After her own painting.
]
The 18th Century produced two women artists, who were among the leaders
of their time: =Angelica Kauffmann= and =Marie LeBrun=. Angelica
Kauffmann, the daughter of an artist, was born in 1740 at Coire in
Switzerland, from where she went later on to Italy, to study the great
masters. In 1765 she came to London. Here she painted many excellent
portraits as well as numerous classic and allegorical subjects. In 1781
she returned to Italy. Here she was always much feted and admired for
her talents as well as for her personal charm. Goethe, who met Angelica
Kauffmann in Rome, admired her works very much. “No living painter,” so
he wrote in a letter, “excels her in dignity or in the delicate taste
with which she handles the pencil.” And Raphael Mengs, one of the most
brilliant artists of the Rococo, praised her in the following words: “As
an artist Angelica Kauffmann is the pride of the female sex in all times
and all nations. Nothing is wanting; composition, coloring, fancy, all
are here.” When she died in November, 1807, she was honored by a
splendid funeral under the direction of Canova. The entire Academy of
St. Luke at Rome with numerous ecclesiastics and virtuosi followed her
funeral train and, as at the burial of Raphael, two of her latest
paintings were carried behind her coffin in the procession.
Of =Madame LeBrun=, who was born in 1755 in France, it has been said
that “a more ideal artist never lived.” The well-known portrait of
herself and her daughter has been termed “the tenderest of all
pictures.” She also painted several portraits of the unfortunate Queen
Marie Antoinette. The Louvre has one of her best paintings: “Peace
bringing back Abundance.”
Madame LeBrun was one of the most prolific artists of all times. In her
autobiography, entitled “Souvenirs,” she states that she finished six
hundred and sixty-two portraits, fifteen large compositions, and two
hundred landscapes, the latter sketched during her travels in
Switzerland and England.
During the 18th Century Germany was the scene of the greatest activity
of women artists. France held the second place and Italy the third, thus
reversing the conditions of preceding centuries. Flanders and Antwerp
too were famous for women artists, some of whom went to other countries
where they were recognized for their talent and attainments.
The most famous woman artist of the 19th Century was =Rosa Bonheur=,
born in 1832 at Bordeaux, the daughter of Raymond Bonheur, an artist of
merit. From him she received her first instructions. In 1841 she began
exhibiting in the Paris Salon, with several small animal paintings,
indicating the direction in which she was to attain her future eminence.
Her great success in painting animals was due to her conscientious study
of living subjects. One of her masterpieces, “Plowing with Oxen,” ranks
among the gems of the Luxembourg. Another excellent painting, “The Horse
Fair,” was the chief attraction of the Paris Salon in 1853, and later on
became the property of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Of all
animal paintings ever executed, this one is perhaps the most animated,
and the best in composition as well as in color. Another canvass,
“Horses Threshing Corn,” shows the same merits. Containing ten horses in
full life size, it is the largest animal picture ever produced.
[Illustration: