THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Practice of Art in America.--Number of women Artists
increasing.--Prospect flattering.--Imperfection of Sketches of
living Artists.--Rosalba Torrens.--Miss Murray.--Mrs. Lupton.--Miss
Denning.--Miss O’Hara.--Mrs. Darley.--Mrs. Goodrich.--Miss
Foley.--Miss Mackintosh and others.--Mrs. Ball Hughes.--Mrs.
Chapin.--Sketch of Mrs. Duncan.--The Peale Family.--Anecdote of
General Washington.--Mrs. Washington’s Punctuality.--Miss Peale
an Artist in Philadelphia.--Paints Miniatures.--Copies Pictures
from great Artists.--She and her Sister honorary Members of the
Academy.--Her prosperous Career.--Paints with her Sister in
Baltimore and Washington.--Marriage and Widowhood.--Return to
Philadelphia.--Second Marriage.--Happy Home.--Mrs. Yeates.--Miss Sarah
M. Peale.--Success.--Removal to St. Louis.--Miss Rosalba Peale.--Miss
Ann Leslie.--Early Taste in Painting.--Visits to London.--Copies
Pictures.--Miss Sarah Cole.--Mrs. Wilson.--Intense Love of Art.--Her
Sculptures.--Her impromptu Modeling of Emerson’s Head.--Mrs. Cornelius
Dubois.--Her Taste for the Sculptor’s Art.--Groups by her.--Studies in
Italy.--Her Cameos.--Her Kindness to Artists.--Miss Anne Hall.--Early
Love of Painting.--Lessons.--Copies old Paintings in Miniature.--Her
original Pictures.--Her Merits of the highest Order.--Groups in
Miniature.--Dunlap’s Praise.--Her Productions numerous.--Mary
S. Legaré.--Her Ancestry.--Mrs. Legaré.--Early Fondness for Art
shown by the Daughter.--Her Studies.--Little Beauty in the Scenery
familiar to her.--Colonel Cogdell’s Sympathy with her.--Success
in Copying.--Visit to the Blue Ridge.--Grand Views.--Paintings
of mountain Scenery.--Removal to Iowa.--“Legaré College.”--Her
Erudition and Energy.--Her Marriage.--Herminie Dassel.--Reverse of
Fortune.--Painting for a Living.--Visit to Vienna and Italy.--Removal
to America.--Success and Marriage.--Her social Virtues and
Charity.--Miss Jane Stuart.--Mrs. Hildreth.--Mrs. Davis.--Mrs.
Badger’s Book of Flowers.--Mrs. Hawthorne.--Mrs. Hill.--Mrs.
Greatorex.--Mrs. Woodman.--Miss Gove.--Miss May.--Miss Granbury.--Miss
Oakley.
In America the practice of art by woman is but in its commencement.
Although many names of female artists are now familiar to the public,
and the number is rapidly increasing, few have had time to accomplish
all for which they may possess the ability. The prospect, however, is
one most flattering to our national pride.
The sketches of living American women who are pursuing art are chiefly
prepared from materials furnished by their friends. They are given in
simplicity, and may appear imperfect, but we hope indulgence may be
extended to them where they are inadequate to do justice to the subject.
Rosalba Torrens is mentioned by Ramsay, in his History of South
Carolina, as a meritorious landscape-painter. Praise is also bestowed
on Eliza Torrens, afterward Mrs. Cochran. Miss Mary Murray painted in
crayons and water-colors in New York, and produced many life-sized
portraits, which gained her celebrity. Madame Planteau painted in
Washington about 1820, and was highly esteemed.
Dunlap mentions Mrs. Lupton as a modeler. She presented a bust of
Governor Throop to the National Academy of Design in New York, of
which she was an honorary member. Many of her paintings elicited high
commendation. She executed many busts in clay, of her friends. There
was hardly a branch of delicate workmanship in which she did not
excel, and her literary attainments were varied and extensive. She
was an excellent French scholar, and a proficient in Latin, Italian,
and Spanish, besides having mastered the Hebrew sufficiently to read
the Old Testament with ease. In English literature she was thoroughly
versed, and was an advanced student in botany and natural history.
She was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, and was married early
in life. Mr. Lupton, a gentleman of high professional and literary
attainments, resided in the city of New York. After his death his
widow devoted herself to study, that she might be qualified to educate
her young daughter, and, after the loss of this only child, pursued
knowledge as a solace for her sorrows. Her talents and accomplishments,
her elevated virtues and charities, and her attractive social qualities
drew around her a circle of warm and admiring friends. She lived a
short time in Canada, and died at the house of a relative on Long
Island.
Miss Charlotte Denning, of Plattsburgh, is spoken of as a clever
miniature-painter, and also Miss O’Hara, in New York. Miss Jane Sully
(Mrs. Darley), the daughter of the celebrated artist, is mentioned as
an artist of merit. Mrs. Goodrich, of Boston, painted an excellent
portrait of Gilbert Stuart, which was engraved by Durand for the
National Portrait Gallery. Her miniatures have great merit, and are
marked by truth and expression.
Margaret Foley was a member of the New England School of Design, and
gave instruction in drawing and painting. She resided in Lowell, and
was frequently applied to for her cameos, which she cut beautifully.
Miss Sarah Mackintosh was accustomed to draw on stone for a large glass
company, and other ladies designed in the carpet factory at Lowell and
in the Merrimack print-works, showing the ability of women to engage in
such occupations.
Several have made a livelihood by the business of engraving on wood,
and drawing for different works.
Mrs. Ball Hughes, of Boston, the wife of the sculptor, supported her
family by painting and by giving lessons in the art. Mrs. Chapin had a
large drawing school in Providence, and, with facility in every style,
is said to be admirable in crayons. Many others might be mentioned, but
it does not comport with the design of this work to record even the
names of _all_ who deserve the tribute of praise.
