising landscape
art to an eminence before unknown.
Formerly landscapes had been used as backgrounds, oftentimes attractive
and beautiful, while the real purpose of the pictures centred in the
human figures. The distinctive feature of nineteenth-century landscape is
the representation of Nature alone, and the variety of method used and
the differing aims of the artists cover the entire gamut between absolute
Realism and the most pronounced Impressionism.
* * * * *
About the middle of the century there emerged from the older schools two
others which may be called the Realist and Idealist, and indeed there
were those to whom both these terms could be applied, both methods being
united in their remarkable works. Of the Realists Corot and Courbet are
distinguished, as were Puvis de Chavannes and Gustave Moreau among the
Idealists.
Millet, with his marvellous power of observation, painted his landscapes
with the fidelity of his school in that art, and so keenly realized the
religious element in the peasant life about him--the poetry of these
people--that he portrayed his figures in a manner quite his own--at the
same time realistic and full of idealism. MacColl in his
"Nineteenth-Century Art" called Millet "the most religious figure in
modern art after Rembrandt," and adds that "he discovered a patience of
beauty, a reconciling, in the concert of landscape mystery with labor."
Shall we call Bastien Lepage a follower of Millet, or say that in these
men there was a unity of spirit; that while they realized the poetry of
their subjects intensely, they fully estimated the reality as well?
The "Joan of Arc" is a phenomenal example of this art. The landscape is
carefully realistic, and like that in which a French peasant girl of any
period would live. But here realism ceases and the peasant girl becomes a
supremely exalted being, entranced by a vision of herself in full armor.
This art, at once realistic and idealistic, is an achievement of the
nineteenth century--so clear and straightforward in its methods as to
explain itself far better than words can explain it.
* * * * *
Contemporary with these last-named artists were the Pre-raphaelites. The
centre of this school was called the Brotherhood, which was founded by J.
E. Millais, W. Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and William Michael
Rossetti. To these were added Thomas Woolner the sculptor, James Collins,
and F. G. Stephens. Other important artists known as Pre-raphaelites, not
belonging to the Brotherhood, are Ford Madox Brown and Burne Jones, as
well as the water-color painters, Mason, Walker, Boyce, and Goodwin.
The aim of these artists was to represent with sincerity what they saw,
and the simple sincerity of painters who preceded Raphael led them to
choose a name which Ruskin called unfortunate, "because the principles
on which its members are working are neither pre- nor post-Raphaelite,
but everlasting. They are endeavoring to paint with the highest possible
degree of completion what they see in nature, without reference to
conventional established rules; but by no means to imitate the style of
any past epoch. To paint Nature--Nature as it was around them, by the
help of modern science, was the aim of the Brotherhood."
At the time when the Pre-raphaelite School came into being the art of
other lands as well as that of England was in need of an awakening
impulse, and the Pre-raphaelite revolt against conventionality and the
machine-like art of the period roused such interest, criticism, and
opposition as to stimulate English art to new effort, and much of its
progress in the last half-century is doubtless due to the discussions of
the theories of this movement as well as of the works it produced.
Pre-raphaelitism, scorned and ridiculed in its beginning, came to be
appreciated in a degree that at first seemed impossible, and though its
apostles were few, its influence was important. The words of Burne Jones,
in which he gave his own ideal, appeal to many artists and lovers of art:
"I mean by a picture a beautiful, romantic dream of something that never
was, never will be--in a light better than any light that ever shone--in
a land no one can define or remember, only desire--and the forms divinely
beautiful."
Rossetti's "Girlhood of Virgin Mary," Holman Hunt's "Light of the World,"
and Millais' "Christ in the House of His Parents" have been called the
Trilogy of Pre-raphaelite Art.
Millais did not long remain a strict disciple of this school, but soon
adopted the fuller freedom of his later work, which may be called that of
modern naturalism. Rossetti remained a Pre-raphaelite through his short
life, but his works could not be other than individual, and their
distinct personality almost forbade his being considered a disciple of
any school.
Holman Hunt may be called the one persistent follower of this cult. He
has consistently embodied his convictions in his pictures, the value of
which to English art cannot yet be determined. This is also true of the
marvellous work of Burne Jones; but although they have but few faithful
followers, Pre-raphaelite art no longer needs defence nor apology.
Its secondary effect is far-reaching. To it may be largely attributed the
more earnest study of Nature as well as the simplicity of treatment and
lack of conventionality which now characterizes English art to an extent
before unknown.
* * * * *
Impressionism is the most distinctive feature of nineteenth-century art,
and is too large a subject to be treated in an introduction--any proper
consideration of it demands a volume.
The entire execution of a picture out-of-doors was sometimes practised by
Constable, more frequently by Turner, and some of the peculiarities of
the French impressionist artists were shared by the English landscape
painters of the early part of the century. While no one could dream of
calling Constable an impressionist, it is interesting to recall the
reception of his "Opening of Waterloo Bridge." Ridiculed in London, it
was accepted in Paris, and is now honored at the Royal Academy.
This picture was covered with pure white, in impasto, a method dear to
impressionists. Was Constable in advance of his critics? is a question
that comes involuntarily to mind as we read the life of this artist, and
recall the excitement which the exhibition of his works caused at the
Salon of 1824, and the interest they aroused in Delacroix and other
French painters.
