from Nature, and Explained by Maria Sibylla Merian." The illustrations of
this work were beautiful and of great interest, as the insects, from
their first state to their last, were represented with the plants and
flowers which they loved, each object being correctly and tastefully
pictured. Most of the original paintings for these works are in the
British Museum. In the Vienna Gallery is a "Basket of Flowers" by this
artist, and in the Basle Museum a picture of "Locust and Chafers."
The daughters of this learned artist naturalist, Joanna Maria Helena and
Dorothea, shared the pursuits and labors of their mother, and it was her
intention to publish their drawings as an appendix to her works. She did
not live to do this, and later the daughters published a separate volume
of their own.
This extraordinary woman, whose studies and writings added so much to the
knowledge of her time, was neither beautiful nor graceful. Her portraits
present a woman with hard and heavy features, her hair in short curls
surmounted by a stiff and curious headdress, made of folds of some black
stuff.
<b>MERRITT, MRS. ANNA LEA.</b> Honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1889;
two medals and a diploma, Chicago Exposition, 1893. In 1890 her picture
of "Love Locked Out" was purchased by the Chantry fund, London, for two
hundred and fifty pounds. This honor has been accorded to few women, and
of these I think Mrs. Merritt was first. Member of the Royal Society of
Painter-Etchers. Born in Philadelphia. Pupil of Heinrich Hoffman in
Dresden, and of Henry Merritt--whom she married--in London.
Mrs. Merritt has a home in Hampshire, England, but is frequently in
Philadelphia, where she exhibits her pictures, which have also been seen
at the Royal Academy since 1871.
This artist is represented by her pictures in the National Gallery of
British Art, in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and by her
portrait of Mr. James Russell Lowell in Memorial Hall, Harvard
University.
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>MICHIS, MARIA.</b> See Cattaneo.
<b>MILBACHER, LOUISE VON.</b> Prize at Berlin in 1886. Born at
Böhmischbrod, 1845. Pupil of Pönninger and Eisenmenger. A painter of
portraits and of sacred and genre subjects. Three of her portraits are
well known--those of Baron Thienen, General von Neuwirth, and Baron
Eber-Eschenbach. The altar-piece in the chapel of the Vienna Institute, a
"Holy Family," is by this artist. She has also painted still-life and
animal subjects.
<b>MODIGLIANI, SIGNORINA CORINNA.</b> Silver medal at Turin Exposition,
1898; silver medal at the Exposition of Feminine Art, 1899, 1900; diploma
at Leghorn, 1901; gold medal. Member of the International Artistic
Association. Born in Rome. Pupil of Professore Commendatore Pietro Vanni.
This artist has exhibited her works in the Expositions of Rome, Turin,
Milan, Leghorn, Munich, Petersburg, and Paris since 1897, and will
contribute to the St. Louis Exposition. Her pictures have been sold in
Paris, London, and Ireland, as well as in Rome and other Italian cities,
where many of them are in the collections of distinguished families.
<b>MOLDURA, LILLA.</b> A Neapolitan painter. Her father was an Italian and
her mother a Spaniard. She was instructed in the elements of art by
various excellent teachers, and then studied oil painting under
Maldarelli and water-color under Mancini. She has often exhibited
pictures in Naples, to the satisfaction of both artists and critics, and
has also won success in London. She has been almost equally happy in
views of the picturesque Campagna, and in interiors, both in oil and
water-colors. The interior of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, in
the Church of the Gerolamini, is strong in execution and good in drawing
and color.
<b>MÖLLER, AGNES SLOTT.</b> Born in 1862. Resides in Copenhagen. The
especial work of this artist, by which her reputation is world-wide, is
the illustration of old legends for children's books.
<b>MONTALBA, CLARA.</b> Associate of the Society of Painters in
Water-Colors, London, and of the Belgian Society of Water-Colorists. Born
in Cheltenham, 1842. Pupil of Isabey in Paris. Her professional life has
been spent in London and Venice. She has sent her pictures to the
Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery exhibitions since 1879. "Blessing a
Tomb, Westminster," was at the Philadelphia Exposition, 1876; "Corner of
St. Mark's" and "Fishing Boats, Venice," were at Paris, 1878.
In 1874 she exhibited at the Society of British Artists, "Il Giardino
Publico"--the Public Garden--of which a writer in the _Art Journal_ said:
"'Il Giardino Publico' stands foremost among the few redeeming features
of the exhibition. In delicate perception of natural beauty the picture
suggests the example of Corot. Like the great Frenchman, Miss Montalba
strives to interpret the sadder moods of nature, when the wind moves the
water a little mournfully and the outlines of the objects become
uncertain in the filmy air."
