and other parts of France, but though she still lived a score of years,
she spent them in Paris and Louveciennes. She had with her two nieces,
who cared for her more tenderly than any one had done before. One of
these ladies was a portrait painter and profited much by the advice of
Mme. Le Brun, who wrote of this period and these friends: "They made me
feel again the sentiments of a mother, and their tender devotion
diffused a great charm over my life. It is near these two dear ones and
some friends who remain to me that I hope to terminate peacefully a life
which has been wandering but calm, laborious but honorable."
During the last years of her life the most distinguished society of Paris
was wont to assemble about her--artists, litterateurs, savants, and men
of the fashionable world. Here all essential differences of opinion were
laid aside and all met on common ground. Her "calm" seemed to have
influenced all her life; only good feeling and equality found a place
near her, and few women have the blessed fortune to be so sincerely
mourned by a host of friends as was Elizabeth Vigée Le Brun, dying at the
age of eighty-seven.
Mme. Le Brun's works numbered six hundred and sixty portraits--fifteen
genre or figure pictures and about two hundred landscapes painted from
sketches made on her journeys. Her portraits included those of the
sovereigns and royal families of all Europe, as well as the most famous
authors, artists, singers, and the learned men in Church and State.
As an artist M. Charles Blanc thus esteems her: "In short, Mme. Le Brun
belonged entirely to the eighteenth century--I wish to say to that period
of our time which rested itself suddenly at David. While she followed the
counsels of Vernet, her pencil had a certain suppleness, and her brush a
force; but she too often attempted to imitate Greuze in her later works
and she weakened the resemblance to her subjects by abusing the _regard
noyé_ (cloudy or indistinct effect). She was too early in vogue to make
all the necessary studies, and she too often contented herself with an
ingenuity a little too manifest. Without judging her as complacently as
the Academy formerly judged her, we owe her an honorable place, because
in spite of revolutions and reforms she continued to her last day the
light, spiritual, and French Art of Watteau, Nattier, and Fragonard."
<b>VIGRI, CATERINA DE.</b> Lippo Dalmasii was much admired by Malvasia, who
not only extols his pictures, but his spirit as well, and represents him
as following his art as a religion, beginning and ending his daily work
with prayer. Lippo is believed to have been the master of Caterina de
Vigri, and the story of her life is in harmony with the influence of such
a teacher.
She is the only woman artist who has been canonized; and in the Convent
of the Corpus Domini, in Bologna, which she founded, she is known as "La
Santa," and as a special patron of the Fine Arts.
Caterina was of a noble family of Ferrara, where she was born in 1413.
She died when fifty years old; and so great was the reverence for her
memory that her remains were preserved, and may still be seen in a chapel
of her convent. There are few places in that ever wonderful Italy of such
peculiar interest as this chapel, where sits, clothed in a silken robe,
with a crown of gold on the head, the incorrupt body of a woman who died
four hundred and forty years ago. The body is quite black, while the
nails are still pink. She holds a book and a sceptre. Around her, in the
well-lighted chapel, are several memorials of her life: the viola on
which she played, and a manuscript in her exquisite chirography, also a
service book illuminated by Caterina, and, still more important, one of
her pictures, a "Madonna and Child," inserted in the wall on the left of
the chapel, which is admirable for the beauty of expression in the face
of the Holy Mother.
We cannot trace Caterina's artist life step by step, but she doubtless
worked with the same spirit of consecration and prayer as did that Beato
whom we call Angelico, in his Florentine convent, a century earlier.
Caterina executed many miniatures, and her easel pictures were not large.
These were owned by private families. She is known to us by two pictures
of "St. Ursula folding her Robe about her Companions." One is in the
Bologna Gallery, the other in the Academy in Venice. The first is on a
wooden panel, and was painted when the artist was thirty-nine years old.
The Saint is represented as unnaturally tall, the figures of her virgins
being very small. The mantle and robe of St. Ursula are of rich brocade
ornamented with floral designs, while on each side of her is a white
flag, on which is a red cross. The face of the saint is so attractive
that one forgets the elongation of her figure. There is a delicacy in the
execution, combined with a freedom and firmness of handling fully equal
to the standard of her school and time. Many honors were paid to the
memory of Caterina de Vigri. She was chosen as the protectress of
Academies and Art Institutions, and in the eighteenth century a medal was
coined, on which she is represented as painting on a panel held by an
angel. How few human beings are thus honored three centuries after death!
<b>VINCENT, MME.</b> See Labille.
