England I attended my lady pupils at their own residences, except one to
whom I gave instruction at my residence. One was the daughter of the
Lord Mayor of the city, another the daughter-in-law of the Earl of H.
Very few ladies learn any of the higher branches of art, except those
that do so for recreation. A person that has some skill in drawing
would, without the slightest doubt, soon acquire a knowledge of this
beautiful art. Some persons have a natural gift for modelling, while
others would not learn it with all the cultivation arising from
education and good society. Probably the best source of employment in
New York would be to design and model for the silversmiths--such as Ball
& Black, Tiffany, &c. One of the most fertile departments in Europe to
lady modellers is not carried on to any extent in this country--the
making of fine pottery. The fingers, of course, must be soiled in
modelling; but such an inconvenience is trifling compared with the
pleasure of forming fruit, flowers, and foliage, or modelling the
medallions of friends." The modelling of gas fixtures might afford
employment to a small number of qualified women. We know of one
establishment in Philadelphia where part of the designing for fixtures,
lamps, and chandeliers, is done by a lady, and all the copying done for
illustrated catalogues of those which are finished. She receives $6 a
week, and goes about 9 o'clock A. M. and remains until 4 P. M. Mr P., at
his school of art in New York, has a very large collection of casts. He
gives instruction to boys and young men in modelling and drawing,
charging 25 cents a lesson of 3 hours in the day or 2 in the evening.
They are instructed in classes. Some of his casts are gigantic. In one
of his rooms is a beautiful, but small model, in wax, for $300,
representing a hunting scene. We have been told that some ladies in
Germany model wax patterns for the ornamental work on china. Few tools
are used by a modeller--the only ones are for the sharp and delicate
parts that cannot be formed by the fingers. As clay does not shrink
uniformly in drying it is moulded before drying in plaster of Paris, and
a cast of the same material taken from that, which serves as a model for
the workman. Some artists model in wax. Women might be employed in
modelling ornamental and scroll work for brass founderies, &c., and get
good wages.
=61. Modellers of Wax Figures.= Catharine Questier, who lived in
Amsterdam about 200 years ago, besides possessing many other
accomplishments, was a modeller in wax. Joanna Sabina Preu, who lived in
Germany not long after, was noted in the same way. A daughter of a
Danish king also modelled in wax. "Professor Anna Manzalius, an Italian
lady, modelled excellent portraits in the beginning of the eighteenth
century." In England, in the early part of the eighteenth century, Mrs.
Samore modelled figures and historical groups in wax. Mrs. Patience
Wright, born in Bordentown, New Jersey, 1725, made a great many
likenesses in wax. Some were full length and some were busts. They were
mostly of the statesmen that were conspicuous in the American colonies
at that time--yet some were of Englishmen, as she resided in London,
after she became a widow, and supported her family by her handiwork. Her
daughter, Mrs. Platt, modelled in wax in New York in 1787. I saw a maker
of wax figures who said he had supported his family by his work, and
thought a few others might make a living at it. One must be able to draw
a model before undertaking wax figures. It requires good perceptive
powers, ability to distinguish colors, and a peculiar taste. One must be
able to work from life, and it is well to know how to do so from
pictures. Mr. G., interested in Barnum's museum, told me that it was
impossible to get such wax figures made in this country as they want. He
spoke of the miserable imitations that are made, and thought a person
well qualified would be patronized. Most of the groups in Barnum's
museum were made by Mrs. Pelby, of Boston. Mr. Barnum wrote to Mr.
Tussaud, whose mother made those so famous in London (and who is living
now), to know if he would instruct some one to send to America; but he
is not willing to give any one instruction. He employs persons to make
the different parts; one set of workers make the bodies, another the
heads, another the feet, &c. The world-famed group of his mother, Madame
Tussaud, was first opened in Paris about 1770. After being exhibited in
the large towns of Great Britain, it was taken to London, where it still
remains. The figures are so life-like that now and then one is mistaken
for a living person, while a person is as often mistaken in the group
for one of the figures. More than forty persons are kept in charge of
the exhibition.