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>MORETTO, EMMA.</b> Venetian painter, exhibited at Naples, in 1877,
"Abbey of St. Gregory at Venice"; at Turin, in 1880, a fine view of the
"Canal of the Giudecca," and "Canal of S. Giorgio"; at the National
Exposition in Milan, 1881, "Sunset" and a marine view; at Rome, in 1883,
"Excursion on the Lagoon." Still others of the same general character
are: "A Gondola," "At St. Mark's," "Grand Canal," "Morning at Sea," etc.
<b>MORON, THERESE CONCORDIA.</b> Born in Dresden, 1725; died in Rome, 1806.
Pupil, of her father, Ismael Mengs. Her attention was divided between
enamel painting and pastel, much of the latter being miniature work. In
the Dresden Gallery are two of her pastel portraits and two copies in
miniature of Correggio, viz., a half-length portrait of herself and a
portrait of her sister, Julie Mengs; a copy of St. Jerome, or "The
Day"--original in Parma--and "The Night."
A curious story has recently been published to the effect that in 1767
this artist sent word to Duke Xavier of Saxony that during the Seven
Years' War she painted a copy in miniature of Correggio's "Holy Mother
with the Christ Child, Mary Magdalen, Hieronymus, and Two Angels," which
she sent by Cardinal Albani to the Duke's father--Frederick Augustus II.
of Saxony and Augustus III. of Poland--at Warsaw. It was claimed that two
hundred and fifty ducats were due her. Apparently the demand was not met;
but, on the other hand, the lady seems to have received for some years a
pension of three hundred thalers from the Electorate of Saxony without
making any return. Probably her claim was satisfied by this pension.
<b>MOSER, MARY.</b> One of the original members of the London Academy. The
daughter of a German artist, who resided in London. She was as well known
for her wit as for her art. A friend of Fuseli, she was said to be as
much in love with him as he was in love with Angelica Kauffman. Dr.
Johnson sometimes met Miss Moser at the house of Nollekens, where they
made merry over a cup of tea.
Queen Charlotte commissioned this painter to decorate a chamber, for
which work she paid more than nine hundred pounds, and was so well
pleased that she complimented the artist by commanding the apartment to
be called "Miss Moser's Room."
<b>MOTT, MRS. ALICE.</b> Born at Walton on Thames. Pupil of the Slade
School and Royal Academy in London, and of M. Charles Chaplin in Paris in
his studio. A miniaturist whose works are much esteemed. Her work is
life-like, artistic, and strong in drawing, color, and composition. After
finishing her study under masters she took up miniature painting by
herself, studying the works of old miniaturists.
Recently she writes me: "I have departed from the ordinary portrait
miniature, and am now painting what I call picture miniatures. For
instance, I am now at work on the portrait of Miss D. C., who is in
old-fashioned dress, low bodice, and long leg-of-mutton sleeves. She is
represented as running in the open, with sky and tree background. She has
a butterfly net over her shoulder, which floats out on the wind; she is
looking up and smiling; her hair and her sash are blown out. It is to be
called, 'I'd be a Butterfly.' The dress is the yellow of the common
butterfly. It is a large miniature. I hope to send it, with others, to
the St. Louis Exposition."
Her miniatures are numerous and in private hands. A very interesting one
belongs to the Bishop of Ripon and is a portrait of Mrs. Carpenter, his
mother.
<b>MUNTZ, LAURA A.</b>
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>MURRAY, ELIZABETH.</b> Member of the Institute of Painters in
Water-Colors, London, and of the American Society of Water-Color
Painters, New York. Her pictures are of genre subjects, many of them
being of Oriental figures. Among these are "Music in Morocco," "A
Moorish Saint," "The Greek Betrothed," etc. Other subjects are "The Gipsy
Queen," "Dalmatian Peasant," "The Old Story in Spain," etc.
<b>NATHAN, SIGNORA LILIAH ASCOLI.</b> Rome.
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>NEGRO, TERESA.</b> Born in Turin, where she resides. She has made a
study of antique pottery and has been successful in its imitation. Her
vases and amphorae have been frequently exhibited and are praised by
connoisseurs and critics. At the Italian National Exposition, 1880, she
exhibited a terra-cotta reproduction of a classic design, painted in
oils; also a wooden dish which resembled an antique ceramic.