<b>VISSCHER, ANNA AND MARIA.</b> These daughters of the celebrated Dutch
engraver were known as "the Dutch Muses." They made their best reputation
by their etchings on glass, but they were also well known for their
writing of both poetry and prose. They were associated with the scholars
of their time and were much admired.
<b>VOLKMAR, ANTONIE ELIZABETH CAECILIA.</b> Born in Berlin, 1827. She
studied with Schroder in her native city, with L. Cogniet in Paris, and
later in Italy. She returned to Berlin, where she painted portraits and
genre subjects. Her picture of the "Grandmother telling Stories" is in
the Museum of Stettin. Among her works are "An Artist's Travels" a
"German Emigrant," and "School Friends."
<b>VONNOH, BESSIE POTTER.</b> Bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1900; Second
Prize at Tennessee Centennial. Honorable mention at Buffalo Exposition,
1901. Member of the National Sculpture Society and National Arts Club.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, 1872.
This sculptor is a pupil of the Art Institute, Chicago. Among her best
works are "A Young Mother"; "Twin Sisters"; "His First Journey"; "Girl
Reading," etc.
In the _Century Magazine_, September, 1897, Arthur Hoeber wrote: "There
were shown at the Society of American Artists in New York, in the Spring
of 1896, some statuettes of graceful young womanhood, essentially modern
in conception, singularly naïve in treatment, refined, and withal
intensely personal.... While the disclosure is by no means novel, Miss
Potter makes us aware that in the daily prosaic life about us there are
possibilities conventional yet attractive, simple, but containing much of
suggestion, waiting only the sympathetic touch to be responsive if the
proper chord is struck."
This author also notices the affiliation of this young woman with the
efforts of the Tanagra workers, and says: "But if the inspiration of the
young woman is evident, her work can in no way be called imitative."
<b>VOS, MARIA.</b> Born in Amsterdam, 1824. Pupil of P. Kiers. Her pictures
were principally of still-life, two of which are seen in the Amsterdam
Museum.
<b>WAGNER, MARIA DOROTHEA</b>; family name Dietrich. 1728-1792. The gallery
of Wiesbaden has two of her landscapes, as has also the Museum at Gotha.
"Der Mühlengrund," representing a valley with a brook and a mill, is in
the Dresden Gallery.
<b>WARD, MISS E.</b> This sculptor has a commission to make a statue of G.
R. Clark for the St. Louis Exposition.
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>WARD, HENRIETTA MARY ADA.</b> Gold and silver medals at the Crystal
Palace; bronze medal at the Vienna Exposition, 1873. Born in Newman
Street, London, when that street and the neighborhood was the quarter in
which the then celebrated artists resided. Mrs. Ward was a pupil of the
Bloomsbury Art School and of Sak's Academy. Her grandfather, James Ward,
was a royal Academician, and one of the best animal painters of England.
While Sir Thomas Lawrence lived, Mrs. Ward's father, who was a
miniaturist, was much occupied in copying the works of Sir Thomas on
ivory, as the celebrated portrait painter would permit no other artist to
repeat them. After the death of Sir Thomas, Mr. Ward became an engraver.
Her mother was also a miniature painter. Her great-uncles were William
Ward, R.A., and George Morland; John Jackson, R.A., was her uncle; and
her husband, Edward M. Ward, to whom she was married at sixteen, was also
a Royal Academican.
From 1849, Mrs. Ward exhibited at the Royal Academy during thirty years,
without a break, but her husband's death caused her to omit some
exhibitions, and since that time her exhibits have been less regular. For
some years Mrs. Ward has had successful classes for women at Chester
Studios, which have somewhat interfered with her painting.
Mrs. Ward's subjects have been historical and genre, some of which are
extensively known by prints after them. Among these are "Joan of Arc,"
"Palissy the Potter," and "Mrs. Fry and Mary Saunderson visiting
Prisoners at Newgate," the last dedicated by permission to Queen
Victoria. This picture was purchased by an American.
Of her picture of "Mary of Scotland, giving her infant to the Care of
Lord Mar," Palgrave wrote: "This work is finely painted, and tells its
tale with clearness." Among her numerous works are: "The Poet Hogg's
First Love"; "Chatterton," the poet, in the Muniment Room, Bristol; "Lady
Jane Grey refusing the Crown of England"; "Antwerp Market"; "Queen Mary
of Scots' farewell to James I."; "Washing Day at the Liverpool Docks";
"The Princes in the Tower"; "George III. and Mrs. Delayney, with his
family at Windsor"; "The Young Pretender," and many others.