ANNA C. PEALE (MRS. DUNCAN).
Several ladies of the Peale family have been distinguished as artists,
and are mentioned in the histories of painting in America. The
parents of the subject of this sketch were Captain James Peale and
Mary Claypoole. Her maternal ancestors, the Claypooles, came to this
country with William Penn, and were among the earliest settlers in
Philadelphia. They claimed direct descent from Oliver Cromwell, whose
daughter Elizabeth married Sir John Claypoole.
James Peale had great celebrity as a painter, and excelled both in
miniatures and oil portraits. He was not only remarkable for success
in his likenesses, but had the faculty of making them handsome withal,
so that he was called among his acquaintances “the flattering artist.”
This pleasing effect he gave, not by altering the features, but by
happy touches of expression; and it was one secret of his eminent
success. He painted, from actual sittings, several portraits of General
Washington and Mrs. Washington. One, a miniature, is now in the
possession of his eldest daughter.
On one occasion, when Washington was sitting for his portrait in Mr.
Peale’s painting-room, he looked at his watch, and said,
“Mr. Peale, my time for sitting has expired; but, if three minutes
longer will be of any importance to you, I will remain, and make up the
time by hastening my walk up to the State House (where Congress was in
session). I know exactly how long it will take me to walk there; and it
will not do for me, as President, to be absent at the hour of meeting.”
Mrs. Washington was as remarkable for punctuality as her illustrious
husband. At one time, during the general’s absence, he wrote to her to
get Mr. James Peale to paint her portrait in miniature, and to send it
to him. Mrs. Washington wrote a note to the artist, saying that her
presence at home was indispensable when the general was away, and it
would not be convenient for her to attend at his painting-room. She
requested him, therefore, to come to her house for the sittings, and
offered to accommodate herself to any hour when it would suit him to be
away from his studio. In his reply Mr. Peale appointed seven o’clock in
the morning. When he left his home to keep the engagement for the first
sitting, it occurred to him that the lady might not be quite ready to
see him at so early an hour. He walked on, accordingly, more slowly
than usual. Mrs. Washington met him with the observation, “Mr. Peale, I
have been in the kitchen to give my orders for the day; have read the
newspaper, and heard my niece her lesson on the harp; yet have waited
for you twenty minutes.”
The gentleman, of course, felt exceedingly mortified, and remarked
that if his engagement had been with General Washington he should have
felt the importance of being punctual to the minute; but he thought it
necessary to allow a lady a little more time.
“Sir,” replied Mrs. Washington, “I am as punctual as the general.” It
may be imagined that Mr. Peale took care to be at the house the next
day at the time appointed.
Dunlap, in his sketch of the artist, mentions his son and two
daughters as having adopted their father’s profession. There were
_three_ daughters who did thus, out of five who showed talent for art,
viz., Anna, Sarah, and Margaretta. The son, James Peale, showed, from
early youth, a remarkable talent for landscape-painting. His sketches
from nature were admirable. For many years, though not a professional
artist, he contributed an exquisite picture to every opening of the
annual exhibition of the Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia.
Anna was born in Philadelphia, and from childhood showed extraordinary
talent for art. When about fourteen years of age, she copied in
oil-colors two paintings by Vernet; and these, sent to public auction,
brought her thirty dollars, then esteemed a good price for first
efforts. Stimulated by this reward of her labor, she resolved to
persevere, and in time became able to command an independence. Her
father had a large family to support by his profession of portrait and
miniature painting, and his daughter looked forward with pleasure to
the thought of being a help instead of a burden to him. It was not,
however, until two years after that she was able seriously to apply
herself to the art. One other attempt only she made in oil-colors; a
small fruit-piece, from nature. Her father thought miniature-painting
on ivory the most suitable employment for a lady, and urged her to make
a trial of her powers in that branch. She had learned much by standing
behind his chair, hours and hours at a time, and watching his progress.
He took great pains in teaching her, pointing out the peculiar touches
that produced his best effects, by giving a charm to the expression.
Not only was Miss Peale assiduous in the study of her father’s
exquisite miniatures, but she copied several executed by distinguished
artists in that line. One, from a painting by the celebrated Duchésne,
a portrait of Napoleon, was sold to a gentleman in Philadelphia for
one hundred and fifty dollars. Her ambition to attain to excellence,
now fairly kindled, nerved her to industry and enterprise. She painted
a miniature of Washington from a portrait, which was purchased of her
father by one of his friends and brother officers of the Revolution,
Colonel Allen M‘Clain. The first miniature portraits from life which
she undertook were those of Dr. Spencer H. Cone and his venerable
mother. These, with one or two others, were presented at the annual
exhibition of the Academy of the Fine Arts. She and her sister, Miss
Sarah M. Peale, were elected honorary members of this institution. This
sister had adopted portrait-painting in oil as her profession.
The artistic career thus commenced went on most prosperously. Although
she owed nothing to any public notice of her talents, Miss Anna Peale
soon found abundant occupation in painting miniature likenesses. Her
health, however, suffered under her incessant labors, and she was
compelled to put a higher price on her work in order to reduce the
number of applications. She was so frequently solicited to paint the
likenesses of children, and found them such troublesome subjects, that
she charged double price for them.
From the commencement of Miss Peale’s painting to her sister’s
entrance on the arena as a portrait-painter, for some years, it is
believed, she was the only professional lady artist in Philadelphia.
The sisters, after having commenced their labors, passed their time
alternately in Philadelphia and Baltimore; in the latter city receiving
unbounded attention and encouragement from families of the highest
respectability. They were not only well received as artists, but were
welcomed as friends and hospitably entertained. They were much caressed
by the family of the venerable Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Miss
Sarah painted in oil a portrait of his daughter, Mrs. Caten.
The sisters afterward went to Washington to paint the portrait of
General La Fayette, who sat for it at their request. Anna spent the
winter of 1819 in the Federal city with her uncle, Charles M. Peale,
who went there for the purpose of painting the portraits of many
distinguished members of Congress. They worked in the same studio.