<b>NELLI, PLAUTILLA.</b> There is a curious fact connected with two women
artists of Florence in the middle of the sixteenth century. In that city
of pageants--where Ghirlandajo saw, in the streets, in churches, and on
various ceremonial occasions, the beautiful women with whom he still
makes us acquainted--these ladies, daughters of noble Florentine
families, were nuns.
No Shakespearean dissector has, to my knowledge, affirmed that Hamlet's
advice to Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery," and his assertion, "I have
heard of your paintings, too," prove that Ophelia was an artist and a
nunnery a favorable place in which to set up a studio. Yet I think I
could make this assumption as convincing as many that have been "proved"
by the _post obitum_ atomizers of the great poet's every word.
But we have not far to seek for the reasons which led Plautilla Nelli and
Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi to choose the conventual life. The subjects of
their pictures prove that their thoughts were fixed on a life quite out
of tune with that which surrounded them in their homes. If they pictured
rich draperies and rare gems, it was but to adorn with them the Blessed
Virgin Mother and the holy saints, in token of their belief that all of
pomp and value in this life can but faintly symbolize the glory of the
life to come.
Plautilla Nelli, born in Florence in 1523, entered the convent of St.
Catherine of Siena, in her native city, and in time became its abbess.
Patiently, with earnest prayer, she studied and copied the works of Fra
Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto, until she was able to paint an original
"Adoration of the Magi" of such excellence as to secure her a place among
the painters of Florence.
Many of her pictures remained in her convent, but she also painted a
"Madonna Surrounded by Saints" for the choir of Santa Lucia at Pistoja.
There are pictures attributed to Plautilla Nelli in Berlin--notably the
"Visit of Martha to Christ,"--which are characterized by the earnestness,
purity, and grace of her beloved Fra Bartolommeo. Her "Adoration of the
Wise Men" is at Parma; the "Descent from the Cross" in Florence; the
"Last Supper" in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
There are traditions of her success as a teacher of painting in her
convent, but of this we have no exact knowledge such as we have of the
work of the "Suor Plautilla," the name by which she came to be known in
all Italy.
<b>NEMES-RANSONNETT, COUNTESS ELISA.</b> Born at Vienna, 1843. She studied
successively with Vastagh, Lulos, Aigner, Schilcher, Lenbach, Angeli, and
J. Benczur, and opened her studio at Kun Szent Miklos near Budapest. The
"Invitation to the Wedding" was well received, and her portraits of
Schiller and Perczel are in public galleries--the former in the Vienna
Künstlerhaus, and the latter in the Deputy House at Budapest.
<b>NEWCOMB, MARIA GUISE.</b> Born in New Jersey. Pupil of Schenck,
Chialiva, and Edouard Detaille in Paris. Travelled in Algeria and the
Sahara, studying the Arab and his horses. Very few artists can be
compared with Miss Newcomb in representing horses. She has a genius for
portraying this animal, and understands its anatomy as few painters have
done.
She was but a child when sketching horses and cattle was her pastime, and
so great was her fondness for it that the usual dolls and other toys were
crowded out of her life. Her studies in Paris were comprehensive, and her
work shows the results and places her among the distinguished painters of
animals.
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>NEY, ELISABETH.</b> Born in 1830. After studying at the Academy in
Berlin, this sculptor went to Munich, where she was devoted to her art.
She then came to Texas and remained some years in America. She returned
to Berlin in 1897. Among her best known works are busts of Garibaldi, of
J. Grimm, 1863, "Prometheus Bound," 1868, and a statue of Louis II. of
Bavaria.
<b>NICHOLLS, MRS. RHODA HOLMES.</b> Queen's Scholarship, Bloomsbury Art
School, London; gold medal, Competitive Prize Fund Exhibition, New York;
medal, Chicago Exposition, 1893; medal, Tennessee Exposition, 1897;
bronze medal at Buffalo Exposition, 1901. Member of American Water-Color
Society, New York Water-Color Society, Woman's Art Club, American Society
of Miniature Painters, Pen and Brush Club; honorable member of Woman's
Art Club, Canada. Born in Coventry, England. Pupil of Bloomsbury School
of Art, London; of Cannerano and Vertunni in Rome, where she was elected
to the Circolo Artistico and the Società degli Aquarelliste.
Her pictures are chiefly figure subjects, among which are "Those Evening
Bells," "The Scarlet Letter," "A Daughter of Eve," "Indian after the
Chase," "Searching the Scriptures," etc.
