# The Part Taken by Women in American History/Artists

Artists.
Looking back over the field of art for the past five centuries, one cannot fail to be impressed by the exceeding scarcity ​ of men and women who have attained enduring eminence as painters of portraits. Though in every exhibition of current work numerous portraits are shown, few are found worthy of prominent preservation, and the painters who can be counted upon for worthy productions can equally be enumerated. One of those who to-day holds pre-eminence is Cecilia Beaux. Comparison is often made between her work and that of Sargent. Most critics think her work is more studied but equally strong.
CECILIA BEAUX.
Cecelia Beaux is a dramatist in her studies of character and her art is probably more subtle and more various than that of any woman painter who has devoted her life to portraiture. Her work is modern in every way. Her handling is broad and strong. Many of her touches seem most accidental, while they are of the highest art. Miss Beaux is one of those painters who seem to have arrived almost abruptly on a plane of exceptional accomplishment. Few better works has she produced than those exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1896, which took the French critics by storm, and brought her the honor of Associate Membership in the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Her portraits of the daughters of Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and the portrait of Mr. Gilder were considered of masterly interpretation. There is one portrait wherein Miss Beaux actually created personality. This was her portrait of John Paul Jones, which was presented by the Class of 1881 to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
GERTRUDE O'REILLY.
Daughter of James William O'Reilly, a member of the famous O'Reilly family identified with Irish Nationalism. Her great-uncle, Father Eugene O'Reilly, was one of the first promoters of the Irish revival, being the author of the Gaelic ​ dictionary, and a catalogue of the Ancient Manuscripts. Her mother, Susan MacDonell, was the only daughter of Colonel Alexander MacDonell, member of a famous Irish family. Miss O'Reilly has won great success in decorative work and applied design, being a student of the South Kensington School, and has received several awards and prizes for leather work design and painting, as well as a special prize for the studies from the ancient Irish manuscript. These she obtained at the great Irish festival, Oireacthais, which is held in Dublin under the auspices of the Gaelic League. In 1900 Miss O'Reilly became first superintendent of the house founded by the Dominican families in Dublin for a residence house for the business girls in that city. She opened a branch house, and originated and established a summer home, managed a large non-residential club in connection with this house, and edited a magazine called The Star for the girls. In 1905 while spending the summer in the county of Galway, she did some splendid work among the fisher folk of this section in the line of hygiene and the betterment of their condition. She has acted as honorary secretary for the Galway Branch of the Irish Industrial Association. In 1907 she came to America and has since contributed to the daily press of this country and the leading magazines.
ALICE CORDELIA MORSE.
Was born June 1, 1862, in Hammondsville, Jefferson County, Ohio. After a common school education she took her first lessons in drawing in an evening class started by the Christian Endeavor Society of Doctor Eggleston's Church. That little class of crude young people was the beginning of the art education of some of the noted competitors to-day in New York Art Circles. Miss Morse submitted a drawing from this class to the Woman's Art School, Cooper Union and was admitted for a four years' course, which she completed. Entering, later, the studio of John La Farge, the foremost artist of stained class designing in this country, she studied and painted with great assiduity, under his supervision. Later she sent a study of a head, painted on glass, to Louis C. Tiffany and Company, which admitted her into the Tiffany studio to paint glass and study designing. While there, she was a successful contestant in several designs for book covers, which aroused interest in this comparatively new art in this country, and she decided to take up this field of designing. She made many covers of holiday editions and fine books for well known publishing houses. This she has carried on in connection with glass designing, until her name is familiar to the designing fraternity and the annual exhibitors in the New York architectural League. She was the designer of the glass window in the Beecher Memorial Church, of Brooklyn.
ISABEL ELIZABETH SMITH.
ROSINA EMMETT SHERWOOD.
Mrs. Rosina Emmett Sherwood was born in New York, December 13, 1854. She was a twin sister of Robert Temple Emmett, direct descendant of Thomas A. Emmett, the Irish Patriot She studied under William M. Chase ; also in Paris. Her first work was on china, followed by illustrations of juvenile books. In 1884 she illustrated Mrs. Burton Harrison's "Old Fashioned Tales." She is a member of The American Society, and a member of the Society of American Artists. In 1887 she married the son of Mrs. John Sherwood.