The word Impressionism calls to mind the names of Manet, Monet, Pissaro,
Mme. Berthe Morisot, Paul Cezanne, Whistler, Sargent, Hassam, and many
others. Impressionists exhibited their pictures in Paris as early as
1874; not until 1878 were they seen to advantage in London, when Whistler
exhibited in the Grosvenor Gallery; and the New English Art Club, founded
in 1885, was the outcome of the need of this school to be better
represented in its special exhibitions than was possible in other
galleries.
In a comprehensive sense Impressionism includes all artists who represent
their subjects with breadth and collectiveness rather than in detail--in
the way in which we see a view at the first glance, before we have time
to apprehend its minor parts. The advocates of impressionism now claim
that it is the most reformatory movement in modern painting; it is
undeniably in full accord with the spirit of the time in putting aside
older methods and conventions and introducing a new manner of seeing and
representing Nature.
The differing phases of Painting in the nineteenth century have had their
effect upon that art as a whole. Each one has been important, not only in
the country of its special development, but in other lands, each
distinctive quality being modified by individual and national
characteristics.
* * * * *
In the early decades of the past century Sculpture was "classic" and
conventional rather than natural and sincere. A revolt against these
conditions produced such artists as Rodin, St. Gaudens, MacMonnies, and
many less famous men who have put life, spirit, and nature into their
art.
In Sculpture as in Painting many more subjects are treated than were
formerly thought suited to representation in marble and bronze, and a
large proportion of these recent _motifs_ demand a broad method of
treatment--a manner often called "unfinished" by those who approve only
the smooth polish of an antique Venus, and would limit sculpture to the
narrow class of subjects with which this smoothness harmonizes.
The best sculptors of the present treat the minor details of their
subjects in a sketchy, or, as some critics contend, in a rough imperfect
manner, while others find that this treatment of detail, combined with a
careful, comprehensive treatment of the important parts, emphasizes the
meaning and imparts strength to the whole, as no smoothness can do.
Although the highest possibilities in sculpture may not yet be reached,
it is animated with new spirit of life and nature. Nineteenth-century
aims and modes of expression have greatly enlarged its province. Like
Painting, Sculpture has become democratic. It glorifies Labor and all
that is comprised in the term "common, every-day life," while it also
commemorates noble and useful deeds with genuine sympathy and an
intelligent appreciation of the best to which humanity attains; at the
same time poetical fancies, myths, and legends are not neglected, but are
rendered with all possible delicacy and tenderness.
At present a great number of women are sculptors. The important
commissions which are given them in connection with the great expositions
of the time--the execution of memorial statues and monuments, fountains,
and various other works which is confided to them, testifies to their
excellence in their art with an emphasis beyond that of words.
* * * * *
Want of space forbids any special mention of etching, metal work,
enamelling, designing, and decorative work in many directions in which
women in great numbers are engaged; indeed, in what direction can we look
in which women are not employed--I believe I may say by thousands--in all
the minor arts? Between the multitude that pursue the Fine Arts and
kindred branches for a maintenance--and are rarely heard of--and those
fortunate ones who are commissioned to execute important works, there is
an enormous middle class. Paris is their Mecca, but they are known in all
art centres, and it is by no means unusual for an artist to study under
Dutch, German, and Italian masters, as well as French.
The present method of study in Paris--in such academies as that of Julian
and the Colarossi--secures to the student the criticism and advice of the
best artists of the day, while in summer--in the country and by the
sea--there are artistic colonies in which students lead a delightful
life, still profiting by the instruction of eminent masters.
Year by year the opportunities for art-study by women have been increased
until they are welcome in the schools of the world, with rare exceptions.
The highest goal seems to have been reached by their admission to the
competition for the _Grand prix de Rome_ conferred by _l'Ecole des Beaux
Arts_.
I regret that the advantages of the American Art Academy in Rome are not
open to women. The fact that for centuries women have been members and
professors in the Academy of St. Luke, and in view of the recent action
of _l'Ecole des Beaux Arts_, this narrowness of the American Academy in
the Eternal City is especially pronounced.
One can but approve the encouragement afforded women artists in France,
by the generosity with which their excellence is recognized.
To be an officer in the French Academy is an honor surpassed in France by
that of the Legion of Honor only. Within a twelvemonth two hundred and
seventy-five women have been thus distinguished, twenty-eight of them
being painters and designers. From this famous Academy down, through the
International Expositions, the Salons, and the numberless exhibitions in
various countries, a large proportion of medals and other honors are
conferred on women, who, having now been accorded all privileges
necessary for the pursuit of art and for its recompense, will surely
prove that they richly merit every good that can be shared with them.
AARESTRUP, MARIE HELENE. Born at Flekkefjord, Norway, 1829. She
made her studies in Bergen, under Reusch; under Tessier in Paris; and
Vautier in Duesseldorf. She excelled in genre and portrait painting. Her
"Playing Child" and "Shepherd Boy" are in the Art Union in Christiania;
the "Interior of Hotel Cluny" and a "Flower Girl" are in the Museum at
Gottenburg.
ABBATT, AGNES DEAN. Bronze medal, Cooper Union; silver medal,
Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association. Member of American Water
Color Society.
[_No reply to circular_.]
ABBEMA, MME. LOUISE. Officer of the Merite des Arts; honorable
mention, Salon of 1881; bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1900; Hors
Concours, 1903, at Exposition of Limoges. Born at Etampes, 1858. Pupil of
Chaplin, Henner, and Carolus-Duran. She exhibited a "Portrait of Sarah
Bernhardt," 1876; "The Seasons," 1883; "Portrait of M. Abbema," 1887;
"Among the Flowers," 1893; "An April Morning," 1894; "Winter," 1895, etc.