In the _Studio_, March, 1901, in writing of the exhibition of the
American Water-Color Society, the critic says: "In her two works,
'Cherries' and 'A Rose,' Mrs. Rhoda Holmes Nicholls shows us a true
water-color executed by a master hand. The subject of each is slight;
each stroke of her brush is made once and for all, with a precision and
dash that are inspiriting; and you have in each painting the sparkle, the
deft lightness of touch, the instantaneous impression of form and
coloring that a water-color should have."
[Illustration: AN INDIAN AFTER THE CHASE
RHODA HOLMES NICHOLS]
Mrs. Nicholls is also known as an illustrator. Harold Payne says of her:
"Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, although an illustrator of the highest order,
cannot be strictly classed as one, for the reason that she is equally
great in every other branch of art. However, as many of her best examples
of water-colors are ultimately reproduced for illustrative purposes, and
as even her oil paintings frequently find their way into the pages of art
publications, it is not wrong to denominate her as an illustrator, and
that of the most varied and prolific type. She may, like most artists,
have a specialty, but a walk through her studio and a critical
examination of her work--ranging all along the line of oil paintings,
water-colors of the most exquisite type, wash drawings, crayons, and
pastels--would scarcely result in discovering her specialty.... As a
colorist she has few rivals, and her acute knowledge of drawing and
genius for composition are apparent in everything she does."
<b>NICHOLS, CATHERINE MAUDE, R. E.</b> The pictures of this artist have
been hung on the line at the Royal Academy exhibitions a dozen times at
least. From Munich she has received an official letter thanking her for
sending her works to exhibitions in that city. Fellow of the Royal
Painter-Etchers' Society; president of the Woodpecker Art Club, Norwich;
Member of Norwich Art Circle and of a Miniature Painters' Society and the
Green Park Club, London. Born in Norwich. Self-taught. Has worked in the
open at Barbizon, in Normandy, in Cornwall, Devon, London, and all around
the east coast of Norfolk.
Miss Nichols has held three exhibitions of her pictures both in oil and
water-colors in London. She has executed more than a hundred copper
plates, chiefly dry-points. The pictures in oils and water-colors, the
miniatures and the proofs of her works have found purchasers, almost
without exception, and are in private hands. Most of the plates she has
retained.
Miss Nichols has illustrated some books, her own poems being of the
number, as well as her "Old Norwich." She has also made illustrations for
journals and magazines.
One is impressed most agreeably with the absence of mannerism in Miss
Nichols' work, as well as with the pronounced artistic treatment of her
subjects. Her sketches of sea and river scenery are attractive; the views
from her home county, Norfolk, have a delightful feeling about them.
"Norwich River at Evening" is not only a charming picture, but shows, in
its perspective and its values, the hand of a skilful artist. "Mousehold
Heath," showing a rough and broken country, is one of her strongest
pictures in oils; "Stretching to the Sea" is also excellent. Among the
water-colors "Strangers' Hall," Norwich, and "Fleeting Clouds," merit
attention, as do a number of others. One could rarely see so many works,
with such varied subjects, treated in oils, water-colors, dry point,
etc., by the same artist.
I quote the following paragraph from the _Studio_ of April, 1903: "Miss
C. M. Nichols is an artist of unquestionable talent, and her work in the
various mediums she employs deserves careful attention. She paints well
both in water-colors and in oil, and her etchings are among the best that
the lady artists of our time have produced. Her drawing is good, her
observation is close and accurate, and she shows year by year an
improvement in design. Miss Nichols was for several years the only lady
fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers."
Her "Brancaster Staithe" and "Fir Trees, Crown Point," dry points, are in
the Norwich Art Gallery, presented by Sir Seymour Haden, president of the
Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. Two of her works, a large oil painting
of "Earlham" and a water-color of "Strangers' Hall," have been purchased
by subscription and presented to the Norwich Castle Art Gallery.
<b>NICOLAU Y PARODY, TERESA.</b> Member of the Academy of San Fernando and
of the Academy of San Carlos of Valencia. This artist, who was born in
Madrid, early showed an enthusiasm for painting, which she at first
practised in various styles, but gradually devoted herself entirely to
miniature. She has contributed to many public exhibitions, and has
received many prizes and honorable mentions, as well as praise from the
critics. Among her portraits are those of Isabel de Braganza, Washington,
Mme. de Montespan, Mme. Dubarry, Queen Margaret of Austria, and Don
Carlos, son of Philip II. Her other works include a "Magdalen in the
Desert," "Laura and Petrarch," "Joseph with the Christ-Child," "Francis
I. at the Battle of Pavia," and many good copies after celebrated
painters.
