And for more information, click here.

Celebrating the Women’s History month of March 2013 at the Cabell County Public
Library – downtown Huntington, Second Floor, with a display entitled:
“Academic Art” refers to the tradition of drawing, painting, and sculpture taught at
the academies or art schools, of Europe. First established in Renaissance Italy,
academies flourished in the 19th century and prescribed strict guidelines for the
production of works of art. This organized training system ensured that artists
possessed a high level of technical ability and familiarity with the lofty themes of the
western tradition. Nearly every city in Europe, and later, the United States, Australia
and Latin America developed an art academy that set similarly high standards.
Read more about Academic art at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_art
The most important academy of the modern period, and the one upon which many
others modeled their own systems of promotion, patronage, display and teaching, was
the French Academy, founded in 1648. During most of the 19th century, this powerful
institution oversaw the premier art school in Paris, the École des Beaux-Arts, and
controlled the official exhibitions known as Salons. It established a strict hierarchy for
valuing subject matter, with history paintings at the pinnacle, and also awarded the
most prestigious honor a French art student could receive, the prix de Rome.
The March 2013 display at Cabell County Public Library includes artworks by American
and European women artists such as: Marie Euphrosyne Spartali (British, 10 March
1844 – 6 March 1927), later Stillman, Margaretha Roosenboom (The Hague 1843-1896
Voorburg), Maria Mathilda Brooks (American, 1837 - 1913), Donna Norine Schuster
(American, 1883-1953), Julie Hart Beers (American, 1835–1913), Marie Euphrosine
Loustau (French 1831), Marie von Brockhusen (German b. 1868), Félice Fournier
Schneider (French, 1831-1888), Helen Augusta Hamburger (1836 – 1919), Géraldine
Jacoba van de Sande Bakhuyzen (Dutch, 1826 - 1895), Ida Calzolari (Italian b. 1936),
Louise Dandelot, Emilie Bourbon (French), Edith Hayllar (British,1860-1948), Leota
Williams Loop (American,1893 1963), Rosalia Amon (Austrian,1825-1925), Maria Van
OOsterwijk (Dutch, 1630 – 1693), Anna Maria Bogutova (Croatian, born 1866),
Adrienne Hermine Henczne Deak (Hungarian, 1895-1956), Gerardina Jacoba van de
Sande Bakhuyzen (German, 1826-1895), Olga Wisinger-Florian (Austrian, 184 – 1926),
Anne Vallayer Coster (French,1744-1818), Judith Leyster (Dutch, 1609 – 1660), Eleanor
Fortescue-Brickdale (British, 1871-1945), Louise Abbema (French, 1853 – 1927),
Pauline Von Koudelka Schmerling (Austrian, 1806-1840), Emilie Preyer (German, 18491930), Jane Webb Loudon (English, 1807-1858), Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (Swiss, 1647
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– 1717), Johanna Helena Graff - HEROLT, (German, 1668 - after 1717), Marian Ellis
Rowan (Australian, c. 1847 – 4 October 1922), Jeanne-Madeleine Lemaire (French,
1845 - 1928).
Biography of the artists
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Spartali_Stillman
Marie Euphrosyne Spartali, later Stillman (10 March 1844 – 6 March 1927), was a
British Pre-Raphaelite painter of Greek descent, arguably the greatest female artist of
that movement. During a sixty-year career she produced over one hundred works,
contributing regularly to exhibitions in Great Britain and the United States
Family background
Maria Spartali was the youngest daughter of Michael Spartali (1818–1914), a wealthy
merchant, principal of the firm Spartali & Co and Greek consul-general based in
London from 1866 to 1882. He had moved to London around 1828.[1] In London he
married Euphrosyne (known as Effie, née Varsami, 1842–1913), the daughter of a
Greek merchant from Genoa.
The family lived in their Georgian country house with a marble-pillared circular
hallway, on Clapham Common, known as ‘The Shrubbery’ with a huge garden and
views over the Thames and Chelsea. In the summer months they moved to their
country house on the Isle of Wight where her father developed the
cultivation of grapes on his lands. In London, her father was fond of
lavish garden parties where he invited up and coming young writers and
artists of his day.
Adulthood
Spartali by Rossetti
She and her cousins Maria Zambaco and Aglaia Coronio were known collectively among
friends as "the Three Graces", after the Charities of Greek mythology (Aglaia,
Euphrosyne and Thalia), as all three were noted beauties of Greek heritage. It was in
the house of the Greek businessman A.C. Ionides (1810–1890) at Tulse Hill, in south
London, that Marie and her sister Christine (1846–1884) met Whistler and Swinburne
for the first time. They were dressed in white with blue ribbon sashes. Swinburne was
so overcome that he said of Spartali: "She is so beautiful that I want to sit down and
cry". Marie was an imposing figure, around 1.9 meters tall and, in her later years,
dressed in long flowing black garments with a lace hood, attracting much attention
throughout her life.
Spartali studied under Ford Madox Brown for several years from 1864, with his
children Lucy, Catherine and Oliver. Rossetti, on hearing that she was to become a
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pupil to Madox Brown, wrote to him (on 24 April 1864), "I just hear
Miss Spartali is to be your pupil. I hear too that she is one and the
same with a marvellous beauty of whom I have heard much talk. So
box her up and don’t let fellows see her, as I mean to have first shy
at her in the way of sitting." She first sat for him in 1867. He wrote to
Jane Morris on 14 August, "I find her head the most difficult I ever
drew. It depends not so much on real form as on a subtle charm of
life which one cannot recreate." She was the most intellectual of his
models.
She modelled for: Brown; Burne-Jones (The Mill); Julia Margaret Cameron; Rossetti (A
Vision of Fiammetta, Dante's Dream, The Bower Meadow); and Spencer Stanhope.
Marriage
In 1871, against her parents' wishes, she married American journalist and painter
William J. Stillman. She was his second wife, his first having committed suicide two
years before. The couple had posed for Rossetti in his famous Dante pictures, though
it is not certain if that is how they first met. He first worked for the American Art
Magazine, The Crayon. His later job was a foreign correspondent for The Times. His
job as a foreign correspondent resulted in the couple dividing their time between
London and Florence from 1878 to 1883, and then Rome from 1889 to 1896. She also
travelled to America, and was the only Britain-based Pre-Raphaelite artist to work in
the United States.
She had 3 children. Marie Spartali died in March 1927 in Ashburn Place in (South
Kensington). Marie was cremated at Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, Surrey, and
is interred there with her husband. The grave is marked by a simple lawn headstone.
Her last will and testament contains a letter where Marie wrote, "It seems rather
absurd to make a will when one has neither possessions nor money to leave". She left
various personal items, including some mementos from her life as an artist. Her body
of work is valued today at over $690 million, the majority of her work is owned by the
Zuckerman and Rodriguez Estate{cn}.
Art
The subjects of her paintings were typical of the Pre-Raphaelites: female figures;
scenes from Shakespeare, Petrarch, Dante and Boccaccio; also Italian landscapes. She
exhibited at the Dudley Gallery, then at the Grosvenor Gallery and its successor, the
New Gallery; at the Royal Academy; and at various galleries in the eastern USA,
including the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. A retrospective show of
her work took place in the United States in 1982.
Biographical Information posted at the ARC
Pre-Raphaelite Stunner, Muse, and Painter. Maria Spartali was born into the wealthy,
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cultured, and sophisticated Greek community of London. As a young women she was
trained by Maddox Brown, and modeled for Rossetti, whose
influence was apparent in her own pictures, though it was later
superseded by that of Burne-Jones.
Maria Stillman was widely known as the 'other' great PreRaphaelite beauty, the comparison being with Jane Morris. W
Graham Robertson in his wonderful book, 'Time Was,' wittily
described her as 'Mrs Morris for beginners!' Maria Spartali married the American
journalist William J Stillman in 1871. Stillman was, incidentally, the model for Merlin
in the famous Burne-Jones painting ' The Beguiling of Merlin.' After their marriage the
Stillmans lived in Florence, and then Rome. These absences abroad did not prevent
Maria Stillman from exhibiting regularly at the Grosvenor Gallery.
She often painted in watercolour, and her pictures are detailed, highly accomplished,
and jewel-like, with a naive flat perspective. Many of her paintings are just quite
simply beautiful. A remarkable woman.
Obituary - The Times March 8th 1927.
The death of Mrs Stillman occurred on Tuesday, within a few days of the completion
of her 84th year removes from amongst us the last of a generation. She was the single
survivor since the death of Lady Burne-Jones seven years ago of a group of women
remarkable alike for beauty and ability, for gifts and character. They belonged to that
circle of artists in which Rossetti, Burne-Jones, and Morris were the most
distinguished names, and had no little share in creating the influence which, half a
century ago, the circle exercised over the whole art and life of the age. With the
great triad of those early and now remote days, Mrs Rossetti, Lady Burne-Jones, and
Mrs Morris, she was almost a fourth, and of the two latter was a lifelong friend. Her
father Michael Spartali was a wealthy merchant, one of the naturalized Anglo-Greek
colony who counted among them some of the earliest admirers and most enthusiastic
supporters of the later Pre-Raphaelite movement. He was for many years the Greek
Consul-General in London. In the country house at Clapham to which they removed
not long after Marie�s birth, he and his wife (born Euphrosyne Varsami), gathered
round them a large and varied cosmopolitan group of artists, musicians, and exiled
Cretan and Italian nationalists. Here Marie Spartali, a lovely and high-spirited girl,
grew up in an atmosphere of international culture. She early showed artistic promise;
she worked at drawing and painting under Ford Madox Brown, and became intimate
with the other painters of that school.
In 1871 she married William James Stillman (well known afterwards for his long
connection with The Times), then a widower with three young children. Mr and Mrs
Stillman lived in England for the next six years, and thereafter for 11 years more
divided their life between England and Italy, where Mr Stillman was correspondent for
The Times at Rome. When he retired from the post in 1898, they settled down in
Surrey, and since her husband�s death in 1902 Mrs Stillman had lived in London with
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her step-daughter, Mrs J H Middleton.