This artist has also executed numerous decorations for ceilings and
decorative panels for private houses. Her picture of "Breakfast in the
Conservatory" is in the Museum of Pau.
Mme. Abbema illustrated "La Mer," by Maizeroy, and has contributed to the
_Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ and several other Parisian publications.
At the Salon of the Artistes Francais, 1902, she exhibited the "Portrait
of Pierre," and in 1903 a portrait of the Countess P. S.
Mme. Abbema wears her hair short, and affects such absolute simplicity in
her costume that at first sight she reminds one of a charming young man.
In no other direction, however, is there a masculine touch about this
delightful artist. She has feminine grace, a love for poetry, a passion
for flowers, which she often introduces in her pictures; she has, in
short, a truly womanly character, which appears in the refinement and
attractiveness of her work.
[_No reply to circular_.]
ABBOTT, KATHERINE G. Bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1900; honorable
mention, Buffalo Exposition, 1901.
[_No reply to circular_.]
ACHILLE-FOULD, MLLE. GEORGES. Medal, third class, Versailles, 1888;
honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1894; medal, third class, 1895; medal,
second class, 1897; Hors Concours; bronze medal at Paris Exposition,
1900. Officer of Public Instruction; member of the Societe des Artistes
Francais. Born at Asnieres (Seine). Pupil of Cabanel, Antoine Vollon, and
Leon Comerre.
A painter of figure subjects and portraits. Several of her works are in
private collections in the United States. Among these are the
"Flower-Seller," the "Knife-Grinder," "M. de Richelieu's Love Knots,"
exhibited in the Salon of 1902, and "Going to School."
"The Dull Season" is in London; "Cinderella" and many others in Paris.
This artist, when still in short skirts, sent her first picture, "In the
Market Place," to the Salon of 1884. She is most industrious, and her
history, as she herself insists, is in her pictures. She has been
surrounded by a sympathetic and artistic atmosphere. Her mother was an
art critic, who, before her second marriage to Prince Stirberg, signed
her articles Gustave Haller. Her home, the Chateau de Becon, is an ideal
home for an artist, and one can well understand her distaste for realism
and the professional model.
"M. de Richelieu's Love Knots" is very attractive and was one of the
successes of 1902. He is a fine gentleman to whom a bevy of young girls
is devoted, tying his ribbons, and evidently admiring him and his
exquisite costume. The girls are smiling and much amused, while the young
man has an air of immense satisfaction.
At the Salon of 1903 Mlle. Fould exhibited "La
Chatouilleuse"--Tickling--and "Nasturtiums." The first shows a young
woman seated, wearing a decollete gown, while a mischievous companion
steals up behind and tickles her neck with a twig. It is less attractive
than many of this artist's pictures.
In 1890 Mlle. Fould painted a portrait of her stepfather, and for a time
devoted herself to portraits rather than to the subjects she had before
studied with such success. In 1893 she painted a portrait of Rosa
Bonheur, in her studio, while the latter paused from her work on a large
picture of lions. This portrait presents the great animal painter in a
calm, thoughtful mood, in the midst of her studio, surrounded by sketches
and all the accessories of her work. In the opinion of many who knew the
great artist most intimately this is the best portrait of her in
existence.
Mlle. Fould, at different periods, has painted legendary subjects, at
other times religious pictures, but in my judgment the last were the
least successful of her works.
Her "Cinderella" is delightful; the two "Merry Wives of Windsor," sitting
on the basket in which Falstaff is hidden, and from which he is pushing
out a hand, is an excellent illustration of this ever-amusing story, and,
indeed, all her pictures of this class may well be praised.
To the Exposition of 1900 she sent an allegorical picture, called "The
Gold Mine." A young woman in gold drapery drops gold coins from her
hands. In the background is the entrance to a mine, lighted dimly by a
miner's lamp, while a pickaxe lies at the feet of the woman; this picture
was accorded a bronze medal.
ADAM, MME. NANNY. First prize from the Union of Women Painters and
Sculptors, Paris. Medal from the Salon des Artistes Francais, and "honors
in many other cities." Member of the Societe des Artistes Francais. Born
at Crest (Drome). Her studies were made under Jean Paul Laurens. Her
pictures called "Calme du Soir" and "Le Soir aux Martignes" are in
private collections. "Les Remparts de la Ville Close, Concarneau,"
exhibited at the Salon Artistes Francais in 1902, was purchased by the
French Government. In 1903 she exhibited "June Twilight, Venice," and
"Morning Fog, Holland."
ADELSPARRE, SOPHIE ALBERTINE. Born in Oland 1808-62. In Stockholm
she received instruction from the sculptor Ovarnstroem and the painter
Ekman; after her father's death she went to Paris and entered the atelier
of Cogniet, and later did some work under the direction of her countrymen
Wickenberg and Wahlbom. She had, at this time, already made herself known
through her copies of some of the Italian masters and Murillo. Her copy
of the Sistine Madonna was placed by Queen Josephine in the Catholic
church at Christiania. After her return from Dresden where she went from
Paris, she painted portraits of King Oscar and Queen Josephine. In 1851,
having received a government scholarship, she went to Munich, Bologna,
and Florence, and lived three years and a half in Rome, where she was
associated with Fogelberg, Overbeck, and Schnetz, and became a Catholic.