CARRIE M. SHOFF.
Mrs. Carrie M. Shoff was born in Huntington, Indiana, April 2, 1849. She invented a method of manufacturing imitation limoges, largely used in the manufacture of advertising signs and in cheaper wares.
EUGENIA SHANKLAND.
Is a member of the "Order of the Visitation" in Wilmington, Delaware, and is the daughter of Manning R. Shankland. She is an artist of some note, painting a number of fine altar pieces for several of the churches of the Capital City, and her copy of Washington, in the room of the vice-president at the United States Capitol, has attracted much attention.
ELLEN HARDIN WALWORTH (THE YOUNGER).
Was born at Saragota Springs, New York, October, 1858. Was the Daughter of Mansfield Tracy Walworth. She was a student of art, conducting classes in sketching, and was principal of St. Mary's Academy, Albany, from 1888 to 1890. Author of "An Old World as Seen Through Young Eyes," "Lily of the Mohawks," "Life and Sketches of Father Walworth," and other works.
JENNIE WILDE.
Is the daughter of Judge R. H. Wilde a distinguished newspaper writer and jurist of New Orleans, her native city. She was a student of designing and painting in some of the foremost art schools of Europe. Is a contributor to Northwestern periodicals and devotes her time to art and journalism. Owing to her creative ability and inventive genius as an artist, Miss Wilde has been invited by the Carnival Society of New Orleans to design the tableaux and many of the spectacular effects used during the Mardi Gras festival each year in New Orleans.
AMALIA KUSSNER COUDERT.
Is a miniature painter. Born March 26, 1873, in Terre Haute, Indiana. Daughter of Lorenz Kussner. Married July 3, 1900, in New York City, to Charles ​ Dupont Coudert. In 1896 went to London and painted the portrait of the King (then the Prince of Wales) and many of the prominent people of England. In 1899 was summoned to Russia to paint portraits of the Emperor and Empress and of the Honorable Cecil Rhodes, in Africa.
MRS. WILLIAM HENRY HORNE.
Mrs. William Henry Home was born at Eliot, Maine, the daughter of Lizzie Young and John Harrison Mathes. She was educated in Portsmouth and Boston, and studied art in Boston, New York and in the studio of W. D. Tenney, with whom she painted for twenty years.
Mrs. Home is the vice-regent of the John Paul Jones Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, member of the Twentieth Century Club of Boston, The Fathers' and Mothers' Club, The Copley Society, and is a well-known artist of Boston and New York, where her work is frequently exhibited.
CANDACE WHEELER.
Thirty years ago, with a handful of bright, eager New York girls, Mrs. Wheeler started the School of Decorative Art, turning out needle and embroidery work as artistic as fingers could make it. No other work was done by this school until a paper firm in New York offered a $2,000 prize for original wall paper designs. Up to this time no wall paper patterns were made in this country; even our calico designs were made in England. Mrs. Wheeler and her girls decided to compete for this prize. When the exhibition took place, they found that of all the designs offered theirs were the only American patterns exhibited, and they were hung by themselves. A day or two later information came to the School of Decorative Art that they had won the entire award of $2,000.
Mrs. Wheeler founded the famous Onteora Club, where she wrote the greater part of "Principles of Home Decorations," and other books bearing on art. Mrs. Wheeler was the artistic genius of the Woman's Building of the Columbian Exposition, and her daughter, Mrs. Keith, painted the ceiling in the library of that building. Pupils of this School of Decorative Art are scattered all over the country. One of the best painters now, is a pupil of this school, Miss Jean B. Stearns. Her specialty is Italian art.
EMMA SCHOLFIELD WRIGHT.
Mrs. Emma Scholfield Wright, of Pueblo, Colorado, was born in Hunslet, near Leeds, England, in 1845, and came to America when very young. She was married in 1878 to Henry T. Wright of Morgan Park, Illinois, and is the mother of four children. She lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1881 until 1897, when she removed to Chicago. Since 1902 her home has been in Pueblo. She is prominent as an artist, and while her first work was in oils, it is her work in ceramics, which gives her the position she occupies in the world of art. Her work is notable for its fine feeling, for color values and harmony, and in ​ illusive shadings and blcndings. Her designing is wonderful, enabling her to put into form her color schemes.