=62. Mineral Labellers and Arrangers.= A lady could not easily make
collections of minerals, but she might find it an absorbing occupation
to arrange and label them. Few ladies in our country have given any
study to mineralogy, and very few would be competent to form cabinets.
Yet, for those that are, we doubt not employment of that kind could be
found. The individual wealth of our country has not been sufficient to
enable many to make extensive collections. The most that exist are
connected with universities and other institutions of learning. They
have been collected at different times--in fact, mostly formed by single
specimens, added now and then. Individual collections have been formed
in the same way. Individuals add to the cabinets of their friends, as
they have it in their power. The most extensive collections in the
United States are at the Patent Office, Washington, and in the National
Academy of Science, Philadelphia. Mr. H., a mineralogist from Berlin,
says: "In Berne, Switzerland, a man and his wife are mineralogists. On
the husband's death the wife will continue the business." It must
require many years' study and an extensive knowledge of chemistry to
become a superior mineralogist. I would think considerable time and
capital were requisite for a mineralogist to establish himself. Mr. H.
makes exchanges of minerals for others, receiving, I suppose, a
commission for doing so. A geologist writes me: "No women are employed
in my business. It requires one half of a lifetime to become fitted for
the duties of a geologist. A knowledge of engineering, and most of the
natural sciences, is needed. Draughting in the office is the only part
suitable for women."
=63. Musicians.= Madame Romeau says: "Few women have been engaged in
musical compositions, and they have rarely undertaken important works.
In painting and literature one is pre-occupied only with the work of the
author. In music, it requires the coöperation of two persons--the
composer, and the performer. Books and paintings act upon us without any
intermediate objects, while the piece of the composer, to be understood,
needs the flow of harmony noted on the paper in hieroglyphic signs, and
must escape under the fingers from the instrument. It is necessary to
animate the inert matter--to make it yield to the wish of the performer
and reproduce the inspirations of the composer. Few women compose songs.
A musician leads a different life from an artist, who lives in her
studio and has few expenses. A musician must face the crowd, and hear
its dissatisfaction, and smile at its applause. A cantatrice, or
songstress, often travels from town to town like an actress." Some
persons think none of the arts can be purely religious except music.
"Mozart in music, and Raphael in colors, have taught us the spiritual
ministry of the senses." A comparatively small quantity of music has
been composed in the United States. The study of a lifetime is bestowed
by very few on music. Some American ladies have gone to Europe to
perfect their musical taste, and a few have acquired distinction. With
musicians, as with vocalists--those who, in this country, have reaped
the greatest profits in the shortest time were foreigners. Some were
pianists, some flutists, some violinists--some one thing, and some
another. The composition of music for soirées, fancy balls, masquerades,
tableaux vivants, private theatricals, operas, dramas, musical farces,
ballets, &c., might occupy all the spare time of musicians capable of
composing. There is a circulating library in London of 42,000 volumes.
There is, also, one in New York and one in Brooklyn. Subscribers to the
one in Brooklyn pay in advance for one year $12, with the privilege of
selecting from the catalogue $6 worth of music at the termination of the
subscription; for six months, $6; for three months, $3; for a single
piece worth less than $1, 6 cents per week; less than $2, 9 cents per
week. Mr. G. thinks a lady can never become a good violinist, because it
requires great strength in the right arm. The muscles of violinists are
as rigid as a blacksmith's. I have heard that occasionally a pianist
acquires such strength in his hands that he could almost prostrate you
with one of his fingers. A gentleman told me, ladies could not become
superior organists; that they cannot have sufficient power developed. It
requires much strength of hands and feet. He remarked, the organist, at
the church he attended, was a lady, but made no comments on her
qualifications. I have known two lady organists, who were considered
superior performers, and received as good salaries as gentlemen would
have done. One received $500 for playing twice on Sabbath. On week days
she gave instruction. I was told that she supported her whole family for
years by her musical talents, and laid by money with which she purchased
a comfortable dwelling in a city in New York State. The salaries of
organists are small considering the amount of talent and practice
required; but most organists teach music, or stand in music stores, or
act as agents for manufacturers of musical instruments. "In the summer
of 1860, among the Marblehead band of female shoe strikers in the
procession at Lynn, Mass., was Miss Margaret Hammond, fifteen years old,
who beat the drum in martial style the whole line of march." "In Ohio
they have a lady drummer, who has received a diploma for her skill. Her
name is Minerva Patterson, a daughter of Major Elisha Patterson, a
wealthy farmer of Jersey, Licking Co." The French papers have given some
insight to the prices paid great musicians, Malibran received in London,
for every performance at Drury Lane, $750; Lablache, for singing twice,
$750, and for a single lesson to Queen Victoria, $200. At a soirée in
London Grisi received $1,200. Paganini charged $400 a lesson. "Herz and
Thalberg each made about $60,000 in this country." There is a female
musical society in London which gives concerts for benevolent objects.