General Jackson was one of their sitters. Miss Peale retained his
portrait, and has it still in her possession. President Monroe also had
his likeness taken, and the artists were often hospitably entertained
at the “White House” by the President and his amiable wife. During the
time of her stay in Washington, Miss Peale had her time filled up with
commissions; she painted several of the members of Congress, among whom
were Henry Clay and Colonel R. M. Johnson.
In the following year Miss Peale again visited Washington. She painted
a miniature likeness of that remarkable character, John Randolph of
Roanoke. It is now in her possession. So incessant was her application
to work, that during the summer she was obliged to travel for the
recovery of her health, and to give rest to her eyes. Several times
they were attacked with inflammation, and at one time she had cause to
dread the total loss of sight. Some time after this period she visited
Boston, where she painted several portraits. Daniel Webster sat twice
for a miniature, which she never quite finished.
In 1829 Miss Peale received the addresses of Rev. Dr. William
Staughton, a Baptist clergyman of much learning and distinction. He
was about that time elected president of the Theological College at
Georgetown, Kentucky. They were married August 27th, 1829, and left
Philadelphia for the scene of the husband’s future labors. While
they were in the city of Washington, Dr. Staughton was taken ill. He
died early in December, in a little more than three months after the
marriage. The widow returned to Philadelphia the following spring. She
resumed her profession, and painted with as great success as before.
Her second marriage, with General William Duncan, a gentleman highly
esteemed in social life, may be said to have closed her career as an
artist, though her love for art can never be lost. In her happy home,
surrounded by accomplished relatives, and beloved by a large circle of
friends, she looks back with pride to the days when she toiled to woo
the Muse of Painting, and still acknowledges the truthful remark of the
German poet:
“He who can not apprehend the Beautiful has no heart for the Good.”
The only person to whom Mrs. Duncan ever gave lessons in
miniature-painting was her niece, Mary Jane Simes, now the wife of Dr.
John Yeates, of Baltimore. This lady is an artist of no small celebrity.
Miss Sarah M. Peale excelled not only in oil portraits but in
still-life pieces. She has resided for the last ten years in St. Louis,
whither she was induced to go by the invitation of numerous friends.
She found there such encouragement and success, with such warm regard
from her friends, that she has not as yet found leisure to leave her
engrossing pursuits for a visit to her native city. Her varied talents
and amiable character are justly appreciated, and she has gathered
around her a large and estimable circle. She possesses a fine talent
for music in addition to her other accomplishments.
Mrs. Rembrandt Peale is highly spoken of as a painter in oil-colors.
Miss Rosalba Peale is an amateur artist, and is said to have been the
first lady member of any Academy of Art in America.
ANN LESLIE.
The name of Leslie has been placed by a painter of eminent merit among
the most distinguished of this century, and his sister has contributed
to its fame. She was born in Philadelphia; her parents, Robert Leslie
and Lydia Baker, went to London in 1793, when she was an infant, and
returned in 1799. She showed a taste for painting in childhood, but did
not take it up as a regular employment till 1822, at which time she was
again in London, on a visit to her brother. She copied several of his
pictures, and two or three by Sir Joshua Reynolds, besides painting
portraits of her friends. She returned in 1825 to Philadelphia, with
her sister, Mrs. Henry Carey, and her brother-in-law, but paid another
visit to London four years afterward. Several copies she made from
pictures were engraved for the Atlantic Souvenir. One of “Sancho and
the Duchess” was pronounced equal to the original in execution. Her
skill was great in imitating coloring, but she was accustomed to make
the outlines mechanically.
Her life was passed in cheerful and contented activity. She resided
several years in New York, where she occupied herself chiefly in
copying paintings. She died in the summer of 1857.
Miss Sarah Cole, the sister of the celebrated artist, had a great
deal of talent, and not only copied paintings, but produced original
compositions. She was born in England, but spent most of her life in
the United States. She died in 1858.
MRS. WILSON.
Mrs. Lee mentions Mrs. Wilson of Cincinnati as having displayed much
original talent in sculpture. The following account is from a friend’s
letter:
“She is the wife of a physician of Cincinnati, and was born, I believe,
in or near Cooperstown, New York. Her first impressions of persons
and things are expressed in her conversation. She is a perfect child
of nature, impulsive, but wonderfully perceptive, and with so much
freshness that all persons of mind are attracted to her. Her infancy
and youth were very much shadowed by domestic sufferings, originating,
at first, in the loss of a large property by her father, who in
consequence removed to the West. He died when she was quite young. She
married Dr. Wilson, a most excellent person, of Quaker family. All
circumstances were such, that an early revelation or development was
not made of her artistic powers. In visiting a sculptor’s studio the
desire first awoke; an intelligent friend encouraged and sympathized
with her, and Mrs. Wilson procured the materials. Her feeling was so
intense that it could not be repressed. Her husband was her first
subject. She worked with so much energy that sometimes she would
faint away, and on one of these occasions he said, ‘If you are not
more moderate, I will throw that thing out of the window.’ But it was
finished, proving a perfect likeness, and she chiseled it in stone. It
is in her parlor at Cincinnati, a most beautiful bust, and an admirable
likeness, and seems like a miracle, considering it was her first
attempt.
“Another marvelous work is the figure of her son. He threw himself on
the floor one morning in an attitude at once striking and picturesque.
To copy it required a perfectly correct eye, or a knowledge of anatomy.
She courageously attempted it; the attitude was repeated, and her
success was triumphant. It is only a cast, and the cast does not do
justice to the finish of her work, but she has not been able to procure
a block of marble for the copy. The effect is wonderful for its spirit
and the accuracy of its anatomy. She has commenced other subjects, but
some of them are not finished, and to others accidents have happened.