Her first original work was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and received the highest award for original design and coloring. The following year she exhibited at Chicago, where her work was so different from the rest of the exhibit, that it attracted instant and marked attention from art critics and art writers. Each year following her exhibit was larger and finer, and art critics recognizing the fact that she had opened up a new thought in decorative art, her work won full and complete recognition.
Mrs. Wright is not the student of any school, and all that she has accomplished is the result of her genius, and her untiring work and continuous study, carried on for the most part in her own home.
One of the notable examples of her work is seen in the decoration of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company's hospital at Pueblo. The decoration includes eight panels filled with life-size portraits, done on tiling in monochrome, of some of the great workers connected with the history and development of the healing art.
She has exhibited her work at the Chicago, Buffalo and St. Louis expositions, and at art exhibitions the country over. The honors and awards taken by her where she has exhibited are many, and she is always spoken of in the highest terms of praise by the art critics. They all say of her work, that it is absolutely original in design, and beautiful in color, and some of them do not hesitate to pronounce her among the greatest of American decorators in ceramics.
FLORENCE MACKUBIN.
Born in Florence, Italy. Daughter of Charles Nicholas, of Maryland, and Ellen M. Fay Mackubin. Painter of miniatures, and exhibitor at all of the large expositions. Selected by Governor Smith and the Board of Public Works of Maryland, in 1900, to paint the portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria (after whom Maryland was named), to be hung in the State House. This was executed in a copy of the portrait by Vandyck, in Warwick Castle, England. Also painted the portrait of Governor Lowndes, to be hung in the executive chamber in the Maryland State House ; the portrait of Professor Basil Gildersleeve, for the University of Virginia, and a miniature of Cardinal Gibbons ; and portraits of the first and second Barons of Baltimore, founders of Maryland.
SUSAN HALE.
Born in Boston, December 5, 1833. Daughter of Nathan and Sarah Preston Everett Hale. Artist in water colors. Exhibitor of landscapes in Boston and New York. Author of "Life and Letters of Thomas Gold Appleton"; also "Family Flight," Series of Travels for Young People. She wrote in connection with her brother, Edward Everett Hale.
RHODA CARLETON MARIAN HOLMES NICHOLLS.
Born in Coventry, England; daughter of William and Marian Holmes; studied at Bloomsburg Art School, and at the Circle Artistic, Rome; married to ​ Burr H. Nicholls, in 1884; exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, Dudley Gallery, London; also in Rome, Turin, Milan, and all current American exhibitions. Received Queen's Scholarship London; medal at Prize Fund Exhibition New York; medal at Boston Biennial Exhibition, Chicago World's Fair, 1893 ; medal at Charleston Exposition, at the West Indian and Interstate Exhibition Nashville, at the Pennsylvania Art Exposition, St. Louis Exposition; represented in Boston Art Club, Boston Museum of Art; illustrated (in collaboration) Powell's Venetian Life; is author of articles in the Art Exchange, Art Amateur and Keramic Studio; member of the National Arts Club, New York; was vice-president for nine years of the Water Color Club, of New York; member of the American Society of Miniature Painters, Pen and Brush Club, Woman's Art Club, (of which she is a member of the Art Committee), Art Club, of Canada, Nineteenth Century Club. Her address is 913 Seventh Avenue, New York City.
EMILY MARIA SCOTT.
Born at Springwater, New York; daughter of Thomas Lawrence and Almira Spafard; studied at the National Academy of Design, and at the Art Students' League, in New York, and in Paris under Raphael Collin. Married to Charles Scott, in i860; exhibited at the Paris salon in 1886, and Paris Exposition in 191 1. Appears in all the current exhibitions and expositions held in the United States. Received gold medal at Atlanta Exposition; honorable mention at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901; represented in the Erie Public Library; vice-president New York Water Color Club; member of American Water Color Society and National Arts Club, New York.
CHARLOTTE B. COMAN.
Mrs. Coman was born in Waterville, New York; studied in Paris under H. Thompson, and Emille Vernier; exhibited in Paris Salon, St. Louis World's Fair, and various exhibitions in the United States Received bronze medal at the California Mid-winter Exposition, prize at Woman's Art Club, member of New York Water Color Society, Art Workers' Club and Women's Art Club. "A French Village" exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1878, "Near Fontainebleau," "Sunset at the Seaside" exhibited in Boston in 1877, "On the Borders of the Marne," and "Peasant Home in Normandie," are among her best works.