=64. Music Engravers and Folders.= Mr. L. engraves and prints music, and
employs two ladies to fold it. There are but few music engravers. The
smaller the number of persons in any one kind of business the higher the
prices they can command. A lady in New Orleans engraves, whose husband
is a music printer. It would require but two or three years to learn it.
Some ingenuity, a knowledge of the value of notes in music, and judgment
in the arrangement of them are necessary to make an engraver. In New
Orleans, eight months are usually considered a year, I believe, in
business arrangements. At a music engraver's the young man told me that
he never heard of a woman engraving music in this country, but he knows
that some do in Paris. The work they turn out, he added, is not good; it
will not wear, because women have not sufficient strength in the wrist
to engrave as deeply as a man. A person who engraves plates for music
can earn from $3 to $5 a day. German work is considered the best,
because the quality of the ink used is better. Music engraving is
divided into two distinct branches--one is lettering and engraving the
title page--the other is engraving the notes. No steam machinery has
ever been invented for printing music, because the ink must all be put
on the way the work is done. Music is one of the first things dispensed
with in hard times.
=65. Opera Performers.= The first opera of modern times was performed
about the close of the fifteenth century. At the first introduction of
the opera into France and England, it was much ridiculed by wits and
critics. Voltaire, however, and others, came to its rescue, and with
what success may be known, when it is acknowledged to be one of the
favorite amusements of the fashionable world. The want of adaptedness of
the opera to the English language has to a great extent excluded
successful efforts at translation. Yet some operas have of late years
been performed in English. "In Paris, the Italian opera is patronized by
the Government, as a school of vocal music; and the managers are careful
to maintain a complete and skilful company." In an opera, the music is
the most important part, while at the theatre the music is subordinate
to the play. The orchestra in some parts of the opera accompanies, and,
in others, seems to respond to the sentiments of the piece. The operatic
performance is not so warm, so impassioned, so abandoned, as that of the
theatre. The trilling and sudden starting, so common in operas, is
rather too artificial to please the unsophisticated. A conversational
style is seldom used, but the words are expressed in a recitative style
that is graceful and effective. In Germany, however, dialogue has been
introduced. Good imitative powers are essential to success. The noble
talent of music has been desecrated, in some operas, by the impure
thoughts and language expressed. In the United States probably not more
than thirty, out of the entire audience of several hundred, sufficiently
understand the Italian, to follow the play without considerable effort;
but it is so much of a pantomimic character that much is gained by the
sense of sight. Much of the zest and interest are lost to those who are
indifferent to the accessories. On this account, we suppose it can never
become a favorite amusement with the generality of people. The French
papers give some curious statements in regard to the salaries paid to
great musical artists. We learn that Hummel left a fortune of $75,000,
and twenty-six diamond rings, thirty-four snuff boxes, and one hundred
and fourteen watches, which had been presented to him at various times.