In such leisure as was afforded to her by a strenuous and arduous life, she went on
painting steadily, and pictures of hers, showing the strong influence of Burne-Jones
were exhibited for a good many years at the Grosvenor and New Galleries. As an artist
she had taste, industry, and considerable imagination; it can hardly be said that she
had high creative power, and her mastery over the technique of art was never very
complete. Nor did her circumstances with household exigencies of a family of small
means and the care of her stepdaughters and her own children, allow of her the
pursuit of art wholeheartedly. But in that circle of artist she was not only loved as a
friend but accepted as a colleague; and the close intimacy between her and the
households of Burne-Jones, Morris, and W B Richmond was thus doubled. At one or
other of those houses she was a guest no less frequent than welcome; welcome as an
appreciator of their art and an artist herself, but even more, and pre-eminently for
herself.
It would be difficult to convey to anyone who did not know her, the charm of her
person and character. Of her incomparable and faultless beauty, which she retained
in an extraordinary degree to the end of her long life, no adequate record exists; for
she did not photograph well, and though she sat much both to Rossetti and to BurneJones, this was not so much for express portraits as for idealised figures inspired by
and more or less resembling her. Perhaps the Danae of Burne-Jones�s �Brazen
Tower,� now in the Municipal Art Gallery at Glasgow, is what gives the nearest
impression of her form and features-not of her colouring for she was dark-haired, and
with it may be coupled-though here the mannerism of the artist detracts from the
fidelity of the portraiture-the figure standing at the head of Beatrice in Rossetti�s
�Dante�s Dream.� Her wonderful beauty was enhanced by a wonderful lack of
self-consciousness; it was combined with an indomitable spirit. Affectionate, and yet
subtly malicious, and radiating rather than exerting an indefinable though insuperable
charm, she retained throughout her life a delightful girlishness. Not only her children,
and her grandchildren, but those of her friends found her almost a contemporary of
their own, and one whom they could be and were immediately and spontaneously
intimate.
Of her own three children, one did not survive infancy; a daughter Mrs. Ritchie died
leaving a young family in 1911, the only survivor is her son Michael who has lived in
the United States for many years. Her two stepdaughters Miss Lisa Stillman and Mrs.
Middleton were all but blood true daughters to her, and were with her to the last.
Giovanna Garzoni (Italian, 1600 – 1670)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanna_Garzoni
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Giovanna Garzoni (1600–1670) was an Italian painter of the
Baroque era. She was unusual for Italian artists of the time
for two reasons: first, in that her themes were mainly
decorative and luscious still-lifes of fruits, vegetables, and
flowers, and second, because she was a woman.
Garzoni trained with an otherwise unknown painter from
her native town of Ascoli Piceno. She gained substantial success at her trade in Rome,
Venice, Florence, Naples, and Turin. Anna Colonna, the wife of Taddeo Barberini, as
well as Cassiano dal Pozzo, Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy, and the Medici family
were among her patrons. She returned to Rome in the 1650s. In 1666, Garzoni
bequeathed her entire estate to the Roman painters' guild the Accademia di San Luca,
on condition that they build her tomb in their church of Santi Luca e Martina. Her
tomb monument by Mattia De Rossi is to the right of the entrance. Laura Bernasconi
was also a woman painter of still-life flowers in Rome in the 1670s. In Rome, she
would have been a contemporary of Caterina Ginnasi.
It is likely that in Naples Garzoni was exposed to the still lifes of Giovan Battista
Ruoppolo and his contemporaries. Others cite Jacopo Ligozzi or Fede Galizia as
possible influences in her choice of still life topics.
The Cleveland Museum of Art, in a short biography below a painting attributed to her,
claims she traveled to Northern Europe
Anna Airy (British, 1882-1964)
The Little Mirror
Anna Airy (1882–1964) was a British oil painter, pastel artist and
etcher. She was one of the first women officially commissioned as
a war artist and was recognized as one of the leading women
artists of her generation.
Airy was born in Greenwich, London, daughter of engineer Wilfrid
Airy and Anna née Listing, and granddaughter of Astronomer Royal George Biddell
Airy.
Airy trained at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1899 to 1903, where she
studied with William Orpen and Augustus John, Fred Brown, Henry Tonks and Philip
Wilson Steer.
Airy won all the prizes at the Slade School for portrait, figure, and other subjects
including the Slade School Scholarship in 1902. She also won the Melville Nettleship
Prize in 1900, 1901 and 1902.
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Airy was given commissions in a number of factories and painted her canvases on site
during World War I, in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions. For example,
while working at great speed to paint A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory,
Hackney Marshes, London in an extremely hot environment, "the ground became so
hot that her shoes were burnt off her feet". This painting was featured in an
exhibition at the Imperial War Museum's 2011-2012 exhibition Women War Artists.
In June 1918 the Munitions Committee of the Imperial War Museum commissioned her
to create four paintings representing typical scenes in four munitions factories:




National Projectile Factory at Hackney;
National Filling Factory at Chilwell, Nottingham, W G Armstrong Whitworth's at
Nottingham;
Aircraft Manufacturing Co. at Hendon;
South Metropolitan Gas Co.
She was also commissioned by the Women's Work Section.
In 1917 she was commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund; and in 1940 by
the Ministry of Munitions.
Her etching Forerunners of Fruit (c.1925) is in the collection of the Art Gallery of New
South Wales.
Airy's work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and elsewhere in 1905 and each
subsequent year, her first one-woman exhibition having been held at the Carfax
Gallery in 1908. She was also exhibited at International Exhibitions, including
Continental, Colonial, and American. She has been represented in the British Museum;
the Victoria and Albert Museum; and the Imperial War Museum. Her work also
appeared in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, as well as in Auckland, New
Zealand; Vancouver and Ottawa in Canada; and in the Corporation Art Galleries of
Liverpool, Leeds, Huddersfield, Birkenhead, Blackpool, Rochdale, Ipswich, Doncaster,
Lincoln, Harrogate, Paisley and Newport.
Eloise Harriet Stannard (1806 – 1899)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eloise_Harriet_Stannard
Eloise Harriet Stannard in 1829 as one of 14 children of Alfred Stannard (1806-1899),
brother of Joseph Stannard - both important landscape painters of the
Norwich School, in (1797 1830), Norwich , Norfolk , England , was
born. She learned from her father, probably along with her cousin
Emily Stannard (1803-1885), daughter of Joseph Stannard draw
Margitson and Mary, a niece of John Berney Ladbrook, with her
father. Limited health she spent rarely outdoors at a young age,
reaching their mastery of still life painting . First exhibition posts in
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the British Institution (London) go back to the year 1852, followed in 1856 by her first
exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (London). In both of these leading firms
should each around 30 more exhibitions followed all her life. Even during his lifetime
sold Eloise Harriet Stannard their work very successfully (allegedly have been written
by her sent to London for exhibitions paintings also sold there), first in Norwich, then
periodically in London. After her mother's death in 1873, she took over the large
number of family obligations and could not build on their former productivity and
quality. They are from the late years especially smaller sizes. (8 to 15 in. sides) more
a study arrested work in which they continuously worked into old age in the studio
Eloise Harriet Stannard died on 2 February 1915 unmarried and childless in Norwich .
Subjects by Eloise Harriet Stannard exclusively are still life known in oil on canvas,
especially fruits (this more often than flowers), presented in baskets and bowls on a
reserved set flagstone accented dormant in bright colors and clever color with leaves
and foliage in front of mostly monochrome background be. To those prevailing at that
time in the East of England quite exotic fruits like pineapple, pomegranate, etc. are
local fruit vendor invoices preserved today and testify to the desire for the most
realistic detail of the artist. Small animals (insects, beetles, snails) occasionally
supplement the summer and especially in autumn arrangements restrained manner.
Winter scenes, birds or venison (this especially when Emily Stannard central theme) as
the main subject, we see very rarely. Berries and small baskets are, however typical
of her later work.
The sometimes large-scale works (up to 30 inches per side) in the early years from
1850 to 1870 stand out clearly from the high oeuvre. The peak of their they have
achieved in the combined still lifes of flowers and fruit in the 60s. The inspiration of
the most original works of de Heem (especially garlands and bouquets at Cornelis de
Heem ) and by van Huysum (especially the work of the late Jan van Huysum ) is
clearly visible. By 1865, Stannard separated from coloring the early Dutch and typical
for their works in themselves bright colors attracted into her paintings. The subjects
are now placed in an outer space-context, the display in direct sunlight produces a
luminosity that is characteristic of her paintings remain. Stannard reinforces the
impression of color by a plurality of superimposed layers of different colors applied,
so that underlying layers partially shine through and give a specific color impression.
The compositions are increasingly contrasting colors in immediate neighborhood.
Brown, earthy shades and backgrounds to solve in 1865 from the previously cool in
blue / gray / green held areas. Texture effects of the fruits are never reached by
relief-like paint. The brushwork is very fine and hard to see, in view of the sidelight
paint often appears unusually smooth. A sizable part of the work is taken as a round
or oval medallion. These are often still in its original ornate frame that provided P.
Townsend, a local art dealer, with whom her father worked.
http://www.burlington.co.uk/artist-biography/eloise-harriet-stannard.html
Eloise Harriet Stannard 1829 – 1915
The daughter of Alfred Stannard, Eloise was a member of one of the foremost
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families of artists which characterised the Norwich School. She may have attended
her father's art classes, and assisted in his studio. Her earliest work shows the
influence of the Dutch Still Life Masters and in particular Van Huysum, but by the mid
1860s she had developed her own style, depicting less formal compositions, painted in
natural light. The quality of her painting ensured many patrons, and the Norwich
Corporation permitted her to use pieces of their plate in her pictures.
Exhibited : Royal Academy (1856-1893); British Institute (1852-1867
Adriana Johanna Haanen (1814 - 1895)
http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/AdrianaHaanen
Haanen, Adriana Johanna (b. Oosterhout 15/06/1814 - gest. Oosterbeek
10/08/1895), flowers and still life painter. Daughter of Casparis Haanen (1778-1849),
art dealer, restorer and painter, and Johanna Isabella Sangster (1777-1846). Adriana
Johanna Haanen remained unmarried.