During this time she copied Raphael's "Transfiguration," now in the
Catholic church at Stockholm, and painted from life a portrait of Pius
IX. for the castle at Drottningholm. She also painted a "Roman Dancing
Girl" and a "Beggar Girl of Terracina."
AHRENS, ELLEN WETHERALD. Second Toppan prize, Pennsylvania Academy
of Fine Arts. Second prize and silver medal, Carnegie Institute,
Pittsburg, 1902. Member of the Pennsylvania Academy, the Plastic Club,
and the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters. Born in Baltimore.
Studied at Boston Museum of Fine Arts under Grundmann, Champney, and
Stone; Pennsylvania Academy under Thomas Eakins; Drexel Institute under
Howard Pyle.
Many of her portraits are in private hands. That called "Sewing," a prize
picture, will be in the St. Louis Exhibition. Her portrait of Mr. Ellwood
Johnson is in the Pennsylvania Academy. That of Mary Ballard--a
miniature--was solicited for exhibition by the Copley Society, Boston.
Miss Ahrens is also favorably known as a designer for stained-glass
windows.
ALCOTT, MAY--MME. NIERIKER. Born in Concord, Massachusetts, 1840-79.
A sister of the well-known author, Louisa M. Alcott. This artist studied
in the Boston School of Design, in Krug's Studio, Paris, and under
Mueller. She made wonderful copies of Turner's pictures, both in oil and
water colors, which were greatly praised by Ruskin and were used in the
South Kensington Art Schools for the pupils to copy. Her still-life and
flower pictures are in private collections and much valued.
She exhibited at the Paris Salon and in the Dudley Gallery, London, and,
student as she still was, her works were approved by art critics on both
sides of the Atlantic, and a brilliant future as an artist was foretold
for her. Her married life was short, and her death sincerely mourned by a
large circle of friends, as well as by the members of her profession who
appreciated her artistic genius and her enthusiasm for her work.
ALEXANDER, FRANCESCA. Born in Florence, Italy. Daughter of the
portrait painter, Francis Alexander. Her pen-and-ink drawing is her best
work. The exquisite conceits in her illustrations were charmingly
rendered by the delicacy of her work. She thus illustrated an unpublished
Italian legend, writing the text also.
Mr. Ruskin edited her "Story of Ida" and brought out "Roadside Songs of
Tuscany," collected, translated, and illustrated by this artist. A larger
collection of these songs, with illustrations, was published by Houghton,
Mifflin & Co., entitled "Tuscan Songs."
ALIPPI-FABRETTI, QUIRINA. Silver medal at Perugia in 1879; honorary
member of the Royal Academy in Urbino and of the Academy of Fine Arts in
Perugia. Born in Urbino, 1849. She was the daughter of the jurisconsult
Luigi Alippi. She studied drawing and painting in Rome with Ortis and De
Sanctis. Following her father to Perugia in 1874, whither he had been
called to the Court of Appeals, she continued her study under Moretti.
She married Ferdinando Fabretti in 1877. She made admirable copies of
some of the best pictures in Perugia, notably Perugino's "Presepio" for a
church in Mount Lebanon, Syria. She was also commissioned to paint an
altar-piece, representing St. Stephen, for the same church. Her interiors
are admirable. She exhibited an "Interior of the Great Hall of the
Exchange of Perugia" in 1884, at Turin. She painted two interior views of
the church of San Giovanni del Cambio in Perugia, and an interior of the
vestibule of the Confraternity of St. Francis. Her other works, besides
portraits, include an "Odalisk," an "Old Woman Fortune-teller," and a
"St. Catherine."
ALLINGHAM, HELEN. Honorable mention at Paris Exhibition, 1900;
silver medal from Brussels Exhibition, 1901; bronze medal from the
Columbian Exhibition, Chicago. Member of the Royal Society of Painters in
Water Colors, London. Born near Burton-on-Trent, 1848. Began the study of
art at fourteen, in Birmingham School of Art, where she remained about
five years, when she entered the schools of the Royal Academy, where
instruction is given by the Royal Academicians in turn. In 1868 she went
to Italy.
Her first exhibition at the Royal Academy occurred in 1874, under the
name Helen Patterson; her pictures were "Wait for Me" and "The Milkmaid."
Since that time Mrs. Allingham has constantly exhibited at the Academy
and many other exhibitions.
Her pictures are of genre subjects, chiefly from English rural life and
landscapes. She has also been successful as an illustrator for the
_Graphic_, the _Cornhill Magazine_, and other publications. Her
water-color portraits of Carlyle in his later years are well known. She
introduced his cat "Tib" into a portrait taken in his Chelsea garden.
Among her most ambitious works are the "Young Customers," the "Old Men's
Garden, Chelsea Hospital," the "Lady of the Manor," "Confidences,"
"London Flowers," and others of kindred motives.
The "Young Customers," water-color, was exhibited at Paris in 1878. When
seen at the Academy in 1875, Ruskin wrote of it: "It happens curiously
that the only drawing of which the memory remains with me as a possession
out of the Old Water-Color Exhibition of this year--Mrs. Allingham's
'Young Customers'--should be not only by an accomplished designer of
woodcuts, but itself the illustration of a popular story. The drawing
with whatever temporary purpose executed, is forever lovely; a thing
which I believe Gainsborough would have given one of his own paintings
for--old-fashioned as red-tipped dresses are, and more precious than
rubies."--_Notes of the Academy_, 1875.