“She has a family of children, and is a devoted mother. We think
_stone_ will have but little chance with those beings of flesh and
blood whose minds and hearts she is carefully modeling. Perhaps family
cares may be the true secret why female sculptors are so rare; but
we congratulate this lady that she has the true perception of the
beautiful, and feel quite sure it will mitigate the suffering from
delicate health, and scatter fragrant flowers and healing herbs in the
sometimes rugged paths of duty.”
A gentleman acquainted with Mrs. Wilson mentioned an incident that
occurred on a journey to the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. Struck with
the aspect of a distinguished person in the company--Mr. Emerson--the
sculptress gave directions to stop near a bank of soft red clay, and,
putting out one hand to grasp a sufficient portion of the material,
with the other she signed to her subject to remain motionless. In a few
moments she had modeled a very creditable likeness of the author.
MRS. DUBOIS.
Mrs. Cornelius Dubois, now residing in New York, and devoted to the
charitable institution of the Nursery and Child’s Hospital, has shown
much talent for sculpture and cameo-cutting. Mrs. Lee describes her
as having discovered, accidentally, about 1842, a taste for modeling,
in the following manner: “Her father had his bust taken. Before the
casting, he asked his daughter her opinion of it as a likeness. She
pointed out some defects which the artist corrected in her presence,
upon which she exclaimed, ‘I could do that!’ and requested the sculptor
to give her some clay, from which she modeled, with but little labor,
a bust of her husband, and was eminently successful in the likeness.
She then decided to take lessons, but illness having interfered with
her plans, she abandoned the intention, and worked on by herself, with
merely the instruction from the sculptor to keep her clay moist until
her work was completed.
“When she recovered her health sufficiently, she continued to mould,
and, among other works, produced the likenesses of two of her little
children, the group of Cupid and Psyche, a copy; and a novice, an
original piece. She also carved a head of the Madonna in marble; a
laborious and exciting work, which injured her health to such a degree
that her physician interdicted her devotion to the arts.
“She then went to Italy, where she desired the first artist in cameos
to give her lessons. When he saw some that she had cut, he told her
that he could teach her nothing; she had only to study the antiques.
“Her works in cameos are ‘St. Agnes and her Lamb,’ ‘Alcibiades,’
‘Guido’s Angel,’ ‘Raphael’s Hope,’ and the ‘Apollo.’ She took over
thirty likenesses in cameo, requiring only an hour’s sitting, after
which they were completed.
“Notwithstanding the care of a large family, the superintendence of
the education of her daughters, and the sad drawback of ill health,
her energy has never failed her. She has always extended a helping
hand and a smile of encouragement to young artists, one of whom was in
Brown’s studio; another is the sculptor of the ‘Shipwrecked Mother,’
who alludes to her kindness in his short autobiography.
“But, while ascending the ladder to fame, her progress was arrested by
ill health, and she now lives only to feel, as she says, how little she
has done compared to what she might do could she devote herself to the
art. Anxious to impart to others this great gift, and to stimulate her
countrywomen to the development of any latent talent they may possess,
she formed a class of young ladies, and most disinterestedly devoted a
certain portion of her time to their instruction for several months.
“While all who know her admire the artist for her talents, her
unceasing energy, and philanthropic exertions, they behold in her the
good wife, mother, and friend, and the elegant and accomplished woman,
presiding over the social circle. Her heart remains true to the gentle
influences of nature, while her genius is ever responsive to immortal
Art.”
ANNE HALL.
Anne Hall was born in Pomfret, Connecticut. She was the third daughter
of Dr. Jonathan Hall, a physician of distinction. Her talent for art
was early developed, and her father, who loved painting, endeavored
to foster the promise of her childhood. A visitor having presented
her with a box of colors and pencils, she began to use them; and her
father, who was pleased with her progress, procured for her a box of
colors from China. She had a brother who admired and valued pictures,
and whose praise encouraged her to continue her childish attempts.
He supplied her with such materials as she needed for drawing and
painting. Every hint she received from artists was turned to account,
and she gave herself to her favorite occupation with enthusiasm. She
delighted in imitating nature; and fruits, birds, flowers, and even
fish and insects were subjects for her pencil; but she took especial
pleasure in producing likenesses of her friends. Living in a retired
part of the country, she had little access to paintings of value for
a long time; but, being sent on a visit to a relative in Newport,
Rhode Island, she received some instruction in painting on ivory from
Mr. Samuel King, who had been an early teacher of Alston, and also of
Malbone. Miss Hall gained less knowledge from her master’s lessons,
however, than from copying some paintings of the old masters which her
brother afterward sent home from Cadiz and other places in Spain. These
were faithfully copied on ivory in miniature. “A Mother and a Sleeping
Child,” still in her possession, shows her progress at this time. “A
Mother in Tears,” copied from a painting on ivory, was much admired
as evidence of fidelity in copying and skill in coloring. Studying
the pictures procured by her brother, she learned to appreciate their
excellences, while, by comparing them with nature, she was enabled to
avoid the formality of a mere copyist. She began now to give form and
coloring to the conceptions of her imagination, and attempted original
composition.
Miss Hall took some lessons in oil-painting from Alexander Robertson in
New York, but has chiefly devoted herself to painting in water-colors
on ivory. Her merits have been acknowledged by the most distinguished
artists in New York and different parts of the United States to be of
the highest order. Among her miniature copies of oil pictures by old
masters, two from Guido were particularly noticed as executed with
surprising vigor and a rich glow of coloring. Her groups of children
from life were done with masterly skill, and finished with a taste and
delicacy which a woman’s hand only could exhibit. Her portraits in
miniature were acknowledged to possess exquisite delicacy and beauty.
The soft colors seem breathed on the ivory rather than applied with the
brush. A miniature group often sold for five hundred dollars.
Dunlap mentions one of her compositions as “marked with the beautiful
simplicity of some of Reynolds’s or Lawrence’s portraits of children,
evincing a masterly touch and glowing in admirable coloring.”