Adriana Johanna Haanen grew up as the fourth child and second daughter in a family
of six children. Two younger sisters would not reach adulthood. The family lived for
several years in Adriana's birthplace Oosterhout and then left - before or in 1816 - to
Utrecht to Amsterdam in 1830 to settle. Like her brothers George Gillis (18071879/1881) and Remigius Adrianus (1812-1894), and her sister Elisabeth Alida (18091845) Adriana got her first painting lessons from her father Casparis Haanen, who
mostly genre pieces and church interiors painted .
In Amsterdam developed Adriana Johanna Haanen into a successful
and productive flowers and still life painter whose style by
contemporary Kramm described as "graceful and an extensive, lush
treatment '(Kramm, 619). Between 1841 and 1892, her work and
for sale on the many exhibitions of Living Masters who since 1808
in Amsterdam, and later in The Hague and other Dutch cities,
were organized. Adriana also exhibited at exhibitions in Paris,
Bremen, Antwerp and Brussels. In 1855 she became a member of
the artists' Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam.
For a long time the residence of Amsterdam Adriana Johanna Haanen, with a break in
the years 1846-1848, when, according to several catalogs of Living Masters in
Ouderkerk lived. Around 1862-1863 she left the capital, and finally she settled in
Oosterbeek, where from about 1840 an artists' colony had formed. Lived here since
1853 also Mary Fox (1824-1906), a painter friend with whom Adriana to Weverstraat a
house would share. For the sale of her work remained Adriana advantage of the large
national and international exhibitions. Mary Fox and they also had a network of buyers
and customers, some of whom, like John Kneppelhout and CP van Eeghen, in (near)
Oosterbeek a country had. Also gave Adriana in Oosterbeek drawing and painting. One
of her students was the painter Anna Abrahams (1849-1930) in Oosterbeek at boarding
school.
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In 1870 had Adriana Johanna Maria Vos Haanen and apparently so much that she
earned in Oosterbeek, a house could be built, Villa Grada. Here they lived and worked
until Adriana in 1895 at 81 years of age died. She was buried in the cemetery of the
St. Bernulphuskerk to Oosterbeek.
The work of Adriana Johanna Haanen was definitely appreciated by her
contemporaries. This is evident not only from the substantial prices they the Living
Masters exhibitions of her paintings could ask, sometimes up to fifteen hundred
guilders, but also from the many awards she received for her work. So in 1845 she
became an honorary member of the Royal Academy in Amsterdam and in 1862 she
received for her painting 'Julij rozen'op the Amsterdam Exhibition of Living Masters
gold medal. During her life, her work has been included in major collections such as
those of King William II and the collection of the Empire. Today are the paintings of
Adriana Johanna Haanen among others in the Amsterdam Historical Museum, the
Museum Willet-Holthuysen, in the Rijksmuseum and at the Netherlands Institute, all
located in Amsterdam.
'Margaretha' Cornelia Johanna Wilhelmina Henriëtta Roosenboom
Den Haag 1843-1896 Voorburg
The first painting lessons Margaretha Roosenboom had were from
her father, N.J. Roosenboom, while her grandfather, Andreas
Schelfhout, taught her the art of watercolour. She preferred
painting flowers in their most natural state, arranged in vases or
casually put down in a bunch on a forest floor or stone plinth.
Consequently, also wild flowers or those that have already
flowered appear in her still lifes. In this she deliberately broke with the 18th century
tradition of carefully arranged, extravagant still lifes. Often a particular type of
flower, like a rose, formed the centrepiece of her paintings and watercolours. About
her warm tones and distinctive use of colour, a contemporary of hers wrote: ‘Vermeer
had his own blue…Rembrandt his golden colour spectrum, Margaretha Roosenboom
her subtle distinctions, shining like pink pearls’.
Edith Hayllar (British,1860-1948)
http://clara.nmwa.org/index.php?g=entity_detail&entity_id=3572
Edith Hayllar was the second eldest daughter of the artistic Hayllar family. Edith and
her sisters, Jessica, Mary, and Kate, were all talented artists trained by their father,
James Hayllar, a highly acclaimed painter known for his genre paintings of Victorian
life. Like their father, the four sisters, the most successful of which were Edith and
Jessica, painted scenes of day-to-day activities including playing children, boating and
tennis parties, and tea gatherings on charming English afternoons.
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The Hayllar family lived on the quaint estate of Castle Priory in
Wallingford, England from 1875 to 1899. Edith and her sisters were
given art classes by their father, learning drawing, painting,
modeling, etching, mezzotint, and engraving among other media.
The strict Victorian regiment of classes from ten to four each day
ensured the girls’ mastery of proportion and perspective. Art aside,
the girls enjoyed an active childhood, participating in outdoor sports, gardening, and
gathering with their artist neighbors. Edith and Jessica, born two years apart, often
set up their easels next to each other and painted from the same model. The girls’
and their father were frequently each other’s subjects, as were the residents and
activities of their quiet and picturesque Berkshire village. Edith’s specialty were
scenes of relaxation after the day’s sports, painted with photorealist qualities that
document upper middle class Victorian life at leisure.
Edith’s first exhibition was at the Royal Society of British Artists in London in 1881,
and the following year she exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. She also showed
her works at the Institute of Oil Painters and Dudley Gallery. In fact, every year
during the late 1880s and 1890s, Edith, her sisters, and father all had at least one
picture each exhibited at the Royal Academy. Upon marrying Reverend Bruce MacKay
in 1900, and moving to Sutton Courteney shortly afterwards, Edith ended her art
career. Similarly, her sisters and father’s artistic output drastically decreased after
moving from Castle Priory, suggesting that the grace and magic of their childhood
home was their source of inspiration.
Adrienne Hermine Henczne Deak-Henczne (Hungarian, 1895-1956)
Emilie Preyer (German, 1849-1930)
Emilie Preyer (6. June 1849 in Duesseldorf; 23. September 1930
ebenda) was a German Still life painter.
Life
Emilie Preyer continue the traditional still life painting of her father
Johann Wilhelm Preyer known for his high level painting technique.
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Under the guidance and example of her father, she had completed her personal
training as a painter. Since women were not accepted at universities, she continue
studying with her father as an unofficial student of the Royal Art Academy in
Dusseldorf. She had exhibitions in Berlin, Dresden, and her hometown. Her studio was
in the house of the father on the garden Straße 33.
Estimate
Emilie choose to paint still life of Fruit and Flowers as her father. Her style is a little
distinct from her father. In the still life of the daughter one depict a softer side of
the fruits, and arrangements are often draped in tablecloths, while the father almost
exclusively used the marble slabs as the substrate.
The reputation of Emilie is tied to the reputation of her father The New Yorker
Metropolitan museum and the Picture Gallery in Philadelphia acquired still lives of
the Preyer’s daughter. Emilie Preyers art works are also in English and American
private collections.
Maria Mathilda Brooks (American, 1837 - 1913)
Jean Lightman (living Master)
Jean Lightman was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While in college and graduate school,
she began drawing classes but did not pursue an artistic career until she moved to
Boston in 1976. It was there, after many classes and workshops in portraiture and
figurative drawing, that she met Paul Ingbretson, who, being a former student of R.H.
Ives Gammell, taught paint techniques commonly used in the 19th century French
Academy. Ms. Lightman began her formal art training in Ingbretson‘s atelier in 1982
and studied nearly ten years with him. Teaching in the tradition of the “Boston
School,” Ingbretson led his students through rigorous training, beginning with charcoal
cast drawing, followed by still life painting, figure drawing, and finally portrait
painting. Emphasis was placed upon accurate drawing with sensitivity to form and
edges, strong light effect, vibrant color, and overall unity. Working on her own since
1992, Ms. Lightman has exhibited her paintings at prominent galleries in
12
Massachusetts and New York. She holds a Distinguished Artist membership at the
Concord Art Association and Copley Artist standing at the Copley Society of Boston.
Her artwork was included in the book, The Perfect Palette, by Bonnie Krims (Warner
Books, 1998). In 1998 one of her paintings was hung in the Junior League’s Decorator
Showhouse and appeared in Traditional Home magazine. In 1989 she was elected a
member of the prestigious Guild of Boston Artists, where she currently serves on the
Board of Managers and curated a major historical exhibition, A Woman’s Perspective:
Founding and Early Women Members of the Guild of Boston Artists, 1914-1945.
162 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 (617) 536-7660, www.guildofbostonartists.com
Jean Lightman
http://www.thenatureoflight.com/jean_lightman_about.html
Painting from nature and always in natural light, Jean Lightman creates beautifully
designed oils and pastels that combine a sensitivity to light and
shadow with a harmonious color scheme. Her exquisite florals are
inspired by early Boston School painters, most notably Edmund
Tarbell, Laura Coombs Hills, and Hermann Dudley Murphy.
Jean Lightman was born in Atlanta, Georgia into a family of
would be painters. Both of her grandmothers painted at home but
never developed their talents. While in college and graduate
school, Lightman began drawing classes. After moving to Boston,
she continued to seek drawing instruction. In a life drawing class she heard about
Boston painter Paul Ingbretson, who was teaching art as it was taught in the 19th
Century French Academy.
Lightman began her formal art training in Ingbretson's atelier in 1982 and studied
nearly ten years with him. Ingbretson had been a student of R.H. Ives Gammell,
himself a student of William Paxton. Paxton, in turn, had studied in Paris with the
French master, Jean Leon Gerome. Paxton, and other Boston painters like him,
combined their accurate drawing skills, acquired in the European ateliers, with an
emphasis on vibrant color and light that they learned from the French Impressionists.
They became known as the "Boston School" painters. Ingbretson led his students
through the rigorous "Boston School" training, beginning with charcoal cast drawing,
followed by still life painting, and finally portrait painting. Emphasis was placed upon
accurate drawing with sensitivity to form and edges, strong light effect, vibrant color,
and overall unity of light and shadow.