ALMA-TADEMA, LADY LAURA THERESE. Gold medal at International Art
Exhibition, Berlin, 1876; medal at Chicago, 1893; second-class medal at
Paris Exhibition, 1900. Born in London. From early childhood this artist
was fond of drawing and had the usual drawing-class lessons at school and
also drew from the antique in the British Museum. Her serious study,
however, began at the age of eighteen, under the direction of Laurenz
Alma-Tadema.
Her pictures are principally of domestic scenes, child-life, and other
genre subjects. "Battledore and Shuttlecock" is an interior, with a
graceful girl playing the game, to the amusement of a young child sitting
on a nurse's lap. The room is attractive, the accessories well painted,
and a second girl just coming through the door and turning her eyes up to
the shuttlecock is an interesting figure.
Of quite a different character is the picture called "In Winter." The
landscape is very attractive. In a sled, well wrapped up, is a little
girl, with a doll on her lap; the older boy--brother?--who pushes the
sled from behind, leaning over the child, does his part with a will, and
the dignified and serious expression on the face of the little girl in
the sled indicates her sense of responsibility in the care of the doll as
well as a feeling of deep satisfaction in her enjoyable outing.
Among the more important pictures by Lady Alma-Tadema are "Hush-a-Bye,"
"Parting," in the Art Gallery at Adelaide, New South Wales, "Silent
Persuasion," "The Carol," and "Satisfaction." Her picture in the Academy
Exhibition, 1903, a Dutch interior with a young mother nursing "The
Firstborn," was much admired and was in harmony with the verse,
Lie on mother's knee, my own,
Dance your heels about me!
Apples leave the tree, my own.
Soon you'll live without me."
AMEN, MADAME J. Honorable mention, Paris, 1901.
[_No reply to circular_.]
ANGUISCIOLA, LUCIA. A pupil of her sister Sofonisba, painted a
life-size portrait of Piermaria, a physician of Cremona. It is in the
gallery of the Prado, Madrid, and is signed, "Lucia Angvisola Amilcares.
F. Adolescens."
Lucia's portrait of her sister Europa is at Brescia. Some authorities
believe that the small portrait in the Borghese Gallery is by Lucia,
although it has been attributed to Sofonisba.
Vasari relates that Europa and a younger sister, Anna Maria, were
artists. A picture of the Holy Family, inscribed with Europa's name, was
formerly in the possession of a vicar of the church of San Pietro; it was
of far less merit than the works of her sisters.
ANGUISCIOLA, SOFONISBA. Born in Cremona, about 1539. Daughter of the
patrician, Amilcare Anguisciola, whose only fame rests on the fact that
he was the father of six daughters, all of whom were distinguished by
unusual talents in music and painting. Dear old Vasari was so charmed by
his visit to their palace that he pronounced it "the very home of
painting and of all other accomplishments."
Sofonisba was the second daughter. The actual date of her birth is
unknown, but from various other dates that we have concerning her, that
given above is generally adopted. She was educated with great care and
began her study of drawing and painting when but seven years old, under
the care of Bernardino Campi, the best artist of the five Campi of
Cremona. Later she was a pupil of Bernardino Gatti, "il Sojaro," and in
turn she superintended the artistic studies of her sisters.
Sofonisba excelled in portraits, and when twenty-four years old was known
all over Italy as a good artist. Her extraordinary proficiency at an
early age is proved by a picture in the Yarborough collection, London--a
portrait of a man, signed, and dated 1551, when she was not more than
twelve years old.
When presented at the court of Milan, then under Spanish rule, Sofonisba
was brought to the notice of Philip II., who, through his ambassador,
invited her to fill the office of court painter at Madrid. Flattering as
this invitation must have been to the artist and her family, it is not
surprising that she hesitated and required time for consideration of this
honorable proposal.
The reputation of the ceremonious Spanish court, under its gloomy and
exacting sovereign, was not attractive to a young woman already
surrounded by devoted admirers, to one of whom she had given her heart.
The separation from her family, too, and the long, fatiguing journey to
Spain, were objections not easily overcome, and her final acceptance of
the proposal was a proof of her energy and strength of purpose.
Her journey was made in 1560 and was conducted with all possible care for
her comfort. She was attended by two noble ladies as maids of honor, two
chamberlains, and six servants in livery--in truth, her mode of
travelling differed but little from that of the young ladies of the royal
family. As she entered Madrid she was received by the king and queen, and
by them conducted to the royal palace.
We can imagine Sofonisba's pleasure in painting the portrait of the
lovely Isabella, and her pictures of Philip and his family soon raised
her to the very summit of popularity. All the grandees of Madrid desired
to have their portraits from her hand, and rich jewels and large sums of
money were showered upon her.
Gratifying as was her artistic success, the affection of the queen, which
she speedily won, was more precious to her. She was soon made a
lady-in-waiting to her Majesty, and a little later was promoted to the
distinguished position of governess to the Infanta Clara Eugenia.
That Sofonisba fully appreciated her gentle mistress is shown in her
letter to Pope Pius IV., who had requested her to send him a portrait of
the queen. She wrote that no picture could worthily figure the royal
lady, and added: "If it were possible to represent to your Holiness the
beauty of the Queen's soul, you could behold nothing more wonderful."