When sixteen Mrs. Ward exhibited two heads in crayon. In 1903, at the
Academy, she exhibited "The Dining-room, Kent House, Knightsbridge." Mrs.
Ward painted for Queen Victoria two portraits of the Princess Beatrice,
and a life-size copy of a portrait of the Duke of Albany. She also
painted a portrait of Princess Alice of Albany, who is about to marry
Prince Alexander of Teck.
Edward VII. has commissioned this artist to make two copies of the state
portrait, painted by S. Luke Fildes, R.A.
Mrs. Ward had two more votes for her admission to the Royal Academy than
any other woman of her time has had.
<b>WASSER, ANNA.</b> Born at Zürich, 1676, is notable among the painters of
her country. She was the daughter of an artist, and early developed a
love of drawing and an unusual aptitude in the study of languages. In
painting she was a pupil of Joseph Werner. After a time she devoted
herself to miniature painting; her reputation extended to all the German
courts, as well as to Holland and England, and her commissions were so
numerous that her father began to regard her as a mine of riches. He
allowed her neither rest nor recreation, and was even unwilling that she
should devote sufficient time to her pictures to finish them properly.
Under this pressure of haste and constant labor her health gave way and
she became melancholy.
She was separated from her father, and in more agreeable surroundings her
health was restored and she resumed her painting. Her father then
insisted that she should return to him. On her journey home she had a
fall, from the effects of which she died at the age of thirty-four.
Fuseli valued a picture by Anna Wasser, which he owned, and praised her
correctness of design and her feeling for color.
<b>WATERS, SADIE P.</b> 1869-1900. Honorable mention Paris Exposition,
1900. Born in St. Louis, Missouri. This unusually gifted artist made her
studies entirely in Paris, under the direction of M. Luc-Olivier Merson.
Her earlier works were portraits in miniature, in which she was very
successful. That of Jane Hading was much admired. She also excelled in
illustrations, but in her later work she found her true province, that of
religious subjects. A large picture on ivory, called "La Vierge au Lys,"
was exhibited in Paris, London, Brussels, and Ghent, and attracted much
attention.
[Illustration: LA VIERGE AU ROSIER
SADIE WATERS]
Her picture of the "Vierge aux Rosiers," reproduced here, was in the
Salon, 1899, and in the exhibition of Religious Art in Brussels in 1900,
after which it was exhibited in New York; and wherever seen it was
especially admired.
Miss Waters' pictures were exhibited in the Salon Français, Champs
Elysées, from 1891 until her death. From the earliest days of childhood
she was remarkable for her skill in drawing and in working out, from
her own impressions, pictures of events passing about her. If at the
theatre she saw a play that appealed to her, she made a picture symbolic
of the play, and constantly startled her friends by her original ideas
and the pronounced artistic temperament, which was very early the one
controlling power in her life. Mr. Carl Gutherz thus speaks of her good
fortune in studying with M. Merson.
"As the Master and Student became more and more acquainted, and the great
artist found in the student those kindred qualities which subsequently
made her work so refined and beautiful,... he took the utmost care in
developing her drawing--the fidelity of line and of expression, and the
ever-pervading purity in her work. The sympathy with all good was
reflected in the student, as it was ever present with the master, and
only those who are acquainted with M. Merson can appreciate how fortunate
it was for Art that the young artist was under a master of his character
and temperament."
One of her pictures, called "La Chrysanthème," represents a nude figure
of a young girl, seated on the ground, leaning against a large basket of
chrysanthemums, from which she is plucking blossoms. The figure is
beautiful, and shows the deep study the artist had made, although still
so young.
The following estimate of her work is made by one competent to speak of
such matters: "In this epoch of feverish uncertainty, of heated
discussions and rivalries in art matters, the quiet, calm figure of Sadie
Waters has a peculiar interest and charm generated by her tranquil and
persistent pursuit of an ideal--an ideal she attained in her later
works, an ideal of the highest mental order, mystical and human, and so
far removed from the tendencies of our time that one might truthfully
say, it stands alone. Her talents were manifold. She was endowed with the
best of artistic qualities. She cultivated them diligently, and slowly
acquired the handicraft and skill which enabled her to express herself
without restriction. In her miniatures she learned to be careful,
precise, and delicate; in her work from nature she was human; and in her
studies of illuminating she gained a perfect understanding of ornamental
painting and forms; and the subtle ambiance of the beautiful old churches
and convents where she worked and pored over the ancient missals, and
softly talked with the princely robed Monsignori, no doubt did much to
develop her love for the Beautiful Story, the delicate myth of
Christianity--and all this, all these rare qualities and honest efforts
we find in her last picture, The Virgin.