After leaving Ingbretson's atelier, Lightman began working on her own in a studio
at the Emerson Umbrella in Concord, Massachusetts. Currently she paints floral still
life and portraits in her studio and oil landscapes in the summer along the coast of
Maine. Lightman has exhibited her prize-winning paintings at galleries throughout
New England. She holds a Distinguished Artist membership at the Concord Art
Association and Copley Artist standing at the Copley Society, Boston. Her artwork was
13
included in the book, The Perfect Palette, by Bonnie Rosser Krims (Warner Books,
1998). In 1998, her painting hung in the Junior League of Boston's Decorator
Showhouse and appeared in Traditional Home magazine. In 1989 she was elected a
member of the prestigious Guild of Boston Artists, where she currently serves on the
Board of Managers and curated a major historical exhibition, A Woman's Perspective:
Founding and Early Women Members of the Guild of Boston Artists, 1914-1945. Her
painting The Fisherman won the R.H. Ives Gammell Award in the Guild's 2002 Spring
Awards Exhibit. More recently, her painting Pedestal Bowl won the Guild's 2006
Edmund Tarbell Award.
Marie Euphrosine Loustau (French 1831)
Still Life
Helen Augusta Hamburger (Netherland, 1836 – 1919)
Anne Vallayer Coster (French,1744-1818)
Anne Vallayer-Coster (December 21, 1744 – February 28, 1818) was an 18th-century French
painter. Known as a prodigy artist at a young age, she achieved fame and recognition very early
in her career, being admitted to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1770, at the
age of twenty-six.
Despite the negative reputation that still life painting had at this time, Vallayer-Coster’s highly
developed skills, especially in the depiction of flowers, soon generated a great deal of attention
from collectors and other artists.[ Her “precocious talent and the rave reviews” earned her the
14
attention of the court, where Marie Antoinette took a particular interest in Vallayer-Coster's
paintings.
Regardless of her closeness to the ancient régime and France's hated
monarch she survived the bloodshed of the French Revolution. However, the
fall of the French monarchy, which were her primary patrons, caused her
banishment into the shadows.
Anne Vallayer-Coster was a woman in a man’s world. It is unknown what
she thought of contemporaries who admitted her to the confraternity, and
made her an honorary ‘man’. Her life was determinedly private, dignified
and hard-working. Occasionally she attempted other genres, but for the usual
reasons her success at figure painting was limited
Earlier Years
Born in 1744 on the banks of the Bièvre along the Seine River in France, Vallayer-Coster was
one of four daughters born to a goldsmith of the royal family at Gobelines. In 1754, Anne’s
father moved their family to Paris. Anne Vallayer-Coster seems not to have entered the studio of
a professional painter, but instead received her training from a variety of sources, including her
father, the botanical specialist Madeleine Basseport, and the celebrated marine painter Joseph
Vernet.
By the age of twenty-six, Vallayer-Coster was still without a name or a sponsor; this
proved to be a worrisome issue for her. Reluctantly, she submitted two of her still
lifes (one of The Attributes of Painting, and The Attributes of Music) to the Académie
Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, as reception pieces in 1770. She was unanimously
elected into the Royal Académie once the honorable Academicians saw her paintings,
making her one of only four women accepted into the Académie before the French
Revolution. This moment of success however, was overshadowed by the death of her
father. Immediately her mother took over the family business, quite commonly the
case during this time, and Anne continued to work to help support her family.
Vallayer-Coster exhibited her first still lifes with flowers in 1775 and four years later
she began to enjoy the patronage of Marie Antoinette. With her Court connections
and pressure from Marie Antoinette, she received space in Louvre in 1781 which was
unusual for women artists. Shortly thereafter, in the presence of Marie Antoinette at
the courts of Versailles, she married Jean-Pierre Silvestre Coster, a wealthy lawyer,
parlementaire, and respected member of a powerful family from Lorraine. With these
titles came the very highest ranks of the bourgeoisies, the noblesse de robe. With
such a prestigious title came a state office which, traditionally during this time was
bought from father to son, making them almost indistinguishable from the old
nobility.
15
Career
She received early recognition of her career after being elected as an associate and a
full member of the Royal Académie in 1770. Her strategies in initiating and sustaining
her professional career were brilliant. She was as exceptional in achieving
membership in the Academy and succeeding in a prominent, professional career late
in the 18th century, when resistance to women in the public sphere was deepening
and the Académie was as resistant as ever to welcoming women into its ranks. [10] A
common image of Vallayer-Coster was not only as a virtuous artist but as a skillful
diplomat and negotiator as well, sharply aware both of her potential patrons' interests
and of her own, unusual position as prominent woman artist.
The two paintings the she submitted for review to the Académie in 1770, The
Attributes of Music and The Attributes of Painting, now in the holdings of the Louvre.
The former is among the early career highlights presented in the Frick exhibition. [11]
Later Years
With the Reign of Terror in 1793, the ancient regime, that up to this point had
supported Vallayer-Coster, disappeared.[12] Despite her noble status and her
connection to the throne, Vallayer-Coster was able to deviate away from the
pandemonium of the French Revolution in 1789. Even with the arrival of Napoléon
when the empress Josephine acquired two works from her in 1804, her reputation
suffered. After this period of national upheaval, little is known of Vallayer-Coster’s
career. The only exception that came from this was that she replaced her previous
work of still lifes for that of flower portraits; however, these proved to be unavailing.
In 1817 she made a come back with her old subject matter by way of the exhibition of
her Still Life with Lobster in the Paris Salon. This piece belonged to Louis XVIII after
he was restored to the French throne in 1814. There is some evidence to believe that
at Vallayer-Coster gave it to “the king as an expression of her joy as a loyal Bourbon
supporter through the turbulent years of the Revolution and Napoleonic imperialism.
Commenting on the Salon exhibit of 1771, the encyclopedist Denis Diderot noted that
"if all new members of the Royal Academy made a showing like Mademoiselle
Vallayer's, and sustained the same high level of quality, the Salon would look very
different!"
She died in 1818 at the age of seventy-four having painted more than 120 still lifes
always with a distinctive colouristic brilliance.
16
Artwork
Style
The bulk of Vallayer-Coster’s work was devoted to the language of still life as it had
been developed in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries. During these centuries,
the genre of still life was placed lowest on the hierarchical ladder. For this reason, it
was expatriated to women. Vallayer-Coster would not allow this to reduce the pride
and thoroughness that she put into her work.
She had a way about her paintings that resulted in their attractiveness. It was the
“bold, decorative lines of her compositions, the richness of her colors and simulated
textures, and the feats of illusionism she achieved in depicting wide variety of
objects, both natural and artificial” which drew in the attention of the Royal
Académie and the numerous collectors who purchased her paintings. This interaction
between art and nature was quite common in Dutch, Flemish and French still lifes.
Her work reveals the clear influence of Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, as well as
17th-century Dutch masters, whose work has been far more highly valued, but what
made Vallayer-Coster’s style stand out against the other still life painters was her
unique way of coalescing representational illusionism with decorative compositional
structures.
The end of the 18th-century and the fall of the French monarchy closed the doors on
Vallayer-Coster’s still life ‘era’ and opened them to her new style of florals. It has
been argued that this was the highlight of her career and what she is best known for.
However, it has also been argued that the flower paintings were futile to her career.
Nevertheless, this collection contained floral studies in oil, watercolor and gouache.
Technique
Vallayer-Coster had a photographic quality about her paintings. She used a variation
of brush strokes to create the illusion that different styles of painting were being
used. This was achieved by simulation material substance in paint and through finely
blended precision. She used oil on canvas for most of her paintings, but her materials
did vary.
Context of Art
For Vallayer-Coster, even inanimate objects had a theatrical character of their own.
Her objective was to give an aspect of grandeur to everything that she painted; in
doing so, she created an additional sense of stability and plenitude. The result of her
work makes perfect sense within the Enlightenment. The images portrayed in her
paintings harmonized with the elite bankers and aristocrats, whom held confidence in
what they owned. These same men with their ownership of the objects and the
paintings believed that they also owned a nation as well. Their high societal status
and material possession made them believe that they could “knock still-life off its
17
pedestal”. To Michel Foucault, the Enlightenment's encompassing stare and
classification of appearances stood for repressive control.
Exhibit
The exhibition titled “Anne Vallayer-Coster: Painter to the Court of Marie Antoinette,"
was the first exhibit on Anne Vallayer-Coster to provide a proper, all-encompassing
representation of her paintings. It has been hung in the temporary display gallery at
the Frick Collection. Organized by the Dallas Museum of Art, and curated by Eik
Kahng, this exhibition had its debut at the National Gallery of Art, where it opened on
June 30, 2002 and closed on September 22 of the same year.
Containing more than thirty-five of Vallayer-Coster’s paintings, which were provided
by both museums and private collectors of France and the United States, this exhibit
was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the
Humanities.
One of her most accomplished works, and one of the highlights of this exhibition, is
Still Life with Seashells and Coral (1769). Later in life, in the Still Life with Lobster
(1817), which was to be her last painting, she managed what an expert called "a
summation of her career," depicting most of her previous subjects together in a work
she donated to the restored King Louis XVIII.
To gain an understanding of the magnitude of Vallayer-Coster's achievements, the
exhibition includes additional works by such renowned artists as Chardin, her elder
and the celebrated master of still life painting, and her contemporary Henri-Horace
Roland Delaporte, among others.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Vallayer-Coster
Maria Van OOsterwijk (Dutch, 1630 – 1693)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_van_Oosterwijck
Maria van Oosterwijck, also spelled Oosterwyck (August 20, 1630 – November 12,
1693), was a Dutch Golden Age flower painter, specializing in
richly detailed still lifes.
She was born at Nootdorp and was a student of Jan Davidsz de
Heem.[1] Van Oosterwijck worked in Delft; moved to Utrecht in
1660, and later to Amsterdam (1675–1689), where she lived
opposite the workshop of Willem van Aelst.[2] She was popular with
European royalty, including Emperor Leopold, Louis XIV of France
and William III of England. Despite this, as a woman, she was not
allowed to join the painters' guild.