Miss Hall was unanimously elected a member of the National Academy of
Design in New York. Her portrait of a lovely Greek girl, from life,
was engraved, and the rare beauty of the painting was universally
acknowledged. The floating silken waves of hair have an unrivaled
effect. A group of two girls and a boy is admirable in composition,
color, and expression. Miss Hall’s “management of infant beauty”
is, indeed, unsurpassed; her flowers and children, Dunlap observes,
“combine in an elegant bouquet.”
One of the best of her original compositions is a group of a mother and
child--Mrs. Jay and her infant. The first, clasping the babe to her
bosom, has a Madonna-like beauty; the child is perfect in attitude and
expression. Another group of a mother and two young children, the widow
and orphans of the late Matthias Bruen, has a most charming expression.
One of the children was painted as a cherub in a separate picture,
much valued by artists as a rare specimen of skill. Miss Hall has also
painted the portraits in miniature of many persons distinguished in the
best social circles of New York. Several of her groups have been copied
in enamel in France, and thus made indestructible. Three children of
Mrs. Ward, with a dog and bird; a child holding a grape-vine branch;
with portraits of Mrs. Crawford, widow of the sculptor, Mrs. Divie
Bethune, and the daughters of Governor King, may be mentioned among
numerous works, a single one of which has sufficient merit to establish
the author’s claim to the reputation she has long enjoyed, of being the
best of American miniaturists.
MARY SWINTON LEGARÉ (MRS. BULLEN).
The family of Legaré (once spelled L’Egarée) is of the old stock of
French Huguenots who furnished the best blood of Carolina. Madame
Legaré, an honored ancestress of our subject, being a firm Huguenot,
immediately after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes sent to America
her only child, Solomon, then seventeen years old; parting with him,
as she believed, forever in this life, that he might be saved from
peril, and not be tempted to abandon his faith. This boy--called by
his descendants “The Huguenot”--went first to Canada, and in 1685
to Charleston, South Carolina. He became the ancestor of a numerous
posterity, of which, during the Revolution, thirteen bearing the name
were patriot soldiers, active in the cause of American liberty.
On the death of her husband, Madame Legaré left her native France and
came to America. Here she found her son married, and the father of nine
children. She had given him up for religion’s sake; God restored him to
her arms, able to minister to her declining years. Her grandson, the
great-grandfather of Hugh and Mary Legaré, died in 1774, at the age of
seventy-nine. Yet, when the Colonies entered into a compact for mutual
defense, he resolutely refused to be put on the list of the “aged and
noncombatant,” saying he was able to “shoulder his musket with any
man,” besides managing a charger equal to any trooper; he “would not be
insulted by being laid aside.” Thus our heroine had a great-grandfather
and two grandfathers, besides other relatives, in the patriot army
of the Revolution, where youths of sixteen and eighteen often fought
beside their grandsires.
The father of Miss Legaré married a lady whose grandfather, Alexander
Swinton, of a Scottish family, was sent from England, about 1728, as
surveyor-general of the province of South Carolina. He lost a large
estate by the villainy of executors and guardians; but after his death,
Hugh Swinton, his son, was taken to Scotland by his uncle, and educated
as became a young gentleman of birth and fortune, being married to
a descendant of that John Hayne who fled from the persecution of
the Puritans by Charles II. and his bishops, and fixed his home in
Carolina. Thus, on both sides, a heritage of honor and religious faith
is derived from her ancestors by the lady who fills a place in our
humble annals.
The name of Hugh Swinton Legaré is endeared to all South Carolinians,
the more so as his genius and literary attainments commanded celebrity
on both sides of the Atlantic. His sister’s talents are not inferior
to his, though she has filled no place in the national councils nor
at foreign courts, but in a quiet and uneventful life has made her
impression on the social and intellectual advancement of the day. The
youngest of three children who survived the father, she was born in
Charleston, South Carolina, where her childhood and youth were spent.
Mrs. Legaré, left a widow before she had completed her twenty-eighth
year, devoted her time and means entirely to the education of her
little ones. She was a woman of extraordinary mental powers, and her
mind had been sedulously cultivated. Her ideas of education were broad
and comprehensive, and her efforts were directed to the training of her
children in such a manner as to make their lives exemplary, useful, and
happy, as well as to develop their intellects. How well she succeeded
the honorable career of all her children testifies. The noble character
and life of her eldest daughter, Mrs. Bryan, and the brilliant fame
achieved by the son, add evidence to the fact that she was one of those
mothers whose offspring rise up to call her blessed. Mrs. Legaré died
on the 1st of January, 1843, in the seventy-second year of her age.
It was not strange that the children should grow up cherishing a deep
and intense love for so excellent a mother. Mary, an infant when bereft
of her father, very early showed a fondness for study, and a special
predilection for the languages and the fine arts. Even before she
was able to express emotions of admiration or delight, she evinced a
remarkable sensibility both to melody and color. When less than three
years old, she would be affected to tears or moved to joyous mirth by
different musical sounds. Beautiful pictures had for her young fancy
irresistible fascination at an age when she could hardly be supposed
able to recognize the objects they represented. Her mother frequently
observed of her little Mary that, when she showed signs of impatience
or weariness, or fretted for want of amusement, all that was necessary
to soothe her discontent or charm her into happiness was to furnish her
with paper and a pencil. The child would amuse herself for hours with
her drawings. Her decided talents for music and painting--coloring in
particular--were soon perceived by this tender mother, who determined
to give her daughter every possible aid in the cultivation of tastes
so congenial to her own, Mrs. Legaré being herself accomplished in no
ordinary degree in both these lady-like pursuits.
Miss Legaré had resolved to make herself mistress of the languages even
before she could read and write English with any great proficiency.
