Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.
Part 11
DUBOURG, VICTORIA--MME. FANTIN-LATOUR. Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1894; medal third class, 1895; picture in Gallery of Luxembourg, 1903. Member of the Société des Artistes Français. Born in Paris, 1840. Studies made at the Museum of the Louvre.
Mme. Dubourg has exhibited her works at the Salons regularly since 1868, and her pictures are now seen in the Museums of Grenoble and Pau, as well as in many private collections. Her subjects are of still life.
At the Salon of the Artistes Français, in 1902, Mme. Dubourg exhibited a "Basket of Flowers."
DUBRAY, CHARLOTTE GABRIELLE. Born at Paris, and was the pupil of her father, Gabriel Vital-Dubray. In 1874 she exhibited at the Salon a marble bust of a "Fellah Girl of Cairo"; in 1875, a silvered bronze bust called the "Study of a Head," in the manner of Florence, sixteenth century; in 1876, "The Daughter of Jephthah Weeping on the Mountain," a plaster statue, a bust in bronze, and "A Neapolitan"; in 1877, "The Coquette," a bust in terra-cotta, and a portrait bust, in bronze, of M. B.
DUCOUDRAY, MLLE. M. Honorable mention, 1898; honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1900. At the Salon des Artistes Français, in 1902, this sculptor exhibited "Mon Maître Zacharie Astruc," and in 1903, "En Bretagne."
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DUFAU, CLÉMENTINE HÉLÈNE. Awards from the Salon, Bashkirtseff prize, 1895; medal third class, 1897; travelling purse, 1898; medal second class, 1902; Hors Concours; silver medal, Paris Exposition, 1900. Picture in the Luxembourg, 1902. Member of the Société des Artistes Français and of the Società Heleno Latina, Rome. Born at Quinsac (Gironde).
Studies made at Julian Academy, under Bouguereau and Robert-Fleury. Mlle. Dufau calls her works illustrations and posters, and gives the following as the principal examples:
"Fils des Mariniers," in Museum of Cognac; "Rhythme," "Dryades," "Automne," a study, Manzi collection; "Espagne," "Été," Behourd collection; "Automne," Gallery of the Luxembourg. The latter is a decorative work of rare interest. At the Salon of 1903 Mlle. Dufau exhibited two works--"La grande Voix" and "Une Partie de Pelotte, au Pays basque." The latter was purchased by the Government, and will be hung in the Luxembourg.
DUHEM, MARIE. Officer of the Academy, 1895; member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts; medal at the Paris Exposition, 1900; diploma of honor at Exposition of Women Artists, London, 1900. Born at Guemps (Pas-de-Calais). Has had no masters, has studied and worked by herself.
Her pictures are in several museums: "The Communicants," at Cambrai; "Easter Eve," at Calais; "Death of a White Sister," at Arras, etc. The picture of St. Francis of Assisi was exhibited at the Salon of the Beaux-Arts, 1903. The saint, with a large aureole, is standing in the midst of a desolate landscape; his left hand raised, as if speaking--perhaps to some living thing, though nothing is revealed in the reproduction in the illustrated catalogue of the Salon.
The other exhibits by Mme. Duhem are flower pictures--jonquils and oranges, chrysanthemums and roses. In 1902 she exhibited "The House with Laurels" in water-colors, and in oils "The High Road" and "The Orison." The first is a scene at nightfall and is rendered with great delicacy and refinement.
DUPRÉ, AMALIA. Corresponding member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Florence, and of the Academy of Perugia. Born in Florence, 1845. Pupil of her father, Giovanni Dupré, who detected her artistic promise in her childish attempts at modelling. She has executed a number of notable sepulchral monuments, one for Adèle Stiacchi; one for the daughter of the Duchess Ravaschieri, in Naples, which represents the "Madonna Receiving an Angel in her Arms"; it is praised for its subject and for the action of the figures. "A Sister of Charity" for the tomb of the Cavaliere Aleotti is her work, and for the tomb of her parents, at Fiesole, she reproduced "La Pietà," one of her father's most famous sculptures.
For the facade of the Florence Cathedral she made a statue of "Saint Reparata," and finished the "San Zenobi" which her father did not live to complete.
She has a wide reputation in Italy for her statues of the "Young Giotto," "St. Peter in Prison," and "San Giuseppe Calasanzio."