18
Her work was highly regarded, and according to Houbraken she gained international
fame, selling pieces eventually to various heads of state, including 3 pieces for the
King of Poland. She never married, and died in Uitdam at the house of her sister's son,
Jacobus van Assendelft.[1] She taught her servant Geertgen Wyntges to mix her paints
and later she became a painter in her own right.
Marianna North (English, 1830 – 1890)
Marianne North (24 October 1830 – 30 August 1890) was an English naturalist and
botanical artist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_North
Marianne North was born in Hastings, the eldest daughter of a prosperous
land-owning family descended from the Hon. Roger North, younger son of
Dudley North, 4th Baron North. Her father was Frederick North, a Norfolk
Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace, and Liberal M.P. for
Hastings. Her mother, Janet, was the daughter of Sir John Marjoribanks
M.P., 1st Baronet of Lees in the County of Berwick.
She trained as a vocalist under Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby, but her voice failed,
and she then devoted herself to painting flowers. After the death of her mother in
1855, she constantly travelled with her father, who was then member of parliament
for Hastings; and on his death in 1869 she decided to pursue her early ambition of
painting the flora of distant countries.[1]
Travel and work
Marianne North's painting of Nepenthes northiana, showing a lower and an upper
pitcher
She began her travels in 1871–1872, going first to Canada, the United States and
Jamaica, and spent a year in Brazil, where she did much of her work at a hut in the
depths of a forest. In 1875, after a few months in Tenerife, she began a journey round
the world, and for two years painted the flora of California, Japan,
Borneo, Java and Ceylon. She spent 1878 in India.[1]
On her return to Britain she exhibited a number of her drawings in
London. She offered to give the collection to the Royal Botanic
Gardens at Kew, and to erect a gallery to house them. This offer was
accepted, and the new buildings, designed by James Fergusson, were
begun that year.
A t Charles Darwin's suggestion she went to Australia in 1880, and for a year painted
there and in New Zealand. Her paintings of Banksia attenuata, B. grandis and B. robur
were highly regarded.[2] Her gallery at Kew was opened in 1882. In 1883, after a visit
19
by her to South Africa, an additional room was opened at the Kew gallery, and in
1884–1885 she worked at Seychelles and in Chile. She died at Alderley in
Gloucestershire on 30 August 1890.
Legacy
The scientific accuracy with which she documented plant life in all parts of the world,
before photography became a practical option, gives her work a permanent value. A
number of plant species are named in her honour, including Areca northiana, Crinum
northianum, Kniphofia northiana, Nepenthes northiana, and the genus name Northia.
Kew Gardens claims that the North Gallery (confusingly, situated in the east section
of the gardens) is "the only permanent solo exhibition by a female artist in Britain". In
2008 Kew obtained a substantial grant from the National Lottery, which enabled it to
mount a major restoration of both the gallery and the paintings inside.
Rachel Ruysch (Dutch, 1664 —1750)
Rachel Ruysch (June 3, 1664 — Amsterdam, August 12, 1750) was a Dutch artist who
specialized in still-life paintings of flowers, one of only three significant
women artists in Dutch Golden Age painting, of whom Maria van
Oosterwijk was also a flower painter, and Judith Leyster mainly not (the
German botanic illustrator Maria Sybille Merian also moved to
Amsterdam).
She was born in The Hague, but moved to Amsterdam when she was three. Her father
Frederik Ruysch, a famous anatomist, and botanist, was appointed a professor there.
He gathered a huge collection of rarities in his house. She assisted her father
decorating the prepared specimen in a liquor balsamicum with flowers and lace. At
fifteen Ruysch was apprenticed to Willem van Aelst, a prominent Delft painter, known
for his flower paintings. In 1693, she married a portrait painter, Juriaen Pool, with
whom she had ten children. Her sister Pieternel was married to Jan Munnicks, a young
man who drew flowers in the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam. Ruysch was extremely
pious.
In 1701 Ruysch was inducted into the painters' guild in The Hague. Several years later
Ruysch was invited to work for the court in Düsseldorf and serve as court painter to
Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. She remained working for him and his wife from
1708 until the prince's death in 1716. Also Jan Weenix and Adriaen van der Werff were
invited to deliver paintings, after Eglon van der Neer died.
Ruysch lived eighty-five years and her dated works establish that she painted from the
age of 15 until she was an octogenarian. About a hundred paintings by her are known.
20
The background of the paintings are usually dark. Ruysch was also noted for her
paintings of detailed and realistic crystal vases.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Ruysch
Gerardina Jacoba van de Sande Bakhuyzen (German, 1826-1895)
The still life German painter Gerardina Jacoba Van de Sande Bakhuyzen came from an
artistic family. Her father was the painter Hendrik Van de Sande Bakhuyzen, and her
brother was the painter Julius Jacobus Van de Sande Bakhuyzen.
Gerardina was taught by her father, as were all her numerous sisters. She achieved
great success with her oils and watercolours of flowers and still lives, winning
numerous medals between 1870-1880, in which year she had an exhibition at the
Grafton Gallery in London.
http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/Sande
Sande Bakhuyzen, Gerardina of Jacoba (born The Hague 27.07.1826 gest. Hague 09.19.1895), flower and fruit painter. Daughter of
Hendrikus van de Sande Bakhuyzen (1795-1860), painter, and Sophia
Wilhelmine Kiehl (1804-1881). Gerardina of Sande Bakhuyzen
remained unmarried.
Gerardina Jacoba van de Sande Bakhuyzen grew up as the eldest daughter in a family
of seven children. Her father was the famous landscape painter Hendrikus van de
Sande Bakhuyzen. She and her brother Julius James (1835-1925) followed their father
into the artistic on. Gerardina of Sande Bakhuyzen lived and worked her entire life to
the New Haven in The Hague, in her father's studio, and after his death she shared the
studio with her brother Julius - he would marry only after her death.
From childhood Gerardina had much interest in drawing. As a child, she decorated
New Year wishes for relatives with flower garlands. Her father saw her talent and led
her into the painting. In 1850, he encouraged her to the watercolor 'Roses and
dahlias’, with the motto" Imitation of nature's discovery of the beautiful', to submit to
a contest of the Academy Minerva in Groningen. The then 24-year old Gerardina won
the competition (25 guilders prize).
Van de Sande Bakhuyzen specialized in painting and watercolors of everyday flowers
and fruits set casually in a landscape. She was praised for the harmonious color
combinations, natural and varied compositions and excellent performance. As the
writer J. Gram the then said: "So healthy, fresh and natural paints and draws her
flowers and fruits, that a visit from the fowls of the air from the fairy tale of Apelles
could not unexpected find" (Gram 1881, 104-105). Van de Sande Bakhuyzen also
painted landscapes, they were rarely brought out into the open. She probably painted
21
her landscape in the Drenthe village Rolde, where she regularly went with Julius to
spend the summer and fall months.
Gerardina of Sande Bakhuyzen took an active part in the Dutch artist's life. In 1861
she received an honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Arts in Amsterdam, in
1876 she co-founded the Dutch Tick Society and in 1879 she joined the artists' society
Arti et Amicitiae, where she regularly participated in the members exhibitions. Often
(75 times), her work was shown at the Exhibition of Living Masters. She also exhibited
her work in Belgium, France and Britain. Van de Sande Bakhuyzen received a silver
medal, two gold medals and one award for her work. King William II bought at least
one flower still life from her and in 1874 she worked with a painting entitled "Hague
orphans', on the occasion of the 25th jubilee of the king. In 1880, Princess Mary
invited Van de Sande Bakhuyzen to exhibit her drawings and paintings in the royal
palace at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague.
On September 19, 1895 Gerardina van de Sande Bakhuyzen died at the age of 69 in
The Hague. The painter Jozef Israels and Hendrik Willem Mesdag spoke at her funeral.
Reputation
In her time Gerardina van de Sande Bakhuyzen was the leading flower painters. At a
time of rising dilettantism she distinguished herself by her professionalism. She moved
in circles of renowned painters. In catalogs of exhibitions in which her work was
exhibited after her death, she was hailed as an excellent example for young artists.
Today she is in the general public into oblivion, but among lovers of flower painting
has retained her reputation. This is evidenced by the fact that the art trade high
amounts paid for her work.
- See more at:
http://www.historici.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/DVN/lemmata/data/Sande#sthash.LAA
BNWxY.dpuf
Olga Wisinger-Florian (Austrian, 184 – 1926)
Olga Wisinger-Florian (November 1, 1844 – February 27, 1926) was an Austrian
impressionist painter, mainly of landscapes and flower still lifes. She was a notable
representative of Austrian Mood Impressionism.
Having trained as a concert pianist, Wisinger-Florian switched to painting in the mid1870s. She was a student of Melchior Fritsch, August Schaeffer, and Emil Jakob
Schindler. From 1881 she regularly showed paintings at the annual exhibitions
mounted at the artist's house and later often showed at Vienna Secession exhibitions.
Work she showed at the Paris and Chicago international exhibitions earned her
worldwide acclaim. The artist, who was also active in the middle-class women's
22
movements of the time, was awarded numerous distinctions and prizes. WisingerFlorian's early paintings can be assigned to what is known as Austrian
Mood Impressionism. In her landscape paintings she adopted Schindler's
sublime approach to nature. The motifs she employed, such as views of
tree-lined avenues, gardens and fields, were strongly reminiscent of
her teacher's work. After breaking with Schindler in 1884, however, the
artist went her own way. Her conception of landscape became more
realistic. Her late work is notable for a lurid palette, with discernible
overtones of Expressionism. With landscape and flower pictures that
were already Expressionist in palette by the 1890s, she was years ahead of her time.
Pauline Von Koudelka Schmerling (Austrian, 1806-1840)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_von_Koudelka
Pauline Baroness of Koudelka (* 8 September 1806 in Vienna , † 30 July 1840 ibid)
was an Austrian painter of Viennese Biedermeier .