The Pope bestowed rich gifts on Sofonisba, among which were sacred
relics, set with gems. He also wrote an autograph letter, still in
existence, in which he assured her that much as he admired her skill in
painting, he had been led to believe this the least of her many gifts.
Sofonisba soon gained the approval of the serious and solemn King, for
while Philip was jealous of the French ladies of the court and desired
Isabella to be wholly under Spanish influence, he proposed to the artist
a marriage with one of his nobles, by which means she would remain
permanently in the Queen's household. When Philip learned that Sofonisba
was already betrothed to Don Fabrizio de Moncada--a Sicilian nobleman--in
spite of his disappointment he joined Isabella in giving her a dowry of
twelve thousand crowns and a pension of one thousand.
It would seem that one who could so soften the heart and manners of
Philip II. as did Queen Isabella, must have had a charm of person and
character that no ordinary mortal could resist. One is compelled to a
kindly feeling for this much-hated man, who daily visited the Queen when
she was suffering from smallpox. In her many illnesses he was tenderly
devoted to her, and when we remember the miseries of royal ladies whose
children are girls, we almost love Philip for comforting Isabella when
her first baby was not a son. Philip declared himself better pleased
that she had given him a daughter, and made the declaration good by
devotion to this child so long as he lived.
Isabella, in a letter to her mother, wrote: "But for the happiness I have
of seeing the King every day I should find this court the dullest in the
world. I assure you, however, madame, that I have so kind a husband that
even did I deem this place a hundredfold more wearisome I should not
complain."
While Sofonisba was overwhelmed with commissions in Spain, her sisters
were far from idle in Cremona. Europa sent pictures to Madrid which were
purchased for private collections, and a picture by Lucia is now in the
Gallery of the Queen at Madrid.
When the time for Sofonisba's marriage came she was sorry to leave her
"second home," as she called Madrid, and as Don Fabrizio lived but a
short time, the King urged her return to Spain; but her desire to be once
more with her family impelled her to return to Italy.
The ship on which she sailed from Sicily was commanded by one of the
Lomellini, a noble family of Genoa, with whom Sofonisba fell so
desperately in love that she offered him her hand--which, says her
biographer, "he accepted like a generous man." Does this mean that she
had been ungenerous in depriving him of the privilege of asking for what
she so freely bestowed?
In Genoa she devotedly pursued her art and won new honors, while she was
not forgotten in Madrid. Presents were sent her on her second marriage,
and later the Infanta Clara Eugenia and other Spaniards of exalted rank
visited her in Genoa. Her palace became a centre of attraction to
Genoese artists and men of letters, while many strangers of note sought
her acquaintance. She contributed largely to the restoration of art and
literature to the importance that had been accorded them in the most
brilliant days of Genoese power.
We have not space to recount all the honors conferred on Sofonisba, both
as a woman and an artist. She lived to an extreme old age, and, although
she lost her sight, her intellect was undimmed by time or blindness.
Vandyck, who was frequently her guest, more than once declared that he
"was more benefited by the counsels of the blind Sofonisba than by all
his studies of the masters of his art!" From a pupil of Rubens this was
praise indeed!
The chief characteristics of Sofonisba's painting were grace and spirit.
Her portrait of herself when at her best is in possession of the
Lomellini. A second is the splendid picture at Althorpe, in which she is
represented as playing the harpsichord. One can scarcely imagine a place
in which a portrait would be more severely tested than in the gallery of
the Earl of Spencer, beside portraits of lovely women and famous men,
painted by master artists. Yet this work of Sofonisba's is praised by
discerning critics and connoisseurs. Of the other portraits of herself,
that in the Uffizi is signed by her as "of Cremona," which suggests that
it was painted before she went to Spain. That in the Vienna Gallery is
dated 1551, and inscribed Sophonisba Anguissola. Virgo. Sc. Ipsam Fecit.
Still another, in which a man stands beside her, is in the Sienna
Gallery. He holds a brush in his hand, and is probably one of her
masters.
Her portrait of her sisters playing chess, while an old duenna looks on,
was in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte and is said to be now in a
private gallery in England. Her religious pictures are rare; a "Marriage
of St. Catherine" is in the gallery at Wilton House.
She painted several pictures of three of her sisters on one canvas; one
is in the National Museum of Berlin, and a second, formerly in the
Leuchtenberg Gallery, is in the Hermitage at Petersburg. A small Holy
Family, signed and dated 1559, belonged to the art critic and author,
Morelli.
One regrets that so remarkable a woman left no record of her unusual
experiences. How valuable would be the story of Don Carlos from so
disinterested a person. How interesting had she told us of the _bal
masque_, given by Isabella in the fashion of her own country, when Philip
condescended to open the ball with the Queen; or of the sylvan fetes at
Aranjuez, and of the gardens made under the direction of Isabella. Of all
this she has told us nothing. We glean the story of her life from the
works of various authors, while her fame rests securely on her
superiority in the art to which she was devoted.
ANCHER, ANNA KRISTINE. Genre painter, won high praise at Berlin in
1900 for two pictures: "Tischgebet," which was masterly in its smoothness
and depth of expression, and "Eine blinde Frau in ihrer Stube," in which
the full sunlight streaming through the open window produced an affecting
contrast. She was born at Skagen, 1859, the daughter of Erik Brondum,
and early showed her artistic tendencies. Michael Ancher (whom she
married in 1880) noticed and encouraged her talent, which was first
displayed in small crayons treating pathetic or humorous subjects. From
1875-78 she studied with Khyn, and later more or less under the direction
of her husband. She has painted exclusively small pictures, dealing with
simple and natural things, and each picture, as a rule, contains but a
single figure. She believes that a dilapidated Skagen hovel may meet
every demand of beauty. "Maageplukkerne"--"Gull plucking"--exhibited in
1883, has been called one of the most sympathetic and unaffected pieces
of genre painting ever produced by a Danish artist.
An "Old Woman of Skagen," "A Mother and Child," and "Coffee is Ready"
were among the most attractive of her pictures of homely, familiar Danish
life. The last represents an old fisher, who has fallen asleep on the
bench by the stove, and a young woman is waking him with the above
announcement.
"A Funeral Scene" is in the Copenhagen Gallery. The coffin is hung with
green wreaths; the walls of the room are red; the people stand around
with a serious air. The whole story is told in a simple, homely way.
In the "History of Modern Painters" we read: "All her pictures are softly
tender and full of fresh light. But the execution is downright and
virile. It is only in little touches, in fine and delicate traits of
observation which would probably have escaped a man, that these paintings
are recognized as the work of a feminine artist."
ANTIGNA, MME. HELENE MARIE. Born at Melun. Pupil of her husband,
Jean Pierre Antigna, and of Delacroix. Her best works are small genre
subjects, which are excellent and much admired by other artists.
In 1877 she exhibited at the Paris Salon "On n'entre pas!" and the "New
Cider"; in 1876, an "Interior at Saint Brieuc" and "A Stable"; in 1875,
"Tant va la cruche a l'eau," etc.
APPIA, MME. THERESE. Member of the Society of the Permanente
Exposition of the Athenee, Geneva. Born at Lausanne. Pupil of Mercie and
Rodin at Paris.
Mme. Appia, before her marriage, exhibited at the Paris Salon several
years continuously. Since then she has exhibited at Turin and Geneva.
She has executed many portrait busts; among them are those of M.
Guillaume Monod, Paris, Commander Paul Meiller, and a medallion portrait
of Pere Hyacinthe, etc.
ARGYLL, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE PRINCESS LOUISE, DUCHESS OF. This
artist has exhibited her work since, 1868. Although her sketches in
water-color are clever and attractive, it is as a sculptor that her best
work has been done. Pupil of Sir J. E. Boehne, R.A., her unusual natural
talent was carefully developed under his advice, and her unflagging
industry and devotion to her work have enabled her to rival sculptors who
live by their art.
Her busts and lesser subjects are refined and delicate, while possessing
a certain individuality which this lady is known to exercise in her
direction of the assistant she is forced to employ. Her chief attainment,
the large seated figure of Queen Victoria in Kensington Gardens, is a
work of which she may well be proud.
Of this statue Mr. M. H. Spielmann writes: "The setting up of the figure,
the arrangement of the drapery, the modelling, the design of the
pedestal--all the parts, in fact--are such that the statue must be added
to the short list of those which are genuine embellishments to the city
of London."
The Duchess of Argyll has been commissioned to design a statue of heroic
size, to be executed in bronze and placed in Westminster Abbey, to
commemorate the colonial troops who gave up their lives in South Africa
in the Boer war.
ARNOLD, ANNIE R. MERRYLEES. Born at Birkenhead. A Scotch miniature
painter. Studied in Edinburgh, first in the School of Art, under Mr.
Hodder, and later in the life class of Robert Macgregor; afterward in
Paris under Benjamin-Constant.
Mrs. Arnold writes me that she thinks it important for miniature painters
to do work in a more realistic medium occasionally, and something of a
bolder character than can be done in their specialty. She never studied
miniature painting, but took it up at the request of a patroness who,
before the present fashion for this art had come about, complained that
she could find no one who painted miniatures. This lady gave the artist a
number of the _Girls' Own Journal,_ containing directions for miniature
painting, after which Mrs. Arnold began to work in this specialty. She
has painted a miniature of Lady Evelyn Cavendish, owned by the Marquis of
Lansdowne; others of the Earl and Countess of Mar and Kellie, the first
of which belongs to the Royal Scottish Academy; one of Lady Helen
Vincent, one of the daughter of Lionel Phillips, Esquire, and several for
prominent families in Baltimore and Washington. Her work is seen in the
exhibitions of the Royal Academy, London.
In 1903 she exhibited miniatures of Miss M. L. Fenton, the late Mrs.
Cameron Corbett, and the Hon. Thomas Erskine, younger son of the Earl of
Mar and Kellie.
[_No reply to circular_.]
ASSCHE, AMELIE VAN. Portrait painter and court painter to Queen
Louise Marie of Belgium. She was born in 1804, and was the daughter of
Henri Jean van Assche. Her first teachers were Mlle. F. Lagarenine and D'
Antissier; she later went to Paris, where she spent some time as a pupil
of Millet. She made her debut at Ghent in 1820, and in Brussels in 1821,
with water-colors and pastels, and some of her miniatures figured in the
various exhibitions at Brussels between 1830 and 1848, and in Ghent
between 1835 and 1838. Her portraits, which are thought to be very good
likenesses, are also admirable in color, drawing, and modelling; and her
portrait of Leopold I., which she painted in 1839, won for her the
appointment at court.
ASSCHE, ISABEL CATHERINE VAN. She was born at Brussels, 1794.