DURANT, SUSAN D. This English sculptor was educated in Paris, and died there in 1873. She first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1847. She was the teacher of the Princess Louise, and executed medallion portraits and busts of many members of the royal family of England. Her works were constantly exhibited at the Royal Academy. The _Art Journal_, March, 1873, spoke of her as "one of our most accomplished female sculptors." Her bust of Queen Victoria is in the Middle Temple, London; the "Faithful Shepherdess," an ideal figure, executed for the Corporation of London, is in the Mansion House. Among her other works are "Ruth," a bust of Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a monument to the King of Belgium, at Windsor.
D'UZÈS, MME. LA DUCHESSE. Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1889. Born in Paris, 1847. Pupil of Bonnassieux and Falguière. The principal works of this artist are "Diana Surprised," in marble; "Saint Hubert," in the church of the Sacré-Coeur; the same subject for a church in Canada; "The Virgin," a commission from the Government, in the church at Poissy; "Jeanne d'Arc," at Mousson; the monument to Émile Augier, the commission for which was obtained in a competition with other sculptors; and many busts and statuettes.
In the spring of 1903, at the twenty-second exhibition of the Society of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Duchesse d'Uzès exhibited a large statue of the Virgin which is to be erected in the church of St. Clothilde. It is correct anatomically and moulded with great delicacy.
EARL, MAUD. A painter of animals, whose "Early Morning" was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1885, and has been followed by "In the Drifts," "Old Benchers," "A Cry for Help," etc. In 1900 she exhibited "The Dogs of Death"; in 1901, "On Dian's Day."
Miss Earl has painted portraits of many dogs on the Continent and in Great Britain, notably those belonging to Queen Victoria and to the present King and Queen.
This artist exhibits in the United States as well as in the chief cities of England, and has held private exhibitions in Graves' Galleries. In 1902 her principal work was "British Hounds and Gun-Dogs." Many of her pictures have been engraved and published in both England and the United States. Among them are the last-named picture, "Four by Honors," "The Absent-Minded Beggar," and "What We Have We'll Hold."
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EGLOFFSTEIN, COUNTESS JULIA. Born at Hildesheim. 1786-1868. This painter of portraits and genre subjects belonged to a family of distinction in the north of Germany. She was a maid of honor at the court of Weimar. Her pictures were praised by Cornelius and other Munich artists. Her portrait of Goethe, in his seventy-seventh year, is in the Museum at Weimar. She also painted portraits of Queen Theresa Charlotte of Bavaria and of the Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar. Her picture of "Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert" is well known in Germany.
EGNER, MARIE. Pupil of Schindler in Vienna. She has exhibited her pictures at the exhibitions of the Vienna Water-Color Club. In 1890 an exquisite series of landscapes and flowers, in 1894 "A Mill in Upper Austria," in gouache, and in 1895 other work in the same medium, confirming previous impressions of her fine artistic ability.
EISENSTEIN, ROSA VON. Born in Vienna, 1844. This artist is one of the few Austrian women artists who made all her studies in her native city. She was a pupil of Mme. Wisinger-Florian, Schilcher, C. Probst, and Rudolf Huber. Her pictures are of still-life. She is especially fond of painting birds and is successful in this branch of her art.
ELLENRIEDER, ANNA MARIE. Born at Constance. 1791-1863. A pupil of Einsle, a miniaturist, and later of Langer, in Munich. In Rome, where this artist spent several years, she became a disciple of Overbeck. Returning to Switzerland, she received the appointment of Court painter at Baden in 1829.
Her works are portraits and pictures of historical subjects, many of the latter being Biblical scenes. Among her best works are the "Martyrdom of Saint Stephen," in the Catholic church at Carlsruhe; a "Saint Cecilia," a "Madonna," and "Mary with the Christ-Child Leaving the Throne of Heaven" are in the Carlsruhe Gallery. "Christ Blessing Little Children" is in the church at Coburg. Among her other works are "John Writing his Revelation at Patmos," "Peter Awaking Tabitha," and "Simeon in the Temple."
Her religious subjects sometimes verge on the sentimental, but are of great sweetness, purity, and tenderness. She was happier in her figures of women than in those of men. She also made etchings of portraits and religious subjects in the manner of G. F. Schmidt.