She is known for her colorful still life and flower paintings. She
began her education first with her artistically talented father, the
Imperial Field Marshal Lieutenant Vincent Joseph Freiherr of
Koudelka (1773-1850). She later became a student of the Viennese
flower painter Franz Xaver Petter (1791-1866) and was also strongly
influenced by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. In 1835, she married
the politician and statesman Anton Ritter von Schmerling, with
whom she had two daughters. She is the aunt of the imperial ViceAdmiral Alfred Freiherr von Koudelka (1864-1947).
Works in public museums :


Garlands of flowers around Madonna relief , oil, 1834, Austrian Gallery
Belvedere
Fruit pieces , oil, 1830, Wien Museum (formerly Museum of Vienna)
Judith Leyster (Dutch, 1609 – 1660)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Leyster
Judith Jans Leyster (also Leijster) (July 28, 1609 – February 10, 1660) was a Dutch
Golden Age painter. She was one of three significant women artists in Dutch Golden
Age painting; the other two, Rachel Ruysch and Maria van Oosterwijk, were
specialized painters of flower still-lifes, while Leyster painted genre works, a few
portraits, and a single still life. The number of surviving works attributed to her varies
23
between fewer than 20 and about 35. She largely gave up painting after her marriage,
which produced five children.
Leyster was born in Haarlem as the eighth child of Jan Willemsz Leyster,
a local brewer and clothmaker. While the details of her training are
uncertain, in her teens she was well enough known to be mentioned in a
Dutch book by Samuel Ampzing titled Beschrijvinge ende lof der stadt
Haerlem, originally written in 1621, revised in 1626-27, and published in
1628.
She learned to paint from Frans Pietersz de Grebber, who was running a
respected workshop in Haarlem in the 1620s. Her first known signed
work is dated 1629, four years before entering the artist's guild.[3] By
1633, she was a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, the second
woman to be registered there (the first women registered was Sara van
Baalbergen in 1631, who like Leyster, was not a member of an established artist
family in Haarlem, and she also married another painter; Barent van Eysen). There
were more women active at that time as painters in Haarlem, but since they worked
in family workshops they did not need the professional qualifications necessary to be
able to sign works or run a workshop. The most notable example of this in Leyster's
case was Maria de Grebber, the sister of Pieter de Grebber, who was 7 years older
than Leyster and already active as a painter in her father's workshop in 1628. She
possibly studied with Leyster as a pupil of her father, and her daughter Isabelle later
married the painter Gabriel Metsu. Within two years of her entry into the guild,
Leyster had taken on three male apprentices. Records show that Leyster sued Frans
Hals for stealing one of her students who had left her workshop for that of Hals, not
three days after he arrived. The student's mother paid Leyster 4 guilders in punitive
damages, only half of what Leyster asked for, and, instead of returning her
apprentice, Hals settled the due by paying a 3-guilder fine. Leyster was also fined for
not having registered the apprentice with the Guild.
In 1636, Leyster married Jan Miense Molenaer, a more prolific, though less talented,
artist of similar subjects. In hopes of better economic prospects, they moved to
Amsterdam, where the art market was far more stable. They remained there for
eleven years; they had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood. They
eventually moved to Heemstede where in 1660 Leyster died at the age of 50. In
Heemstede they had shared a studio in a small house that no longer exists, but was
located on the grounds of the present-day Groenendaal park.
Most of Leyster's dated works are from 1629–1635, which coincides with the period
before she had children. There are only two known pieces painted after 1635; two
illustrations in a book about tulips from 1643 and a portrait from 1652. Only about a
dozen works are generally attributed to her.
Although well known during her lifetime and esteemed by her contemporaries,
Leyster and her work were largely forgotten after her death. Leyster's rediscovery
24
came in 1893. The Louvre had purchased a Frans Hals only to find it had in fact been
painted by Judith Leyster. A dealer had changed the monogram that she used as a
signature. Art historians since that period have often dismissed her as an imitator or
follower of Hals, although this attitude has changed somewhat in the last few years.
Leyster and Frans Hals
Apart from the lawsuit mentioned above, the nature of Leyster's professional
relationship with Hals is unclear; she may have been his student or else a friendly
colleague. She may have been a witness at the baptism of Hals' daughter Maria in the
early 1630s, since a Judith Jans was recorded as such, but there were other Judith
Janses in Haarlem. There is no documented evidence of Judith Leyster's
apprenticeship under Frans Hals, even though much of Leyster's work, such as the
Merry Drinker from 1629 (now in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam), has a very strong
resemblance to The Jolly Drinker of 1627-28 by Hals (also in the Rijksmuseum). Some
historians have asserted that Hals must have been Leyster's teacher due to the close
similarity between their work.
Her work
She signed her works Judita Leystar, often as a monogram with her initials JL with a
star attached. This was a play on words; "Lei-star" meant "Lead star" in Dutch, which
was the common name for the North star used at the time by Dutch mariners.[3]
Leyster was particularly innovative in her domestic genre scenes. In them, she creates
quiet scenes of women at home, which were not a popular theme in Holland until the
1650s. Much of her other work was similar in nature to that of many of her
contemporaries, such as Hals, Jan Steen, and the Utrecht Caravaggisti Hendrick
Terbrugghen and Gerrit van Honthorst; their genre paintings, generally of taverns and
other scenes of entertainment, catered to the tastes and interests of a growing
segment of the Dutch middle class.
Louise Abbema (French, 1853 – 1927)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Abb%C3%A9ma
Louise Abbéma (30 October 1853 (and not 1858, as commonly stated) – 10 July 1927)
was a French painter, sculptor, and designer of the Belle Époque.
Abbéma was born in Étampes, Essonne. She began painting in her early teens, and
studied under such notables of the period as Charles Joshua Chaplin, Jean-Jacques
Henner and Carolus-Duran. She first received recognition for her work at age 23 when
she painted a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, her lifelong friend and possibly her lover.[2]
25
She went on to paint portraits of other contemporary notables, and
also painted panels and murals which adorned the Paris Town Hall,
the Paris Opera House, numerous theatres including the "Theatre
Sarah Bernhardt", and the "Palace of the Colonial Governor" at
Dakar, Senegal.
She was a regular exhibitor at the Paris Salon, where she received
an honorable mention for her panels in 1881. Abbéma was also
among the female artists whose works were exhibited in the
Women's Building at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in
Chicago. A bust Sarah Bernhardt sculpted of Abbéma was also
exhibited at the exposition.
Abbéma specialized in oil portraits and watercolors, and many of
her works showed the influence from Chinese and Japanese painters, as well as
contemporary masters such as Édouard Manet. She frequently depicted flowers in her
works. Among her best known works are The Seasons, April Morning, Place de la
Concorde, Among the Flowers, Winter, and portraits of actress Jeanne Samary,
Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil, Ferdinand de Lesseps, and Charles Garnier.
Abbéma was also an accomplished printmaker, sculptor, and designer, as well as a
writer who made regular contributions to the journals Gazette des Beaux-Arts and
L'Art.
Among the many honors conferred upon Abbéma was nomination as "Official Painter
of the Third Republic." She was also awarded a bronze medal at the 1900 Exposition
Universelle and in 1906 made a Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d'honneur.
Abbéma died in Paris in 1927. At the end of the 20th century, as contributions by
women to the arts in past centuries received more critical and historical attention,
her works have been enjoying a renewed popularity.
Marian Ellis Rowan (Australian, c. 1847 – 4 October 1922)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Rowan
Marian Ellis Rowan (c. 1847 – 4 October 1922), known as Ellis Rowan, was a wellknown Australian botanical illustrator. She also did series of illustrations on birds,
butterflies and insects.
Marian, the daughter of Marian and Charles Ryan, principal of stock agents Ryan and
Hammond, was born at "Killeen" near Longwood, Victoria, one of her father's pastoral
stations in Victoria. Her family was well-connected: sister Ada Mary married Admiral
Lord Charles Scott, son of the Duke of Buccleuch; brother Sir Charles Ryan was a
26
noted Melbourne surgeon and for a time Turkish consul in London (and whose
daughter became Baroness Casey).
She was educated at Miss Murphy's private school in Melbourne, and
in 1873 married Captain Charles Rowan,[4] who had fought in the
New Zealand wars. Her husband was interested in botany and he
encouraged her to paint wild flowers. She had had no training but
working conscientiously and carefully in water-colour; her work is
noted for being botanically informative as well as artistic. Rowan
returned to Melbourne in 1877, and for many years travelled in
Australia painting the flora of the country, at times in the company
of her painting companion, Margaret Forrest. She published in 1898
A Flower-Hunter in Queensland and New Zealand, largely based on letters to her
husband and friends.
About this time she went to North America and provided the illustrations, many in
colour, to A Guide to the Wild Flowers, by Alice Lounsberry, published in New York in
1899 as well as Guide to the Trees (1900), and Southern Wild Flowers and Trees
(1901) also by Lounsberry. It was while in America, traveling with Lounsberry, that
Rowan received news that her son Russell (called "Puck") had been killed in the
Second Boer War. In 1905 she held a successful exhibition in London. She returned to
Australia and held exhibitions of her work which sold at comparatively high prices. In
1916 she made a trip to New Guinea, the first of several during which she produced a
huge volume of illustrations. She contracted malaria during these journeys. In 1920
she held the largest solo exhibition seen in Australia at the time, when she exhibited
1000 of her works in Sydney. She died at Macedon, Victoria, her husband and her only
son having died many years earlier.
In 1923, a year after her death, her surviving collection of 952 paintings[ was offered
to the Australian government by her estate. The offer was debated in the House of
Representatives. Parliament eventually agreed on a price of 5000 pounds for the
paintings, half the asking price, and they became the property of the Australian
Commonwealth. The collection was stored in the vaults of the Federal Treasury in
Melbourne until 1933, when custody was transferred to the Commonwealth National
Library. The paintings are now housed at the National Library of Australia. A further
fifty-two paintings are held at the Queensland Museum. The Australian Club in
Melbourne, one of that city's oldest and most venerable establishments, has a room
with the walls entirely covered in murals by her, painted as a result of a commission
from the Club.
