Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D Part 12

BUTLER, LADY ELIZABETH. Born in Lausanne about 1844. Elizabeth Southerden Thompson. As a child this artist was fond of drawing soldiers and horses. She studied at the South Kensington School, at Florence under Bellucci, and in Rome. She worked as an amateur some years, first exhibiting at the Academy in 1873 her picture called "Missing," which was praised; but the "Roll-Call," of the following year, placed her in the front rank of the Academy exhibitors. It was purchased by the Queen and hung in Windsor Castle. She next exhibited the "Twenty-Eighth Regiment at Quatre Bras," the "Return from Inkerman," purchased by the Fine Art Society for 3,000. This was followed by kindred subjects.

In 1890 Lady Butler exhibited "Evicted," in 1891 the "Camel Corps," in 1892 "Halt in a Forced March," in 1895 the "Dawn of Waterloo," in 1896 "Steady the Drums and Fifes," in 1902 "Tent Pegging in India," in 1903 "Within Sound of the Guns."

In 1869 she painted a religious picture called the "Magnificat." In water-colors she has painted "Sketches in Tuscany" and several pictures of soldiers, among which are "Scot's Grays Advancing" and "Cavalry at a Gallop."

Lady Butler has recently appeared as an author, publis.h.i.+ng "Letters from the Holy Land," ill.u.s.trated by sixteen most attractive drawings in colors. The _Spectator_ says: "Lady Butler's letters and diary, the outcome of a few weeks' journeyings in Palestine, express simply and forcibly the impressions made on a devout and cultivated mind by the scenes of the Holy Land."

In 1875 Ruskin wrote in "Notes of the Academy": "I never approached a picture with more iniquitous prejudice against it than I did Miss Thompson's--'Quatre Bras'--partly because I have always said that no woman could paint, and secondly because I thought what the public made such a fuss about _must_ be good for nothing. But it is Amazon's work this, no doubt of it, and the first fine pre-Raphaelite picture of battle we have had; profoundly interesting, and showing all manner of ill.u.s.trative and realistic faculty.... The sky is most tenderly painted, and with the truest outline of cloud of all in the Exhibition; and the terrific piece of gallant wrath and ruin on the extreme left, when the cuira.s.sier is catching round the neck of his horse as he falls, and the convulsed fallen horse, seen through the smoke below, is wrought through all the truth of its frantic pa.s.sion with gradations of color and shade which I have not seen the like of since Turner's death."

The _Art Journal_, 1877, says: "'Inkerman' is simply a marvellous production when considered as the work of a young woman who was never on the field of battle.... No matter how many figures she brings into the scene, or how few, you may notice character in each figure, each is a superb study."

Her recent picture, "Within Sound of the Guns," shows a company of mounted soldiers on the confines of a river in South Africa.

[_No reply to circular_.]

CAMERON, KATHERINE. Member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-Colors; Modern Sketch Club, London; Ladies' Art Club, Glasgow.

Born in Glasgow. Studied at Glasgow School of Art under Professor Newbery, and at the Colarossi Academy, Paris, under Raphael Collin and Gustave Courtois.

Her pictures are of genre subjects princ.i.p.ally, and are in private collections. "'The Sea Urchin,'" Miss Cameron writes, "is in one of the public collections of Germany. I cannot remember which." She also says: "Except for my diploma R. S. W. and having my drawings sometimes in places of honor, usually on the line, and often reproduced in magazines, I have no other honors. I have no medals."

In the _Magazine of Art_, June, 1903, her picture of a "Bull Fight in Madrid" is reproduced. It is full of action and true to the life of these horrors as I have seen them in Madrid. Doubtless the color is brilliant, as the costumes of the toreadors are always so, and there are two in this picture. This work was displayed at the exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy, June, 1903--of which a writer says: "A feeling for color has always been predominant in the Scottish school, and it is here conspicuously displayed, together with a method of handling, be it in the domain of figure or landscape, which is personal to the artist and not a mere academic tradition."