She had in these studies, and other branches of scholarship, the best
teachers that could be procured. Her mother was her first instructor
in music. But it was otherwise in the art to which she had determined
especially to devote herself; no efficient teacher of drawing could be
found. Although remuneration for lessons was liberal--thirty dollars
per term being paid--it was almost impossible to find any one capable
of giving proper instruction. The young girl was therefore obliged to
practice unaided the art she began to love with increased enthusiasm,
and her progress was still more retarded by the want of models or
scenes in nature that might take her fancy. The low country of South
Carolina--affording the only landscapes she had ever seen--abounds in
flat and swampy districts. There is much beauty for an unaccustomed
eye in the bleached wilderness of pine-land, with its stately, solemn
groves, through which the wind surges with ocean-like murmur; but it
is not of the kind available for the artist. Nor is that of the swamp,
with its immeasurable extent of wood and impenetrable undergrowth,
through which may be seen at intervals the dark, turbid water soaking
its way through masses of tangled weeds, the slimy abode of reptiles,
or the hiding-place of the water-fowl. There are green morasses choked
with vegetation, into which the sunbeams never penetrate; or over
the quagmire, rank with decay, rise giant trees, twined with thick
creepers, and burying the matted brush beneath them in black shadow.
The trees are often loaded with the gray hanging moss that forms the
ornament of woods in the low lands. The mixture of gloom and beauty, of
luxuriance and horror, is a striking novelty to the Northern visitor.
The ragged thickets, too, are alternated with islands of lovely
verdure; the water-lily decks the dark lakelet with its broad leaves
and white flowers; and graceful vines festoon the evergreens, mingling
bright blossoms with their leaves of sombre verdure.
Such scenes presented little to tempt the copyist, yet, notwithstanding
her difficulties and discouragements in painting, Miss Legaré continued
to struggle on toward the idea of perfection in her untutored
imagination. Her brother Hugh was wont to remark that “her passion
lay there,” in the painter’s art. She found not much sympathy in this
chosen pursuit, till some time in the year 1827, when she became
acquainted with a gentleman who possessed a similar taste, cultivated
in a high degree by superior knowledge of art. This was Colonel John
S. Cogdell, who at that time had considerable celebrity as an amateur
painter. Miss Legaré submitted her efforts to his careful criticism,
and received from him the instruction she needed. She has attributed
her subsequent success to his aid. He procured for her study the
finest new pictures that could be obtained. Among the artists whose
works were now introduced to her, Doughty became, to her fancy, the
beau ideal of excellence. Even when a child she had been accustomed to
turn away in disgust, with a “’Tis not pretty, mamma,” from flaring
or exaggerated colors in a picture. Doughty’s subdued coloring, and
soft, dreamy style, kindled her imagination, and aroused her ardent
emulation. “Could I but paint one picture like Doughty’s!” she would
often exclaim; and it may be said her earliest initiation into the
school of Nature, and into an apprehension of her seductive beauties,
was by seeing the works of this eminent American landscape-painter,
whom his country allowed to languish in bitter penury, for want of the
appreciation his genius should have commanded. Miss Legaré’s first
attempt to copy one of his paintings succeeded beyond the most sanguine
expectations of herself and her friends. Colonel Cogdell encouraged her
still more by saying, “You have an eye for color, which must insure you
success in copying nature.”
In truth, the young artist did not long remain satisfied with spending
all her energies merely in copying the works of others. Though she
had never visited any other region than the low forest country of her
native state, she endeavored to create scenes by combining various
objects into a single composition. Landscapes and rustic scenes in
every variety were her delight; yet, having never seen a mountain,
nor the country in any aspects different from the monotonous views in
her neighborhood, how was she to produce an original picture? How do
justice in any way to the powers of which she felt conscious? It was
not so easy for a lady to travel. In the South particularly, she would
be hampered in many ways; and “Mrs. Grundy” would have devoted to death
by torture any young girl who could have done so heinous a thing as
take a journey of observation by herself! Miss Legaré, therefore, was
shut in to contemplation of the boundless ocean and the swamp forest
almost as limitless. Dark scenes and deep shadows, with warm glowing
skies became features in her paintings, and her trees of great variety,
clear, deep water, and skies were pronounced by critics superior to
those of the artists she most admired. She adopted in a measure the
style of Ruysdael, mingled, in the more delicate shades, with the
warmth of Cuyp.
In the summer of 1833 her longing wish was gratified. She went,
accompanied by her mother, to spend the warm season amid the glorious
mountain scenery of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina. This region has
been thought to surpass in magnificence and majesty any mountainous
district in the Atlantic States. Miss Legaré was far more delighted
with these mountains than with the scenery of Lake George and the
Hudson, which she had visited the year before, finding it, as well
as the Alleghany range, to disappoint her expectations. But when, on
her approach to Asheville, her eyes rested on the exhaustless variety
of form and tint, blended into soft harmony, on the distant Blue
Ridge, the beauty and sublimity of the scene filled her with emotions
she had no language to express. There was awful grandeur as well as
touching loveliness in the view. Pisgah and surrounding peaks towering
skyward--the summit covered with vapor that glowed with gorgeous
colors, like a drapery of scarlet and gold--the vast mass played on by
the mellow purple and violet tints peculiar to lofty mountains--the
delicate azure mingling with fairy lights of golden violet--all
softened into harmony by an atmosphere so transparent, so Claude-like
in its purity, that it seemed the movement of a bird could be discerned
at a distance of forty or fifty miles! Miss Legaré here realized, for
the first time, what few out of Italy can realize, the naturalness of
Claude’s landscapes; the exquisite art of his unequaled coloring, which
gives to his delineations of Alpine scenery so wonderful an effect.
Miss Legaré’s intense enjoyment of the beauties of nature in this
favored region during a three months’ residence gave her an invincible
repugnance to the work of copying the productions of any human artist.