In modern days musicians are quite as extravagantly paid. Alboni and
Mario get $400 every night they sing; Tamberlik, every time he sings a
certain high note, demands $500; Madame Gazzaniga was paid $500 a night
recently in Philadelphia; Lagrange, at Rio Janeiro, is now receiving a
princely salary; and Piccolomini cost her manager over $5,000 a month;
and these prices are said to be moderate, compared with those often paid
in Europe to distinguished musical artists. At the opera house in Paris,
for the present season, Mr. Colzado, the manager, pays as follows: to
Tamberlik, for seventeen representations, $8,000; Alboni, $2,200 for
seven representations; Mario, $15,000 for a season of five months;
Grisi, $5,000 for two months; Madame Perer, $14,000 for the season; the
Grazioni brothers, $15,400; Corsi, a baritone, $4,000; Galvani, $3,600;
Nantin Didere, $4,000; Tecehini, $3,600; Mlle. de Ruda, $3,400. The
chorus and orchestra cost for the season $17,600. "Parodi, the American
prima donna, receives no less than $30,000 per annum, a larger salary
than that paid to the President of the United States." "Miss Hensler,
the American prima donna, has been engaged by the manager of La Scala
for fifteen months, at the rate of $170 a month." "Sophie Curveth
receives $2,500 a month, for eight representations; for every
representation beyond eight in the month, $300 more."
=66. Painters.= "Less prejudice exists against artists than teachers in
France. They have privileges that teachers have not. Painting is
considered the most desirable profession by parents for their daughters.
The girl begins early in life to fit herself for her profession. The
work is less severe than that of an author. Painting does not require
such close application of mind, nor is it necessary to spend so much
time in solitude, nor are the expense and anxiety so great as that of
authorship. Gratuitous schools of art exist in Paris, where instruction
is given principally in perspective. Most students prosecute the art in
studios, paying from $4 to $6 a month. Most of them spend the whole day
in the studios, from eight in the morning until six in the evening. The
artist that instructs them visits the scholars only two or three times a
week. The studio is a sort of mutual school, where pupils teach each
other; they are of all ages. All conditions of society are represented.
Three kinds of painting are done by them--face or portrait, landscape,
and flowers. Most of the girls of the higher classes prefer landscape.
Female artists compete with men, and wear their hair short. Few women
like the physical fatigue of a painter's life. There is not the same
play for coquetry in artists, as in singers or actors. It requires great
perseverance for a female artist to acquire firmness of execution; she
does not possess it to the same extent as man. Some artists are willing
merely to copy paintings, paint portraits, and give lessons. The school
of landscape painting is one well fitted for young and original talent.
Women succeed in painting portraits; also, in painting flowers and
fruit; very few have tried historical paintings." Painting is certainly
a profitable employment for a lady artist of superior ability, if she
can have enough to do. Miss F., New York, established a life school for
lady artists. One subject is used at a time; the classes are
limited--two classes--eight or ten pupils in each. Those that need
instruction will pay $12 for twenty-two lessons; those without
instruction, $6. There will be two sittings a week, of from three to
four hours. A person of sensitive, nervous type, susceptible to every
impression of a pleasant kind, is most likely to succeed as an artist.
Mr. R. Peale told me that many ladies in Europe paint portraits. He
considered it a higher style than landscape, or still life. He thinks
painting itself not injurious to the health. The turpentine used is
sanitary, and the white lead is deleterious only when taken into the
lungs. What is inhaled in breathing can do no harm. Mr. Peale thought
that the principal reason of artists being so poor in health, is because
of their long and close confinement indoors. In painting the first coats
are often applied by an assistant, employed by the artist; and in some
cases, by the students of the artists. Miss Merrifield, of England, has
written a work on the art of painting. A number of ladies in England,
and in the United States, are winning a reputation as artists. The
prospect to lady artists in the United States is very encouraging.