Landscape painter. She took a first prize at Ghent in 1829, and became a
pupil of her uncle, Henri van Assche, who was often called the painter of
waterfalls. As early as 1812 and 1813 two of her water-colors were
displayed in Ghent and Brussels respectively, and she was represented in
the exhibitions at Ghent in 1826, 1829, and 1835; at Brussels in 1827 and
1842; at Antwerp in 1834, 1837, and 1840; and at Luettich in 1836. Her
subjects were all taken from the neighborhood of Brussels, and one of
them belongs to the royal collection in the Pavilion at Haarlem. In 1828
she married Charles Leon Kindt.
ATHES-PERRELET, LOUISE. First prize and honorable mention, class
Gillet and Hebert, 1888; class Bovy, first prize, 1889; Academy class,
special mention, 1890; School of Arts, special mention, hors concours,
1891; also, same year, first prize for sculpture, offered by the Society
of Arts; first prize offered by the Secretary of the Theatre, 1902.
Member of the Union des Femmes and Cercle Artistique. Born at Neuchatel.
Studies made at Geneva under Mme. Carteret and Mme. Gillet and Professors
Hebert and B. Penn, in drawing and painting; M. Bovy, in sculpture; and
of various masters in decorative work and engraving. Has executed
statues, busts, medallion portraits; has painted costumes, according to
an invention of her own, for the Theatre of Geneva, and has also made
tapestries in New York. All her works have been commended in the journals
of Geneva and New York.
AUSTEN, WINIFRED. Member of Society of Women Artists, London. Born
at Ramsgate. Pupil of Mrs. Jopling-Rowe and Mr. C. E. Swan. Miss Austen
exhibits in the Royal Academy exhibitions; her works are well hung--one
on the line.
Her favorite subjects are wild animals, and she is successful in the
illustration of books. Her pictures are in private collections. At the
Royal Academy in 1903 she exhibited "The Day of Reckoning," a wolf
pursued by hunters through a forest in snow. A second shows a snow scene,
with a wolf baying, while two others are apparently listening to him.
"While the wolf, in nightly prowl, bays the moon with hideous howl," is
the legend with the picture.
AUZON, PAULINE. Born in Paris, where she died. 1775-1835. She was a
pupil of Regnault and excelled in portraits of women. She exhibited in
the Paris Salon from 1793, when but eighteen years old. Her pictures of
the "Arrival of Marie Louise in Compiegne" and "Marie Louise Taking Leave
of her Family" are in the Versailles Gallery.
BABIANO Y MENDEZ NUNEZ, CARMEN. At the Santiago Exposition, 1875,
this artist exhibited two oil paintings and two landscapes in crayon; at
Coruna, 1878, a portrait in oil of the Marquis de Mendez Nunez; at
Pontevedra, 1880, several pen and water-color studies, three life-size
portraits in crayon, and a work in oil, "A Girl Feeding Chickens."
BAILY, CAROLINE A. B. Gold medal, Paris Exposition, 1900;
third-class medal, Salon, 1901.
[_No reply to circular_.]
BAKER, ELIZABETH GOWDY. Medal at Cooper Union. Member of Boston Art
Students' Association and Art Workers' Club for Women, New York. Born at
Xenia, Ohio. Pupil of the Cooper Union, Art Students' League, New York
School of Art, Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, Cowles Art School,
Boston; under Frederick Freer, William Chase, and Siddons Mowbray.
This artist has painted numerous portraits and has been especially
successful with pictures of children. She has a method of her own of
which she has recently written me.
[Illustration: A PORTRAIT
ELIZABETH GOWDY BAKER]
She claims that it is excellent for life-size portraits in water-colors.
The paper she uses is heavier than any made in this country, and must be
imported; the water-colors are very strong. Mrs. Baker claims that in
this method she gets "the strength of oils with the daintiness of
water-colors, and that it is _beautiful_ for women and children, and
sufficiently strong for portraits of men."
She rarely exhibits, and her portraits are in private houses.
BAKHUYZEN, JUFFROUW GERARDINA JACOBA VAN DE SANDE. Silver medal at
The Hague, 1857; honorary medal at Amsterdam, 1861; another at The Hague,
1863; and a medal of distinction at Amsterdam Colonial Exhibition, 1885.
Daughter of the well-known animal painter. From childhood she painted
flowers, and for a time this made no especial impression on her family or
friends, as it was not an uncommon occupation for girls. At length her
father saw that this daughter, Gerardina--for he had numerous daughters,
and they all desired to be artists--had talent, and when, in 1850, the
Minerva Academy at Groningen gave out "Roses and Dahlias" as a subject,
and offered a prize of a little more than ten dollars for the best
example, he encouraged Gerardina to enter the contest. She received the
contemptible reward, and found, to her astonishment, that the Minerva
Academy considered the picture as belonging to them.
However, this affair brought the name of the artist to the knowledge of
the public, and she determined to devote herself to the painting of
flowers and fruit, in which she has won unusual fame. There is no
sameness in her pictures, and her subjects do not appear to be
"arranged"--everything seems to have fallen into its place by chance and
to be entirely natural.
Gerardina Jacoba and her brother Julius van de Sande Bakhuyzen, the
landscape painter, share one studio. She paints with rapidity, as one
must in order to picture the freshness of fast-fading flowers.
Johan Gram writes of her: "If she paints a basket of peaches or plums,
they look as if just picked by the gardener and placed upon the table,
without any thought of studied effect; some leaves covering the fruit,
others falling out of the basket in the most natural way. If she paints
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