EMMET, LYDIA FIELD. Medal at Columbian Exhibition, Chicago, 1893; medal at Atlanta Exhibition, 1895; honorable mention at Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901. Member of the Art Students' League and Art Workers' Club for Women. Born at New Rochelle, New York. Studied at Art Students' League under Chase, Mowbray, Cox, and Reid; at the Julian Academy, Paris, under Robert-Fleury, Giacomotti, and Bouguereau; at the Shinnecock School of Art under W. M. Chase; at Académie Vieté, Paris, under Collin, and in a private studio under Mac Monnies.
Miss Emmet has painted many portraits, which are in private hands in New York, Chicago, Boston, and elsewhere. She executed a decorative painting for the Woman's Building at Chicago which is still in that city.
EMMET, ROSINA--MRS. ARTHUR MURRAY SHERWOOD. Silver medal, Paris Exposition, 1889; the Art Department medal, Chicago, 1893; bronze medal, Buffalo, 1901. Member of the Society of American Artists, American Water-Color Society, New York Water-Color Club. Born in New York City. Studied two years under William M. Chase and six months at Julian Academy, Paris.
Miss Emmet exhibited at the National Academy of Design, in 1881, a "Portrait of a Boy"; in 1882, a "Portrait of Alexander Stevens" and "Waiting for the Doctor"; in 1883, "Red Rose Land" and "La Mesciana"; her picture called "September" belongs to the Boston Art Club. The greater number of her works are in private collections.
ESCALLIER, MME. ÉLÉONORE. Medal at Salon, 1868. A pupil of Ziegler. A painter of still-life whose pictures of flowers and birds were much admired. "Chrysanthemums," exhibited in 1869, was purchased by the Government. "Peaches and Grapes," 1872, is in the Museum at Dijon; and in 1875 she executed decorative panels for the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur.
ESCH, MATHILDE. Born at Kletten, Bohemia, 1820. Pupil of Waldmüller in Vienna. She also studied a long time in Düsseldorf and several years in Paris, finally settling in Vienna. She painted charming scenes from German and Hungarian life, as well as flowers and still-life. Most of her works are in private galleries.
ESINGER, ADÈLE. Born in Salzburg, 1846. In 1874 she became a student at the Art School in Stuttgart, where she worked under the special direction of Funk, and later entered the Art School at Carlsruhe, where she was a pupil of Gude. She also received instruction from Hansch. Her pictures are remarkable for their poetic feeling; especially is this true of "A Quiet Sea," "The Gollinger Waterfall," and "A Country Party."
EYCK, MARGARETHA VAN. In Bruges, in the early decades of the fifteenth century, the Van Eycks were inventing new methods in the preparation of colors. Their discoveries in this regard assured them an undying fame, second only to that of their marvellous pictures.
Here, in the quaint old city--a large part of which we still describe as mediaeval--in an atmosphere totally unlike that of Italy, beside her devout brothers, Hubert and Jan, was Margaretha. When we examine the minute detail and delicate finish of the pictures of Jan van Eyck, we see a reason why the sister should have been a miniaturist, and do not wonder that with such an example before her she should have excelled in this art. The fame of her miniatures extended even to Southern Italy, where her name was honorably known.
We cannot now point to any pictures as exclusively hers, as she worked in concert with her brothers. It is, however, positively known that a portion of an exquisite Breviary, in the Imperial Library in Paris, was painted by Margaretha, and that she illustrated other precious and costly manuscripts.
She was held in high esteem in Bruges and was honored in Ghent by burial in the Church of St. Bavo, where Hubert van Eyck had been interred. Karl van Mander, an early writer on Flemish art, was poetically enthusiastic in praise of Margaretha, calling her "a gifted Minerva, who spurned Hymen and Lucina, and lived in single blessedness."
A Madonna in the National Gallery in London is attributed to Margaretha van Eyck.
FACIUS, ANGELIKA. Born at Weimar. 1806-87. This artist was distinguished as an engraver of medals and gems. Pupil of her father, Friedrich Wilhelm Facius. Goethe recommended her to Rauch, and in 1827 she went to Berlin to study in his studio. Under her father's instruction she engraved the medal for the celebration at Weimar, 1825, of the jubilee of the Grand Duke Charles Augustus. Under Rauch's direction she executed the medal to commemorate the duke's death. In 1841 she made the medal for the convention of naturalists at Jena.
After Neher's designs, she modelled reliefs for the bronze doors at the castle of Weimar.