In the _Studio_ of May, 1903, J. L. C., who writes of the same exhibition, calls this picture "admirable in both action and color."

CARL, KATE A. Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1890; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1896; honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1900. a.s.socie de la Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Born in New Orleans. Pupil of Julian Academy and of Courtois in Paris.

This artist's name has been made prominent by the fact of her being selected to paint a portrait of the Empress of China. Miss Carl has frequently exhibited at the Salon. In 1902 she sent portraits in both oil and water-colors. One of these works, called "Angelina," impresses one as a faithful portrait of a model. She is seated and gracefully posed--the face is in a full front view, the figure turned a little to one side and nude to the waist, the hands are folded on the lap and hold a flower, a gauze-like drapery falls about the left shoulder and the arms, but does not conceal them; the background is a brocade or tapestry curtain.

I have seen a reproduction only, and cannot speak of the color. The whole effect of the picture is attractive. For the purpose of painting the portrait of the Chinese Empress, Miss Carl was a.s.signed an apartment in the palace. It is said that the picture was to be finished in December, 1903, and will probably be seen at the St. Louis Exhibition.

[_No reply to circular_.]

CARLISLE, MISTRESS ANNE. Died in 1680. Was a favorite artist of King Charles I. It is said that on one occasion the King bought a quant.i.ty of ultramarine, for which he paid 500, and divided it between Vandyck and Mistress Carlisle. Her copies after the Italian masters were of great excellence.

She painted in oils as well as in water-colors. One of her pictures represents her as teaching a lady to use the brush. When we remember that Charles, who was so constantly in contact with Vandyck, could praise Mistress Carlisle, we must believe her to have been a good painter.

Mistress Anne has sometimes been confounded with the Countess of Carlisle, who was distinguished as an engraver of the works of Salvator Rosa, etc.

CARPENTER, MARGARET SARAH. The largest gold medal and other honors from the Society of Arts, London. Born at Salisbury, England. 1793-1872.

Pupil of a local artist in Salisbury when quite young. Lord Radnor's attention was called to her talent, and he permitted her to copy in the gallery of Longford Castle, and advised her sending her pictures to London, and later to go there herself. She made an immediate success as a portrait painter, and from 1814 during fifty-two years her pictures were annually exhibited at the Academy with a few rare exceptions.

Her family name was Geddis; her husband was Keeper of the Prints and Drawings in the British Museum more than twenty years, and after his death his wife received a pension of 100 a year in recognition of his services.

Her portraits were considered excellent as likenesses; her touch was firm, her color brilliant, and her works in oils and water-colors as well as her miniatures were much esteemed. Many of them were engraved. Her portrait of the sculptor Gibson is in the National Portrait Gallery, London. A life-size portrait of Anthony Stewart, miniature painter, called "Devotion," and the "Sisters," portraits of Mrs. Carpenter's daughters, with a picture of "Ockham Church," are at South Kensington.

She painted a great number of portraits of t.i.tled ladies which are in the collections of their families. Among the more remarkable were those of Lady Eastnor, 1825; Lady King, daughter of Lord Byron, 1835; Countess Ribblesdale, etc.

Her portraits of Fraser Tytler, John Girkin, and Bonington are in the National Portrait Gallery, London. In the South Kensington Gallery are her pictures of "Devotion--St. Francis," which is a life-size study of Anthony Stewart, the miniature painter; "The Sisters," "Ockham Church,"

and "An Old Woman Spinning."

CARPENTIER, MLLE. MADELEINE. Honorable mention, 1890; third-cla.s.s medal, 1896. Born in Paris, 1865. Pupil of Bonnefoy and of Jules Lefebvre at the Julian Academy. Since 1885 this artist has exhibited many portraits as well as flower and fruit pieces, these last in water-colors.

In 1896 her pictures were the "Communicants" and the "Candles," a pastel, purchased by the city of Paris; "Among Friends" is in the Museum of Bordeaux.