She always painted in oil; and, having brought no materials with her,
could not transfer to her sketches the colors she so admired while on
the spot. But memory had faithfully treasured these delicious pictures,
and on her return to Charleston she lost no time in putting them on
canvas. “A View on the Suwannee,” now in possession of the widow of
Colonel Cogdell, was pronounced by him a master-piece. Another view
on the French Broad, illustrating the distinguishing characteristics
of the scenery of that river, was purchased in 1834 by the proprietors
of the Art Union in New York. The first scene that had so struck Miss
Legaré was painted on too large a scale. It was, however, much admired;
and the same subject, represented in smaller compass, is esteemed a
finer picture.
In Miss Legaré’s landscapes she gives to her coloring and combinations
as much idealizing as truth to nature will admit. An artist, who was
delighted both with her music and her painting, observed of the latter
to her brother Hugh, “It is natural, but more beautiful than nature; it
is poetical.” Another, when Hugh remarked that she must go to Italy,
replied, “No, your sister studies our own wild nature--rich, romantic,
glowing under a tropical sun, luxuriant when touched with frost; if she
go to Italy, or study the old landscape-painters, she may give a finer
finish, but it will be artificial.” These artistic criticisms gave her
encouragement; and when she repeated to Mr. Cogdell what was said in
praise of her works, he would say, triumphantly, “I told you so, but
you would not believe me!”
Her rich foregrounds, transparent water, and distant mountains, as
well as her skies and foliage, have been highly praised by Sully and
other eminent artists. She owed to Mr. Cogdell her introduction to the
science of perspective, having been accustomed in early efforts to be
guided by the eye alone. A knowledge of anatomy was of use, as she
always introduced figures into her landscapes, painted with fidelity
and spirit. She excels, besides, in the delineation of animals, wild
and domestic, especially dogs, cows, and sheep. A Spanish pointer,
painted nearly of life size, was so perfect in anatomy that Dr. Sewell
of Washington pronounced it a study for a student of that branch. “The
Hounds of St. Bernard” is an admirable painting. The piteous, appealing
expression in the face of one that is represented howling for aid
struck even every child who saw it. A little girl exclaimed, “How sorry
that dog is! he is afraid the people won’t come.”
Besides animals, Miss Legaré has painted portraits; but this branch
never enlisted her enthusiasm--that was for landscapes.
On the appointment of her brother as a member of President Tyler’s
cabinet in 1841, Miss Legaré accompanied him to Washington. Her life
of calm enjoyment was soon disturbed by sorrow. She was bereaved of
mother, sister, and brother within the space of a year. She had long
cherished a purpose of visiting the Western country, and in June, 1849,
went to Iowa. Finding the country very productive and well suited to
farming purposes, she sent for some of the children of her deceased
sister. They came with their families to the new home, and formed
a colony of twenty-one persons. The scenery in Iowa, though often
beautiful, is tame compared to the mountainous country of the Atlantic
states. Green fields, luxuriant woods, flower-bordered streams,
and groves carpeted with wild grass, forming a charming variety of
landscape, are presented; but there are few scenes that startle with
their magnificence or grandeur. Miss Legaré found, in the new cares
that surrounded her, and the habits of life so different from those to
which she had been accustomed, such a pressure of occupation, that her
beloved art was for a time abandoned. The Western housekeeper usually
finds little time for the pleasures of the imagination; but she was
not one to forget the best interests of others, particularly of her
own sex. She established an institution called “Legaré College,” for
the liberal education of women, at West Point, in Lee County, Iowa.
Her talents and taste, her varied and uncommon learning and energy, as
well as her means, were devoted to the support of this institution;
but its aim was too far in advance of the age in Iowa, or, rather, its
operations were impeded by that utilitarian spirit which has set its
heavy, ungainly foot on every high aspiration in this country, and has
prevented the progress of woman toward improvement that might enlarge
her sphere of usefulness.
A writer who is intimately acquainted with Miss Legaré--now Mrs.
Bullen--thus speaks of her accomplishments:
“The literature of the world, its science and its art, are with her
as household things. They flow from her eloquent tongue as music from
the harp of the minstrel. No pent-up Utica confines her powers--no
Aztec theory of woman cripples her labors, or impoverishes her mind
or her policy. A Mississippi feeling, and theory, and action actuate
her, and we may all look for corresponding results.” Her influence in
the community where she resides has directed attention to both art and
literature.
Mrs. Bullen intends resuming the pencil she has for years almost
entirely laid aside. She has completed a design for a painting to be
called “The Squatter’s Home.” It shows a wagon under the shade of a
Western group of tall trees, which serves for the sleeping-place of the
emigrant family. The mother is washing beside a stream; the children
are gathering strawberries.
HERMINIE DASSEL.
Mrs. Dassel was a native of Königsberg, Prussia. Her father’s name was
Borchard; he was a banker, and at one time a man of fortune, which
enabled him to secure to his children an excellent education. He lost
his property in 1839, in consequence of financial troubles in America;
the liquidation of his affairs reduced his possessions to a small farm,
depriving his family of teachers, servants, horses and carriages,
and all the comforts which they had enjoyed. Upon the elder children
devolved the duties of housekeeping, and the cultivation of the farm to
some extent, as well as the instruction of the younger members of the
family. At this time Herminie devoted herself to the art of painting
as a profession, hoping to derive from it a support for herself and
family. She would attend to her household duties in the morning, and
then, with port-folio in hand, wander off over the dusty or muddy road
to the city, and again return to attend to the flowers and cabbages,
and the making of cheese and butter. She soon had the satisfaction of
receiving a commission for a full-sized portrait of a clergyman; this
she painted in the church, with her model on the altar, the country
folk standing about, astonished and wondering that such a tiny little
girl could accomplish such a marvel.