<b>NIEDERHÄUSEN, MLLE. SOPHIE.</b> Medal at the Swiss National Exposition,
1896. Member of the Exposition permanente de l'Athénée, Geneva. Born at
Geneva. Pupil of Professor Wymann and M. Albert Gos, and of M. and Mme.
Demont-Breton in France.
Mlle. Niederhäusen paints landscapes principally, and has taken her
subjects from the environs of Geneva, in the Valais, and in
Pas-de-Calais, France.
Her picture, called the "Bord du Lac de Genève," was purchased by the
city and is in the Rath Museum. She also paints flowers, and uses
water-colors as well as oils.
<b>NOBILI, ELENA.</b> Silver medal at the Beatrice Exposition, Florence,
1890. Born in Florence, where she resides. She is most successful in
figure subjects. She is sympathetic in her treatment of them and is able
to impart to her works a sentiment which appeals to the observer. Among
her pictures are "Reietti," "The Good-Natured One," "September," "In the
Country," "Music," and "Contrasts."
<b>NORMAND, MRS. ERNEST--HENRIETTA RAE.</b> Medals in Paris and at Chicago
Exposition, 1893. Born in London, 1859. Daughter of T. B. Rae, Esquire.
Married the artist, Ernest Normand, 1884. Pupil of Queen's Square School
of Art, Heatherley's, British Museum, and Royal Academy Schools. Began
the study of art at the age of thirteen. First exhibited at the Royal
Academy in 1880, and has sent important pictures there annually since
that time.
Mrs. Normand executed decorative frescoes in the Royal Exchange, London,
the subject being "Sir Richard Whittington and His Charities."
In the past ten years she has exhibited "Mariana," 1893; "Psyche at the
Throne of Venus," 1894; "Apollo and Daphne," 1895; "Summer," 1896;
"Isabella," 1897; "Diana and Calisto," 1899; "Portrait of Marquis of
Dufferin and Ava," 1901; "Lady Winifred Renshaw and Son," and the
"Sirens," 1903, which is a picture of three nude enchantresses, on a
sandy shore, watching a distant galley among rocky islets.
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>NOURSE, ELIZABETH.</b> Medal at Chicago Exposition, 1903; Nashville
Exposition, 1897; Carthage Institute, Tunis, 1897; elected associate of
the Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1895; silver medal, Paris Exposition, 1900;
elected Sociétaire des Beaux-Arts, 1901. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where
she began her studies, later going to the Julian Academy, under Boulanger
and Lefebvre, and afterward studying with Carolus Duran and Henner. This
artist idealizes the subjects of every-day, practical life, and gives
them a poetic quality which is an uncommon and delightful attainment.
At the Salon des Beaux-Arts, 1902, Miss Nourse exhibited "The Children,"
"Evening Toilet of the Baby," "In the Shade at Pen'march," "Brother and
Sister at Pen'march," "The Madeleine Chapel at Pen'march." In 1903, "Our
Lady of Joy, Pen'march," "Around the Cradle," "The Little Sister," and "A
Breton Interior."
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>OAKLEY, VIOLET.</b> Member of Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
Philadelphia Water-Color Club, Plastic Club, Philadelphia. Born in New
Jersey, but has lived in New York, where she studied at the Art
Students' League under Carroll Beckwith. Pupil of Collin and Aman-Jean in
Paris and Charles Lasar in England; also in Philadelphia of Joseph de
Camp, Henry Thouron, Cecilia Beaux, and Howard Pyle.
Miss Oakley has executed mural decorations, a mosaic reredos, and five
stained-glass windows in the Church of All Saints, New York City, and a
window in the Convent of the Holy Child, at Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania.
In the summer of 1903 she was commissioned to decorate the walls of the
Governor's reception room in the new Capitol at Harrisburg. Before
engaging in this work--the first of its kind to be confided to an
American woman--Miss Oakley went to Italy to study mural painting. She
then went to England to thoroughly inform herself concerning the
historical foundation of her subject, the history of the earliest days of
Pennsylvania. At Oxford and in London she found what she required, and on
her return to America established herself in a studio in Villa Nova,
Pennsylvania, to make her designs for "The Romance of the Founding of the
State," which is to be painted on a frieze five feet deep. The room is
seventy by thirty feet, and sixteen feet in height.
The decoration of this Capitol is to be more elaborate and costly than
that of any other public edifice in the United States. In mural
decoration Miss Oakley will be associated with Edwin A. Abbey, but the
Governor's room is to be her work entirely, and will doubtless occupy her
during several years.