Her portrait by Sir John Longstaff, paid for by public subscription, was unveiled in
1929. It was the first national portrait of an Australian woman.
27
Victoria Fantin Latour Dubourg (French, 1840-1926)
Marie Louise Victoria Fantin Latour, Painter, wife of Henri Fantin-Latour. She
probably met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre, Paris, where they were both copying in the
mid-1860s. Around 1867-8 she was associated with the circle of Edouard Manet,
Berthe Morisot, Fantin-Latour and Edgar Degas; it was at this time that Degas painted
a very frank and unflattering portrait of her (Toledo, OH, Mus. A.). While it may be
impossible to prove that she was actually a pupil of Fantin-Latour, the early works she
exhibited at the Salon are in a style close to his, in particular the portrait of her sister
Charlotte Dubourg (exh. Paris Salon, 1870; Grenoble, Mus. Grenoble). In this intimate
indoor portrait the neutral background recalls the austerity of Fantin-Latour's early
portraits. The position of the model is a little stiff, and her
expression is like that of a spectator. After exhibiting two portraits
at the Salons of 1869 and 1870, she showed only still-lifes of fruit
and flowers, often signed V. Dubourg or monogrammed V. D. From
Fantin-Latour she derived a simplicity of composition, an absence of
detail and neutral but vibrant backgrounds; her flowers, grouped in generous
bouquets, stand out from backgrounds of sustained greyish scumbling or red-brown
tones. Her brushstrokes, in long flecks of colour or in tight scumbling, emphasize the
play of light and shade.
MARIE CHIHA HADAD (Lebanese 1899 – 1973)
Born in Beirut, Lebanon to a prominent family of bankers, she
completed her education in 1908 at the exclusive French school
'l'Ecole Des Dames De Nazareth,' where she studied the work of
the French masters in both literature and arts. Marie Chiha was
married to Georges Hadad in 1916. The couple had three
daughters.
In the early 1920's, Marie Hadad began painting for her own pleasure since it was not
proper for Lebanese girls to undertake any manner of work. She had some art training
in 1924 and 1925 with the French artist, Kober, who had an art school in Beirut.
Subsequently, in 1930 she began exhibiting her art in Beirut and quickly became
famous for her enduring and passionate portraits of bedouins and Lebanese
highlanders. She truly earned her nickname of "the bedouin's artist".
In 1933, her friend Le Comte De Martel, French Ambassador to Lebanon, invited Marie
Hadad to show her work in Paris. Hadad was the first and only Lebanese artist to be
admitted at 'Le Salon d'Automne Du Grand Palais' in Paris from 1933 until 1937.
28
Her first solo exhibition was held at Georges Bernheim Gallery in 1933 where she
continued to exhibit every year until 1940, the beginning of World War II. In fact, the
French government acquired two of her portraits. The artist also exhibited in London
and New York and took part in the New York World's Fair of 1939 and the Cleveland
International Exhibition of 1941.
Hadad was also a proficient writer; in 1937 she published a collection of short stories
entitled "Les Heures Libanaises" in which many of her paintings are reproduced.
Marie Chiha Hadad was a leader and pioneer in the Lebanese art circle and headed
the "Association des Artistes du Liban." Her salon was famous as a meeting place for
Beirut's intellectuals and artists. In 1945, while the world celebrated the end of the
war, Marie Hadad endured the tragic death of her daughter Magda. This marked a
turning point in her life. She abandoned her painting and went into seclusion until her
death in 1973.
http://www.mariehadad.com/biography.html
Jane Webb Loudon (English, 1807-1858)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_C._Loudon
Jane C. Webb Loudon (August 19, 1807 – July 13, 1858) was
an English author and early pioneer of science fiction. She
wrote before the term was invented, and was discussed for a
century as if she wrote Gothic fiction, or fantasy or horror.
She also created the first popular gardening manuals, as
opposed to specialist horticultural works, and contributed to
the work of her husband, John Claudius Loudon
Series of botanical prints after illustrations by Jane Loudon,
showing various species arranged in decorative bouquets,
which was her innovation. Until Loudon, botanicals featured
either a single specimen or flowers that belonged to a
specific category of scientific classification. Loudon took the approach of a gardener
gathering the current blooms and arranging them artistically.
Jane Webb Loudon was the wife of John Claudius Loudon, an important nineteenthcentury landscape gardener and horticultural writer. Widowed early, she supported
herself with popular horticultural writing and illustration, producing a series of
volumes on annuals, perennials, greenhouse plants, bulbs, wildflowers and so forth.
After being orphaned at 17, Loudon met her husband when she wrote a futuristic
novel set in the 22nd Century titled The Mummy and sent it off in search of a
publisher under a male pseudonym. Intrigued by the book, John Loudon requested to
meet the author, and they were married seven months later. Though up until that
29
time Jane Loudon had never gardened, she worked alongside her husband on his
literary projects and became a horticultural authority in her own right. Although she
stopped writing novels, her gardening books did well--Instructions in Gardening for
Ladies proved so popular with beginning gardeners, it sold what was then the
impressive amount of 20,000 copies.
Reference:
Miller, Margo, "Blooming belles: Honoring botanical art from the hands of 18th- and
19th-century women." Boston Globe. 26 February 1998.
http://www.haleysteele.com/hs_root/exhibition/wbi/blooming_belles.html (18
March 2002).
Copyright © 2002-2005 by George D. Glazer.
Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (Swiss, 1647 – 1717)
Anna Maria Sibylla Merian (April 2, 1647 in Frankfurt – January 13, 1717 in
Amsterdam) was a naturalist and scientific illustrator who studied plants and insects
and made detailed paintings about them. Her detailed observations and
documentation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly make her a significant, albeit
not well known, contributor to entomology.
Maria Sibylla Merian was born on April 2, 1647 in Frankfurt, Germany,
into the family of Swiss engraver and publisher Matthäus Merian the
Elder. Her father died three years later and in 1651 her mother married
still life painter Jacob Marrel. Marrel encouraged Merian to draw and
paint. At the age of 13 she painted her first images of insects and plants
from specimens she had captured.
"In my youth, I spent my time investigating insects. At the beginning, I
started with silk worms in my home town of Frankfurt. I realised that
other caterpillars produced beautiful butterflies or moths, and that silk
worms did the same. This led me to collect all the caterpillars I could find in
order to see how they changed". (foreword from Metamorphosis insectorum
Surinamensium — Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam)
In 1665 Merian married Marrell's apprentice, Johann Andreas Graff. Two years later
she had her first child, Johanna Helena, and the family moved to Nuremberg. While
living there, Maria Sibylla continued painting, working on parchment and linens, and
creating designs for embroidery patterns. She took on many students which helped
the family financially, and increased their social standing. This provided her with
access to the finest gardens, maintained by the wealthy and elite.
In those gardens, Merian began studying insects, particularly the lifecycle of
caterpillars and butterflies. The scholars of the time believed that insects came from
"spontaneous generation of rotting mud", an Aristotelian idea held in spite of -or
perhaps because of - the teachings of the Catholic Church. Although St Thomas
Aquinas concluded that spontaneous generation of insects was the work of the Devil,
30
Pope Innocent V in the thirteenth century had declared that belief in spontaneous
generation went against Church teachings, since all life was created in the first days
of Creation chronicled in Genesis; however, the Greek tradition prevailed in the
scientific community. Against the prevailing opinion, Merian studied what actually
happened in the transformation of caterpillars into beautiful butterflies. She took
note of the transformations, along with the details of the chrysalises and plants that
they used to feed themselves, and illustrated all the stages of their development in
her sketch book.
This book of sketches turned into her first book, the first edition of which was sold in
1675 at the age of 28 under the title Neues Blumenbuch -- New book of
flowers. In 1678 her second daughter, Dorotha Maria, was born, and
one year later she published another book called Der Raupen
wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung -- The
Caterpillar, Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food. In this
book she presented the stages of development of different species of
butterflies along with the plants on which they fed.
In 1681 Jacob Marrell died and the Graff family returned to Frankfurt in
1683 to handle the estate, including the house, art work, library and financial issues
left unresolved at the time of his death. A lawsuit was filed by the fractured factions
of the families. Upon its resolution in 1685, at the age of 38, Merian left her husband.
Accompanied by her mother and daughters, she moved to the Labadist religious
commune in Friesland, whose practices included celibacy. The family moved into a
home owned by Cornelis van Sommelsdijk, the governor of Surinam. Here she studied
the world of South American tropical flora and fauna.
Five years later her mother died and she moved to Amsterdam. Merian's husband
divorced her two years later, in 1692. In Amsterdam Merian and her work attracted
the attention of various contemporary scientists. Her older daughter, Johanna Helena,
married merchant Jacob Herolt and moved with him to Surinam, which was at that
time a recently acquired Dutch colony.
In 1699 the city of Amsterdam sponsored Merian to travel to Surinam along with her
younger daughter, Dorothea Maria. Before departing, she wrote:
In Holland, I noted with much astonishment what beautiful animals came from
the East and West Indies. I was blessed with having been able to look at both
the expensive collection of Doctor Nicolaas Witsen, mayor of Amsterdam and
director of the East Indies society, and that of Mr. Jonas Witsen, secretary of
Amsterdam. Moreover I also saw the collections of Mr. Fredericus Ruysch,
doctor of medicine and professor of anatomy and botany, Mr. Livinus Vincent,
and many other people. In these collections I had found innumerable other
insects, but finally if here their origin and their reproduction is unknown, it
begs the question as to how they transform, starting from caterpillars and
chrysalises and so on. All this has, at the same time, led me to undertake a
long dreamed of journey to Suriname. (foreword in Metamorphosis insectorum
Surinamensium)
31
Merian worked in Surinam for two years, travelling around the colony and sketching
local animals and plants. She also criticized the way Dutch planters treated
Amerindian and black slaves. She recorded local native names for the plants and
described local uses. In 1701 malaria forced her to return to Netherlands.
A painting showing the metamorphosis of Thysania agrippina produced in 1705.
Another version exists in which all but the opened-winged butterfly is reversed.
Back in the Netherlands she sold specimens she had collected and published a
collection of engravings about the life in Surinam. In 1705 she published a book
Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium about the insects of Surinam.