She soon went to Düsseldorf, attracted thither by the pictures of
Sohn, which she saw in an exhibition in her native city. She studied
with this artist four years, supporting herself entirely by her own
exertions. Her pictures found ready sale, consisting of such subjects
as “Children in the Wood,” “Peasant Girls in a Vineyard,” “Children
going to the Pasture with Goats,” etc.
After her return home she applied herself again to portrait-painting,
in order to obtain money sufficient for a tour to Italy, which was
the great end of her ambition. She was fortunate enough to be able
to accumulate in one year a thousand dollars. Out of this sum she
furnished her brother with an amount large enough to secure his
promotion to a doctor’s degree, as she wanted to have him accompany her
as a traveling companion.
A journey to Italy was much opposed by all her relatives; a girl so
young, fresh, and diminutive could not protect herself; she would
inevitably encounter serious misfortunes. But her mind was made up; she
packed her things, took leave of her friends, and one morning started
off on the way to Vienna, directing her brother to follow her. She was
never in want of friends; every where persons took an interest in her;
without money one day, it was sure to come on the next; and her faith
was never shaken by any accident or hardship. In Vienna she began her
studies, seeking models in the streets, and taking them to her room.
From Vienna she passed into Italy. Of her studious life in Italy many
sketches bear witness.
The breaking out of the revolution in 1848 obliged Herminie to leave
Italy, and as the route to Germany was unsafe, and she feared becoming
a burden to her friends, she resolved to go to the United States. An
opportunity presented itself to travel in company with a family in
whose house she lived after her brother had been called home by the
government. She rolled up her sketches, put them in a tin box, and
repaired to Leghorn. When about to pay her passage, the draft she
presented was refused. She sat weeping over the disappointment, with
letters before her from friends in Rome and Germany, imploring her
to abandon this suicidal plan of emigration; representing strongly
the dangers of the journey, the hardships she would encounter in a
foreign land, without money and without friends. She came down to
supper. A traveler just arrived, observing her eyes red with weeping,
was led to show an interest in her; she related her troubles, upon
which the stranger examined the draft, and, finding it good, gave her
the cash for it. This gentleman was an Italian, and she continued in
correspondence with him. The next day she was on board a vessel bound
for this country.
She arrived in February, 1849. The only letter of introduction she
brought was to Mr. Hagedorn, of Philadelphia, in whom she subsequently
found a friend and protector. She landed in New York, and at once
began to paint. Her first pictures, representations of Italian life,
exhibited in the Art Union, were much admired, and some of them were
purchased by that institution. She found no difficulty in making
friends.
Five months after her arrival she married Mr. Dassel. After her
marriage she led a happy life, with cares and sorrows incidental to the
care of a family, and to an arduous profession. She triumphed over all,
however, and realized all the comforts which belong to success.
Mrs. Dassel was most successful in portraits in oil of children
and pastel-portraits. Her painting of “Effie Deans” attracted much
attention. Her latest works are copies of Steinbruck’s “Fairies”
and the “Othello” in the Düsseldorf Gallery, which are unusually
successful works of this class. She made steady progress in her art,
and would have doubtless attained a prominent position had she lived to
develop her powers by practice and study.
We should not be doing justice to this noble woman not to allude to the
social virtues which endeared her to so many friends. With nothing to
rely upon but her own exertions, with serious illness in her family,
she was never so poor in time or money as not to interest herself in
behalf of others more unfortunate than herself. Countless instances
are known of her serviceable kind-heartedness. She exerted herself at
the time of the dreadful shipwreck of the Helena Sloman, and obtained
by personal efforts, in a few days, the sum of seven hundred dollars;
and her ministrations among the poor were constant during the severe
winter of 1853. She has, it is true, many peers in similar acts of
benevolence, but few who practiced deeds of this kind in a position so
little calculated to develop them.
Mrs. Dassel died on the 7th December, 1857, and was buried in Greenwood.
Jane Stuart was the youngest child of Gilbert Stuart, the eminent
portrait-painter. Like many of her sisters in art, she inherited the
genius she discovered in early life; but it was not till after her
father’s death that the talent she had shown found development in the
practice of art. She has resided for a long time at Newport, Rhode
Island, in the enjoyment of the celebrity her talents have acquired.
Mrs. Hildreth of Boston deserves mention, especially for her portraits
of children in crayon. Miss May painted landscapes in Allston’s style.
Mrs. Orvis has been mentioned as a flower-painter of remarkable skill.
Hoyt remarked that he knew nothing better in coloring than her autumn
leaves and wild flowers. In this style, Mrs. Badger, of New York, has
acquired reputation by her book of “The Wild Flowers of America,”
published in 1859. The drawings were all made and colored from nature
by herself.
Mrs. Hawthorne of Boston has painted many beautiful pieces. An
“Edymion,” which was greatly admired, she presented to Mr. Emerson.
She also modeled the head of Laura Bridgman. Mrs. Hill is a
highly-successful miniature-painter.
Mrs. Greatorex is a landscape-painter of merit, and is rapidly
acquiring distinction. She has a deep love of wild mountain and lake
scenery, dark woods, and rushing waters; and her productions are marked
by the vigor of tone and dashing, impetuous freedom of touch especially
adapted to that kind of subjects. This felicitous boldness she has in a
remarkable degree, and her works are marked by truthfulness as well as
strength. She has painted many pieces of romantic scenery in Scotland
and Ireland. Her amiable character, her ready sympathy and benevolence,
have interested many friends in her success.
Mrs. George Woodman, the eldest daughter of Mr. Durand, has painted
some excellent landscapes; also Mrs. Ruggles. Miss Gove’s crayon heads
have been much noticed and admired. Miss Caroline May’s landscapes have
proved her claim to the double wreath of artist and authoress. Miss
Granbury’s flowers have attracted attention in the Academy exhibitions.
Some pretty interior scenes were in the exhibition of 1859, painted by
Miss Juliana Oakley. It is necessary to omit many names of artists who
have not yet had experience enough to constrain public acknowledgment
of the genius they possess.