Ladies are allowed the privilege, on proper application, to copy
paintings in the Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, the Düsseldorf, and
the Bryant galleries, New York. According to the census of 1850, there
were 2,093 male artists; but there are said to be not more than 600 or
700 superior artists in the United States. The patronage the best
receive is such as to keep them well employed. A meagre support and a
long life of labor are necessary to establish a reputation as an artist,
even to one that has talent. But the way in which most of our
first-class artists live, that are prudent and steady in their habits,
and possess any business qualifications, contradicts the opinion, quite
common, that an artist's life must always be one of self denial and
poverty. We think artists fare as well as most people, and we do think
it a life very inviting to the young ladies of our country. Those that
have the time, the means, and the talents, will find it an absorbing, a
fascinating employment. Women succeed best in painting pictures of their
own sex, and of children. The more tender and delicate organizations are
best suited to their talents. Most of our artists live in the
metropolis, New York; the Western country is too new and crude. There
are materials enough, but not much appreciation of talent. Besides there
is less wealth, and another thing is, that artists must keep themselves
where mention will now and then be made of their pictures, to bring them
into notice, and where the most ready sale will be found for them.
During the last few years a taste has been developed in St. Louis, that
promises some golden fruit. A gallery of paintings has lately been
opened there. Why is it that a talent for painting and poetry is so
often combined? Is it that the quiet, contemplative state that produces
poetical inspirations also favors the visible expression of beautiful
thoughts? A poet painter is more frequently to be seen than a poet
musician. One, I suppose, of a quick, lively disposition, and very
impressible, might be more likely to possess musical talent than one of
a quiet, thoughtful nature. But genius is not fettered by temperament.
There is a society of female artists in London; the first public
exhibition of their paintings took place in June, 1857. It is managed by
a committee of eight ladies, and bound by twenty-three articles. A
portrait painter writes: "The artist requires a high, well-developed
anterior brain, a healthy body; and a brain and body well regulated and
balanced; a love of the beautiful that inspires the character with
patience and indomitable perseverance, and a contempt for applause; for
'art is long,' and, unless one is willing to 'scorn delights and live
laborious days,' he can never meet with real success. If women can
attain to excellence as artists, they can command the same remuneration
as men receive. Art knows no sex." A professional artist remarked to me:
"Amateur painters never attain excellency, because it requires not only
talent, but constant application." I think if there is anything that
should have its full value, it is a painting, because of the patience
and perseverance necessary for an artist to excel, and the long and
costly preparation requisite. It commands, too, a certain style of
talent that many do not possess. In addition to this, those who can
afford to buy paintings are those who can afford to pay a good price.
=67. Animals.= We know of no artist in this country whose talents have
been devoted to the painting of animals, and of but one lady, in any
country, that has distinguished herself in that line--the far famed Rosa
Bonheur.
=68. Banners.= We saw an ornamental sign painter decorating a large
flag. Stars are painted on the silk, and then sized and gilt. The flag
was stretched on a frame like a piece of tapestry, but upright like an
easel. Mr. M. had never known of any women being employed in the trade.
He decorated banners for processions, political campaigns, &c. This is
evidently a field for female industry.
=69. Crayon and Pastel.= Crayon drawing seems to have been much in vogue
in Italy in the seventeenth century; and we read of an Italian lady, as
far back as 1700, devoting her time to pastel painting. The soft, light,
dreamy effect given by the use of pastels, peculiarly fit the style for
the portraits of ladies and children. Mrs. Dassel, of New York, was
noted for her excellency in the use of pastels. Mrs. Hildreth, of
Boston, is very successful in her crayon portraits. She charges from $30
to $40 a head. Mrs. M. A. Johnson, of Massachusetts, has spent some
years working in crayon. "Her indefatigable patience in the execution of
details, the fidelity of her likenesses, and the delicate perfection of
finish in her pictures, are remarkable." Miss Clark received $20, and
over, for crayon portraits in Boston, a few years ago. Before Miss
Stebbins, of New York, became a sculptor, she drew crayon portraits,
charging $50 per head. Her execution was said to be clear and forcible.
=70. Flowers and Fruit.= During the latter part of the eighteenth and
the first half of the present century, a number of lady artists have
distinguished themselves in flower painting. During the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, a few devoted themselves to it in Holland,
Germany, Denmark, and France. For a few years past some American ladies
have turned their attention to flower painting with marked success. A
number in England have also obtained distinction.