In 1715 Merian suffered a stroke and was partially paralysed. She continued her work
but the disease probably affected her ability to work; a later registry lists her as a
pauper.
Maria Sibylla Merian died in Amsterdam on January 13, 1717. Her daughter Dorothea
published Erucarum Ortus Alimentum et Paradoxa Metamorphosis, a collection of her
mother's work, posthumously.
In the last years of the 20th century, the work of Merian has been rediscovered and
recognised. For example, her portrait was printed on the 500 DM note before
Germany converted to the euro. Her portrait has also appeared on a 0.40 DM stamp,
released on September 17, 1987, and many schools are named after her. In 2005, a
modern research vessel named Maria S. Merian was launched at Warnemünde,
Germany.
Johanna Helena Graff - HEROLT, (German, 1668 - after 1717)
Johanna Helena Graff also known as HEROLT, JOHANNA HELENA (Frankfurt am
Main 1668 - after 1717)
She is one of the two daughters of Maria Sibylla Merian
Wallflower.
Opaque watercolour and remains of a sketch in black chalk on parchment, 362 x
287mm., signed lower right: J: H: Herolt. Inscribed on the reverse: 'viola fl. luteo
maxima'.
A watercolour signed, by Johanna Herolt, Maria Sibylla Merian's daughter. The
watercolour shows two stalks of Wallflower ('Erysimum cheiri', formely known as
'Cheiranthus cheiri'), in fact two culture varieties ('densiflora' and 'rubescens
grandiflora'), the left one with a dense raceme, the right one with large flowers. The
roots are shown lower left, a partly withered pod with ripened seeds upper right. An
insect, increasing the natural effect, has gnawed one of the leaves. This is certainly
one of the most beautiful works by Herolt, very close to works by Maria Sibylla
Merian.
32
Johanna assisted her mother after the latter's return from Surinam in 1701, where she
had become ill. Johanna herself, in company with her husband,
journeyed to Surinam in 1711, where Jacob served as the director
of an orphanage in Paramaribo. They returned in 1717 after Maria's
death, but it is possible that Johanna returned to Surinam again. It
is not known when and where she died. Johanna made an
important contribution to her mother's work. The 1717 edition of
Maria Sibylla Merian's book on Surinamese insects and their
metamorphoses contains an appendix with 'eenige Surinaamse
Insecten, geobserveert door haar dochter Johanna Helena Herolt,
tegenwoerdig noch tot Surinaame woonagtig' (some Surinamese insects, observed by
her daughter J.H.H., presently living in Surinam), comprising 12 plates not present in
the first edition. Indeed, Johanna's work comes close to her mother's productions:
very close in the best ones. Her watercolours have often been attributed to Maria,
although her touch is stronger. Mother and daughter cooperated in several works,
signed by both. Herolt's unsigned works have been attributed to Herman and Anton
Henstenburgh and Jacob Marrel (the stepfather of Maria Sibyllla Merian). Johanna
Helena Herolt produced a number of signed works, all in the same technique on
vellum, from a numbered series of which 49 are kept in the Herzog-Anton-Ulrich
Museum in Braunschweig. Some signed works are included in an album of the Library
of the University of Amsterdam and in the British Museum in London. Provenance:
Possibly ordered by Agnes Block, about 1690. Galerie Laube & Galerie Fischer, Luzern
1988, catalogue 1988, no. 7. Private collection Germany. Exhibition: 'Maria Sibylla
Merian - Artist and Naturalist 1647-1717', Historisches Museum, Frankfurt am Main &
Teyler Museum, Haarlem 1998, p. 174 no. 120, full page illustration p. 85.
Information on Johanna Helena Graff found at:
http://www.antiquariaatjunk.com/item.php?item=6450&c_sourcepage=search.php%3Fpg%3D1
%26amp%3Bs_author%3D%26amp%3Bs_title%3D%26amp%3Bs_keywords%3Dagain%26am
p%3Bs_currency%3D%26amp%3Bs_pmin%3D%26amp%3Bs_pmax%3D%26amp%3Bs_sort%
3D%26amp%3Bs_direction%3D%26amp%3Bs_bookid%3D%26amp%3Bs_viewmode%3D%2
3booknr6450&s_currency=
Jeanne-Madeleine Lemaire (French, 1845 - 1928)
http://members.cox.net/academia2/cassatt11c.html
The French artist Jeanne-Madeleine Lemaire was well-known for her flower paintings
and portraits. Her studies began with an aunt who was a miniaturist, and continued
later with Chaplin. She received the Legion of Honour in 1906 and was a member of
the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts which rarely recognized women artists. The
great French writer Proust visited her popular studio salon and immortalized her as
33
the elegant hostess Madame Verdurin in his novels (movie version: Time Regained).
She illustrated his first book of short stories, Pleasures and Days (1896).
The Salon of Mme Madeleine Lemaire—1903 article by Proust about a visit to
Lemaire’s famous studio salon.
http://www.yorktaylors.free-online.co.uk/lemaire.htm
-http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/stokes/Lemaire.htm
Fanny Reed. Reminiscences Musical and Other. Boston: Knight and Millet, 1903.
Pages 85-90.
CHAPTER VII: MADELEINE LEMAIRE.
Who that knows her does not love Madame Madeleine Lemaire, the most gracious and
fascinating of women and a most brilliant star in the artistic world of Paris! At a
soirée at Princess Scilla's, some years since, my attention was attracted by a very
sympathetic and intelligent face; I asked this lady's name, and was told that my
inconnue was the famous aquarellist, Madeleine Lemaire.
She kindly invited me to visit her in her pretty studio in the rue Monceau. The room
seemed a veritable floral bower. The artist was surrounded by roses (which are her
favourite models) in the greatest profusion and the most brilliant colouring. She gave
me the warmest of welcomes, and introduced to me her charming daughter. As we
talked, my eyes could not but glance about this ideal home, attracted by a multitude
of beautiful objects. On the wall, in a prominent position, hangs a lovely portrait of
Mlle. Lemaire by Chaplin; there are numerous sketches by Mme. Lemaire herself, and
many precious souvenirs from artist friends. This was truly a red-letter day to me,
marking as it did the beginning of a delightful friendship. This sweet-natured woman
contributes in ways innumerable to the happiness of all who know her. Not
infrequently she lends the aid of her talent to the charities of Paris. Her exquisitely
painted fans are among the greatest treasures offered for sale at charity-bazaars, and
her graceful designs, sometimes pencil-drawings, sometimes in sepia or India-ink,
sometimes in colour, representing either figures or flowers, and admirably
reproduced, serve to embellish programmes of the evening's entertainment; or else,
as in the case of the one given here, draw attention to an appeal, poetic or
otherwise, for the particular charity in hand.
One cannot wonder that "All Paris" seeks an entrée to this unique house, for Mme.
Lemaire's salon is essentially eclectic, and has a distinct cachet of its own. Under the
influence of the cultivated and intellectual groups who gather there, artistic talent of
whatever kind seems to expand, like Mme. Lemaire's own roses, and to possess more
brilliancy than elsewhere, for the subtle charm of sympathetic surroundings brings the
children of genius to their best.
The little studio is often filled to overflowing with noble and clever guests. Dukes and
duchesses, princes, artists, actors, celebrities from all parts of Europe, rejoice in the
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genial and magnetic atmosphere surrounding our queen of flowers and her pretty
daughter.
The most famous French actors are ready to offer their services for
Madame Lemaire's pleasure. The recollection of a little comedy
given at her house by Coquelin, Réjane, and Baron brings back the
laughter with which we greeted the performance. Ripples of
delighted merriment seemed to spread over the audience from
every gesture and word of these inimitable artists, and what an
audience it was! And of what a rare kind the appreciation - that response meeting
genius upon the instant with delighted and complete comprehension of the bon-mot,
the jeu d' esprit, the unlooked-for situation!
There was the almost incessant murmur of applause so spontaneous as to be
unconscious of its own utterance - that one hears only from a Parisian audience stimulating the actors to even greater excellence. The play itself was only a clever
trifle, but it was written expressly for Mme. Lemaire and never performed elsewhere,
which gave it immense distinction. Quite unaware of the exclusiveness which
attached to this little gem, I asked Mme. Lemaire, a few days later, if I might take it
home to read. She, who, as a rule, granted all favours so graciously, felt obliged to
deny this. Mme. Lemaire's studio is a little building in the court-yard of her house,
and for the performance of this play, she built out a temporary extension of it, so
that there was sufficient space for the stage and an excellent auditorium for the
guests.
Whether it is a little play, acted by the great artists of the Théâtre-Français in her
atelier with its annex thrown out for the occasion, or a Pavane, danced by a ballet
troupe from the Grand Opéra on a platform in the open air, on the islet in the lake of
the Bois de Boulogne at one of Mme. Lemaire's summer fetes, or whatever she may
have arranged for the pleasure of her guests, it is sure to be interesting.
Thoroughly as she is the accomplished hostess, however, and the charming femme du
monde, she is none the less the finished and versatile artist. Her talent is by no means
confined to flowers, but in figures and portraits she has had great success. A fine
portrait of Coquelin as Gringoire has been greatly admired. The accomplished critic
Charles Blanc paid her a very high tribute of praise some years ago: after speaking of
her superb colouring in floral representations, he says of her work that it is "le dernier
mot de l’aquarelle," which means, I suppose, that it is the consummate perfection of
water-colour painting.
Madame Lemaire is at present employed upon a set of illustrations for Owen
Meredith's Lucile shortly to be published. Previous illustrations from her pencil which
have been greatly admired are those of Hervieu’s Flirt, l’Abbé Constantin, and
Daudet's Lettres d'un Moulin.
35
I have given but a brief sketch of this artist, who holds so eminent position in Paris.
We, less gifted, are grateful for the privilege of knowing her, and enjoying the
pleasures of her enchanted atelier. The rare personality of Mme. Lemaire seems to be
expressly described in the well-known words: "To be charming, gifted, and beloved is
most precious, but to be charming, gifted, beloved, and good - is ideal!"
36