"The beauty and preciseness of this composition, the divine feeling not
without a touch of motherly sentiment, its delicacy so rare and so pure,
the distinction of its coloring, are all past expression, and give it a
place unique in the nineteenth century."--_Paul W. Bartlett_, Paris,
1903.
<b>WEGMANN, BERTHA.</b> Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1880; third-class
medal, 1882; Thorwaldsen medal at Copenhagen; small gold medal, Berlin,
1894. Born at Soglio, Switzerland, 1847. Studied in Copenhagen, Munich,
Paris, and Florence.
She paints portraits and genre subjects. Her pictures, seen at Berlin in
1893, were much admired. They included portraits, figure studies, and
Danish interiors. At Munich, in 1894, her portraits attracted attention,
and were commended by those who wrote of the exhibition. Among her works
are many portraits: "Mother and Child in the Garden," and "A Widow and
Child," are two of her genre subjects.
<b>WEIS, ROSARIO.</b> Silver medal from the Academy of San Fernando, 1842,
for a picture called "Silence." Member of the Academy. Pupil of Goya, who
early recognized her talent. In 1823, when Goya removed to Burdeos, she
studied under the architect Tiburcio Perez. After a time she joined Goya,
and remained his pupil until his death in 1828. She then entered the
studio Lacour, where she did admirable work. In 1833, for the support of
her mother and herself, she made copies of pictures in the Prado on
private commissions.
In 1842 she was appointed teacher of drawing to the royal family, in
which position she did not long continue, her death occurring in 1843.
Among her pictures are "Attention!" an allegorical figure; "An Angel"; "A
Venus"; and "A Diana." Among her portraits are those of Goya, Velasquez,
and Figaro.
<b>WIEGMANN, MARIE ELISABETH</b>; family name Hancke. Small gold medal,
Berlin. Born 1826 at Solberberg, Silesia; died, 1893, at Düsseldorf. In
1841 she began to study with Stilke in Düsseldorf; later with K. Sohn.
She travelled extensively in Germany, England, Holland, and Italy, and
settled with her husband, Rudolph Wiegmann, in Düsseldorf. In the Museum
at Hanover is "The Colonist's Children Crowning a Negro Woman," and in
the National Gallery at Berlin a portrait of Schnaase. Some children's
portraits, and one of the Countess Hatzfeld, should also be mentioned
among her works.
In portraiture her work was distinguished by talent, spirit, and true
artistic composition; in genre--especially the so-called ideal genre--she
produced some exquisite examples.
<b>WENTWORTH, MARQUISE CECILIA DE.</b> Gold medal, Tours National
Exposition, Lyons and Turin; Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1891; Bronze
medal, Paris Exposition, 1900; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1901.
Born in New York. Pupil of the Convent of the Sacred Heart and of
Cabanel, in Paris. This artist has painted portraits of Leo XIII., who
presented her with a gold medal; of Cardinal Ferrata; of
Challemel-Lacour, President of the Senate at the time when the portrait
was made, and of many others. Her picture of "Faith" is in the Luxembourg
Gallery. At the Salon des Artistes Français, 1903, Madame de Wentworth
exhibited the "Portrait of Mlle. X.," and "Solitude."
[_No reply to circular_.]
<b>WHEELER, JANET.</b> First Toppan Prize and Mary Smith Prize at Academy
of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Gold medal, Philadelphia Art Club. Fellow of
Academy of Fine Arts, and member of Plastic Club, Philadelphia. Born in
Detroit, Michigan. Pupil of Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and of
the Julian Academy in Paris.
This artist paints portraits almost entirely, which are in private hands.
I know of but one figure picture by her, which is called "Beg for It."
She was a miniaturist several years before taking up larger portraits.
<b>WHITE, FLORENCE.</b> Silver medal at Woman's Exhibition, Earl's Court;
silver medal for a pastel exhibited in Calcutta. Born at Brighton,
England. Pupil of Royal Academy Schools in London, and of Bouguereau and
Perrier in Paris.
In 1899 this artist exhibited a portrait in the New Gallery; in 1901 a
portrait of Bertram Blunt, Esq., at the Royal Academy; and in 1902 a
portrait of "Peggy," a little girl with a poodle.
She has sent miniatures to the Academy exhibitions several years; that of
Miss Lyall Wilson was exhibited in 1903.