FARNCOMB, CAROLINE. Several first prizes in exhibitions in London, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. Member of Women's Art Club, London, Ontario. Born near Toronto, Canada. Pupil of Mr. Judson and Mlle. van den Broeck in London, Canada, and later of William Chase in New York. Now studying in Paris.
FASSETT, CORNELIA ADÈLE. 1831-1898. Member of the Chicago Academy of Design and the Washington Art Club. Born in Owasco, New York. Studied water-color painting in New York under an English artist, J. B. Wandesforde. Pupil in Paris of Castiglione, La Tour, and Mathieu. Her artistic life was spent in Chicago and Washington, D. C.
She painted numerous portraits in miniature and a large number in oils. Among those painted from life were Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Garfield; Vice-President Henry Wilson; Charles Foster, when Governor of Ohio, now in the State House at Columbus, Ohio; Dr. Rankin, president of Howard University, Washington; and many other prominent people of Chicago and Washington.
Her chief work and that by which she is best remembered hangs in the Senate wing of the United States Capitol. No picture in the Capitol attracts more attention, and large numbers of people view it daily. It is the "Electoral Commission in Open Session." It represents the old Senate Chamber, now the Supreme Court Room, with William M. Evarts making the opening argument. There are two hundred and fifty-eight portraits of notable men and women, prominent in political, literary, scientific, and social circles. Many of these were painted from life.
The _Arcadian_, New York, December 15, 1876, in speaking of this picture, says: "Mr. Evarts is addressing the court, and the large number of people present are naturally and easily grouped. There is no stiffness nor awkwardness in the positions, nothing forced in the whole work. There are, in the crowd, ladies in bright colors to relieve the sombreness of the black-coated men, and the effect of the whole picture is pleasing and artistic, aside from its great value as an historical work."
The _Washington Capital_, March 17, 1878: "Mrs. Fassett's 'Electoral Commission' gives evidence of great merit, and this illustration in oil of an historical event in the presidential annals of the country, by the preservation of the likenesses in groups of some of the principal actors, and a few leading correspondents of the press, will be valuable. This picture we safely predict will be a landmark in the history of the nation that will never be erased. It memorizes a most remarkable crisis in our life, and perpetuates, both by reason of its intrinsic value as a chapter of history and its intrinsic worth as an art production, the incident it represents and the name of the artist."
In the _Washington Star_, October, 1903, an article appeared from which I quote as follows: "On the walls of the beautiful tessellated corridor of the eastern gallery floor of the Senate wing of the Capitol at Washington, just opposite the door of the caucus room of the Senate Democrats, hangs a large oil painting that never fails to attract the keenest curiosity of sightseers and legislators alike. And for good reason: that painting depicts in glowing colors a scene of momentous import, a chapter of American political history of graver consequence and more far-reaching results than any other since the Civil War. The printed legend on the frame of the picture reads:
"'The Florida case before the electoral commission, February 5, 1877. Painted from life sittings in the United States Supreme Court room by Cornelia Adèle Fassett.'"
"The painting belongs to Congress, having been purchased from the artist for $15,000. As you face the picture the portraits of two hundred and fifty-eight men and women, who, twenty-six years ago, were part and parcel of the legislative, executive, judicial, social, and journalistic life of Washington, look straight at you as if they were still living and breathing things, as, indeed, many of them are. As a work of art the picture is unique, for each face is so turned that the features can easily be studied, and the likenesses of nearly all are so faithful as to be a source of constant wonder and delight."--_David S. Barry_, in _Pearson's Magazine_.
FAUVEAU, FÉLICIE DE. Second-class medal at Florence in 1827, when she made her début by exhibiting a statue, "The Abbot," and a group, "Queen Christine and Monaldeschi." Born in Florence, of French parents, about 1802. For political reasons she was forced to leave Florence about 1834, when she went to Belgium, but later returned to her native city.
Among her best works are "St. George and the Dragon," bronze; the "Martyrdom of St. Dorothea," "Judith with the Head of Holofernes," "St. Genoveva," marble, and a monument to Dante.
Her works display a wonderful skill in the use of drapery and a purity of taste in composition. She handled successfully the exceedingly difficult subject, a "Scene between Paolo and Francesca da Rimini."