At the Salon of the Artistes Francais, 1902, Mlle. Carpentier exhibited a picture called "Reflection," and in 1903 a portrait of Mme. L. T. and the "Little Goose-Herders."

CARRIERA, ROSALBA, better known as Rosalba. Born in Venice 1675-1757--and had an eventful life. Her artistic talent was first manifested in lace-weaving, which as a child she preferred before any games or amus.e.m.e.nts. She studied painting under several masters, technique under Antonio Balestra, pastel-painting with Antonio Nazari and Diamantini, and miniature painting, in which she was especially distinguished, was taught her by her brother-in-law, Antonio Pellegrini, whom she later accompanied to Paris and London and a.s.sisted in the decorative works he executed there.

Rosalba's fame in Venice was such that she was invited to the courts of France and Austria, where she painted many portraits. She was honored by election to the Academies of Rome, Bologna, and Paris.

This artist especially excelled in portraits of pretty women, while her portraits of men were well considered. Among the most important were those of the Emperor Charles, the kings of France and Denmark, and many other distinguished persons, both men and women.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany asked for her own portrait for his gallery. She represented herself with one of her sisters. Her face is n.o.ble and most expressive, but, like many of her pictures, while the head is spirited and characteristic, the rest of the figure and the accessories are weak.

A second portrait of herself--in crayons--is in the Dresden Gallery, and is very attractive.

While in England Rosalba painted many portraits in crayon and pastel, in which art she was not surpa.s.sed by any artist of her day.

Her diary of two years in Paris was published in Venice. It is curious and interesting, as it sets forth the customs of society, and especially those of artists of the period.

Returning to Venice, Rosalba suffered great depression and was haunted by a foreboding of calamity. She lived very quietly. In his "Storia della Pittura Veneziana," Zanetti writes of her at this time: "Much of interest may be written of this celebrated and highly gifted woman, whose spirit, in the midst of her triumphs and the brightest visions of happiness, was weighed down by the antic.i.p.ation of a heavy calamity. On one occasion she painted a portrait of herself, the brow wreathed with leaves which symbolized death. She explained this as an image of the sadness in which her life would end."

Alas, this was but too prophetic! Before she was fifty years old she lost her sight, and gradually the light of reason also, and her darkness was complete.

An Italian writer tells the following story: "Nature had endowed Rosalba with lofty aspirations and a pa.s.sionate soul; her heart yearned for the admiration which her lack of personal attraction forbade her receiving.

She fully realized her plainness before the Emperor Charles XI. rudely brought it home to her. When presented to him by the artist Bertoli, the Emperor exclaimed: 'She may be clever, Bertoli mio, this painter of thine, but she is remarkably ugly.' From which it would appear that Charles had not believed his mirror, since his ugliness far exceeded that of Rosalba! Her dark eyes, fine brow, good expression, and graceful pose of the head, as shown in her portrait, impress one more favorably than would be antic.i.p.ated from this story."

Many of Rosalba's works have been reproduced by engravings; a collection of one hundred and fifty-seven of these are in the Dresden Gallery, together with several of her pictures.

Ca.s.sATT, MARY. Born in Pittsburg. Studied in Pennsylvania schools, and under Soyer and Bellay in Paris. She has lived and travelled much in Europe, and her pictures, which are of genre subjects, include scenes in France, Italy, Spain, and Holland.

Among her princ.i.p.al works are "La ta.s.se de the," "Le lever du bebe,"

"Reading," "Mere et Enfant," and "Caresse Maternelle."

Miss Ca.s.satt has exhibited at the Paris Salon, the National Academy, New York, and various other exhibitions, but her works are rarely if ever exhibited in recent days. It is some years since William Walton wrote of her: "But in general she seems to have attained that desirable condition, coveted by artists, of being able to dispense with the annual exhibitions."

Miss Ca.s.satt executed a large, decorative picture for the north tympanum of the Woman's Building at the Columbian Exhibition.