<b>WHITMAN, SARAH DE ST. PRIX.</b> Bronze medal at Columbian Exposition,
Chicago, 1893; gold and bronze medals at Atlanta Exposition; diploma at
Pan-American, Buffalo, 1901. Member of the Society of American Artists,
New York; Copley Society, Boston; Water-Color Club, Boston. Born in
Baltimore, Maryland. Pupil of William M. Hunt and Thomas Couture.
Mrs. Whitman has painted landscapes and portraits, and of recent years
has been much occupied with work in glass. Windows by her are in Memorial
Hall, Cambridge; in the Episcopal Church in Andover, Massachusetts, etc.
An altar-piece by her is in All Saints' Church, Worcester.
Her portrait of Senator Bayard is in the State Department, Washington.
<b>WHITNEY, ANNE.</b> Born in Watertown, Massachusetts. Made her studies in
Belmont and Boston, and later in Paris and Rome.
Miss Whitney's sculptures are in many public places. A heroic size statue
of Samuel Adams is in Boston and Washington, in bronze and marble;
Harriet Martineau is at Wellesley College, in marble; the "Lotos-Eaters"
is in Newton and Cambridge, in marble; "Lady Godiva," a life-size statue
in marble, is in a private collection in Milton; a statue of Leif
Eriksen, in bronze, is in Boston and Milwaukee; a bust of Professor
Pickering, in marble, is in the Observatory, Cambridge; a statue, "Roma,"
is in Albany, Wellesley, St. Louis, and Newton, in both marble and
bronze; Charles Sumner, in bronze of heroic size, is in Cambridge; a bust
of President Walker, bronze, is also in Cambridge; President Stearns, a
bust in marble, is in Amherst; a bust of Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer is in
Cambridge; a bust of Professor Palmer is on a bronze medal; the Calla
Fountain, in bronze, is in Franklin Park; and many other busts, medals,
etc., in marble, bronze, and plaster, are in private collections.
<b>WILSON, MELVA BEATRICE.</b> Prize of one hundred dollars a year for
three successive years at Cincinnati Art Museum. Honorable mention, Paris
Salon, 1897. Born in Cincinnati, 1875. Pupil of Cincinnati Art Museum,
under Louis T. Rebisso and Thomas Noble; in Paris, of Rodin and Vincent
Norrottny.
By special invitation this sculptor has been an exhibitor at the National
Sculpture Society, New York. Her principal works are: "The Minute Man,"
in Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D. C.; "The Volunteer," which was
given by the State of New York as a military prize to a Vermont Regiment;
an equestrian statue of John F. Doyle, Jr.; "Bull and Bear" and the "Polo
Player" in bronze, owned by Tiffany & Co.; "Retribution" in a private
collection in New York.
Miss Wilson has been accorded the largest commission given any woman
sculptor for the decoration of the buildings of the St. Louis Exposition.
She is to design eight spandrils for Machinery Hall, each one being
twenty-eight by fifteen feet in size, with figures larger than life. The
design represents the wheelwright and boiler-making trades. Reclining
nude figures, of colossal size, bend toward the keystone of the arch,
each holding a tool of a machinist. Interlaced cog-wheels form the
background.
<b>WIRTH, ANNA MARIE.</b> Member of the Munich Art Association. Born in St.
Petersburg, 1846. Studied in Vienna under Straschiripka--commonly known
as Johann Canon--and in Paris, although her year's work in the latter
city seems to have left no trace upon her manner of painting. The genre
pictures, in which she excels, clearly show the influence of the old
Dutch school. A writer in "Moderne Kunst" says, in general, that she
shows us real human beings under the "précieuses ridicules," the
languishing gallants and the pedant, and often succeeds in
individualizing all these with the sharpness of a Chodowiecki, though at
times she is merely good-natured, and therefore weak.
Sometimes, like Terborch, by her anecdotical treatment, she can set a
whole romantic story before you; again, in the manner of Gerard Dow, she
gives you a penetrating glimpse into old burgher life--work that is quite
out of touch with the dilettantism that largely pervades modern art.
The admirers of this unusual artist seek out her genre pictures in the
exhibitions of to-day, much as one turns to an idyl of Heinrich Voss,
after a dose of the "storm and stress" poets. Most of her works are in
private galleries.
One of her best pictures will be seen at the St. Louis Exposition.
<b>WISINGER-FLORIAN, OLGA.</b> Bavarian Ludwig medal, 1891; medal at
Chicago, 1893. Born in Vienna, 1844. Pupil of Schäffer and Schwindler.
She has an excellent reputation as a painter of flowers. In the New
Gallery, Munich, is one of her pictures of this sort; and at Munich,
1893, her flower pieces were especially praised in the reports of the
exhibition.