FAUX-FROIDURE, MME. EUGÉNIE JULIETTE. Honorable mention at Salon, 1898; the same at the Paris Exposition, 1900; third-class medal at Salon, 1903; first prize of the Union of Women Painters and Sculptors, 1902; chevalier of the Order Nichan Iftikar; Officer of Public Instruction. Member of the Association of Baron Taylor, of the Société des Artistes Français, of the Union of Women Painters and Sculptors, and of the Association of Professors of Design of the City of Paris. Born at Noyen (Sarthe). Pupil of P. V. Galland, Albert Maignan, and G. Saintpierre.
Mme. Faux-Froidure's pictures are principally of fruit and flowers, and three have been purchased by the Government. One, "Raisins" (Grapes), is in the Museum at Commerey; a second, "Hortensias" (Hydrangeas), is in the Museum of Mans; the third, which was in the Salon of 1903, has not yet been placed. In 1899 she exhibited a large water-color called "La Barque fleurie," which was much admired and was reproduced in "L'Illustration." Her water-color of "Clematis and Virginia Creeper" is in the Museum at Tunis. In the summer exhibition of 1903, at Évreux, this artist's "Peonies" and "Iris" were delightfully painted--full of freshness and brilliancy, such as would be the despair of a less skilful hand.
At the Limoges Exposition, May to November, 1903, Mme. Faux-Froidure was announced as hors concours in water-colors.
La Société Français des Amis des Arts purchased from the Salon, 1903, two water-colors by Mme. Faux-Froidure--"Roses" and "Loose Flowers," or "Jonchée fleurie."
Her pictures at the Exposition at Toulouse, spring of 1903, were much admired. In one she had most skilfully arranged "Peaches and Grapes." The color was truthful and delicate. The result was a most artistic picture, in which the art was concealed and nature alone was manifest. A second picture of "Zinnias" was equally admirable in the painting of the flowers, while that of the table on which they were placed was not quite true in its perspective.
Of a triptych, called the "Life of Roses," exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, 1903, Jules de Saint Hilaire writes: "Mme. Faux-Froidure was inspired when she painted her charming triptych of 'Rose Life.' In the compartment on the left the roses are twined in a crown resembling those worn in processions; in the centre, in all its dazzling beauty, the red rose, the rose of love, is enthroned; while the panel on the right is consecrated to the faded rose--the souvenir rose, shrivelled, and lying beside the little casket which it still perfumes with its old-time sweetness."
FISCHER, CLARA ELIZABETH. Born in Berlin, 1856. Studied under Biermann six years, and later under Julius Jacob. Her pictures are portraits and genre subjects. Among the latter are "What Will Become of the Child?" 1886; "Orphaned," "In the Punishment Corner," and "Morning Devotion."
FISCHER, HELENE VON. Born in Bremen, 1843. She first studied under a woman portrait painter in Berlin; later she was a pupil of Frische in Düsseldorf, of Robie in Brussels, and of Hertel and Skarbina in Berlin.
She makes a specialty of flowers, fruit, and still-life; her fruit and flower pieces are beautiful, and her pictures of the victims of the chase are excellent.
FLESCH-BRUNNENGEN, LUMA VON. Born in Brünn in 1856. In Vienna she worked under Schöner, the interpreter of Venetian and Oriental life, and later in Munich she acquired technical facility under Frithjof Smith. Travels in Italy, France, and Northern Africa furnished many of her themes--mostly interiors with figures, in which the entering light is skilfully managed. "The Embroiderers," showing three characteristic figures, who watch the first attempt of their seriously earnest pupil, is full of humor. In sharp contrast to this is a "Madonna under the Cross," exhibited at Berlin in 1895, in which the mother's anguish is most sympathetically rendered. "Devotion," "Shelterless," and the "Kitchen Garden" are among the paintings which have won her an excellent reputation as a genre painter.
FLEURY, MME. FANNY.
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FOCCA, SIGNORA ITALIA ZANARDELLI. Silver medal at Munich, 1893; diploma of gold medal at Women's Exhibition, London, 1900. Member of Società Amatorie Pittori di Belle Arti, of the Unione degli Artisti, and of the Società Cooperativa, all in Rome.
Born in Padua, 1872. Pupil of Ottin in Paris, and of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
The principal works of this sculptor are a "Bacchante," now in St. Petersburg; "Najade," sold in London; "The Virgin Mother," purchased by Cavaliere Alinari of Florence; portrait of the Minister Merlo, which was ordered by the Ministry of Public Instruction. Many other less important works are in various Italian and foreign cities.
Signora Focca is a professor of drawing in the Normal Schools of Rome.