VIOLET OAKLEY.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, 1874; studied at the Art Students' League in New York, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Howard Pyle; in Paris, under Raphael Collin and Aman Jean; has exhibited extensively throughout the United States; received gold medal for illustrations, St. Louis Exposition, 1904; also medal for mural decoration at the St. Louis Exposition; gold medal of honor at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1905; is represented in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; member of the Society of Illustrators, New ​York Water Color Club, fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Water Club, and Plastic Club, of Philadelphia.
ELIZABETH NOURSE.
Those who have closely followed the history of American art will be interested in the principal facts of Elizabeth Nourse's life. She is a descendant of an old Huguenot family who settled in Massachusetts some two or three hundred years ago. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of thirteen she showed such remarkable talent for painting that she attended the School of Design in that city. Her father losing his fortune, at the time of her parents' death, she found herself confronted by the necessity of earning money to undergo the course in art which she had so long desired. After school hours she taught design and decorated the walls in the homes of Cincinnati's wealthiest citizens.
After completing her four years' course in the School of Design, she was offered a fine position there as teacher of drawing, but having more ambitious projects in her mind, she refused this position. Aided by her sister, she accumulated $5,000 and this, with the little rescued from their father's estate, insured them a living abroad for several years. When some of the young artists of Paris founded the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Miss Nourse decided to send her pictures to this new salon where they were received with acclamation. Three years later she was made an associate. A sincere student of nature, Miss Nourse paints only what she sees, but hers is the vision of a noble soul, which pierces through conventionalities to the poetry and beauty that underlies all life. Her pictures are not portraits of models, but types of human character; all nature appeals to her, and some of her most beautiful pictures are landscapes of Brittany, and bits of the old forest of Rambouillet.
The art of Elizabeth Nourse has been influenced by no other painter. Years of study in Paris have broadened her technique. Her brush work has become more firm, her color more beautiful, but the character of her painting remains unaltered. In the work of Miss Nourse, is shown the broad, human sympathy of a strong woman who believes in art not only for art's sake but for the sake of humanity which it can uplift and spiritualize.
ANNA LEA MERRITT.
In the front rank of our noted women painters stands Anna Lea Merritt, who is as well known in England as in her own country. She was not taught in schools, and to this fact is probably attributable the great individuality conspicuous in her works. She belongs to no particular religion in art, and attended no school or class, but diligently attended Mr. Marshall's lectures on anatomy, a subject to which she devoted much attention and study. She had a few lessons from Professor Legros and from Mr. Henry Merritt, whom she afterwards married; also from Mr. Richmond, R.A., and from Mr. William Roxall, R.A.
Much of Mrs. Merritt's work has been in portraiture. She did some decorative pictures for the Woman's Building, Chicago World's Fair, and ​ later frescoed St. Martin's Church, at Chilworth. Mrs. Merritt was at one time a member of the Painters' Etchers' Society, and has exhibited many original etchings.
ANNIE C. SHAW.
Born at Troy, New York, 1852; lived for some years in Chicago studying art under H. C. Ford; in that city she was elected an associate of the Chicago Academy of Design, in 1873, and an academician, in 1876, the first woman upon whom the distinction has been conferred. Among her paintings are "On the Calumet," "Willow Island," "Keene Valley," "Ebb Tide on the Coast of Maine," "Head of a Jersey Bull," "The Return from the Fair" and "Illinois Prairie." She has exhibited in Chicago, Boston. New York and the Centennial Exposition.
EMILY SARTAIN.
Born in Philadelphia; daughter of John and Susan Sartain; studied engraving under her father; also at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; and under Christian Schuessele; and in Paris under E. Luminais; exhibited at the Paris Salon and in all prominent exhibitions of the large cities of the United States; received medal for oil painting at the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876; the Mary Smith Prize at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; medals for engravings at the Atlanta Exposition and Pan-American Exposition ; member of the International Bureau of Awards, the Art Department of the Chicago World's Fair, chairman of Artists' Committee officially in charge of Pennsylvania State Building, Chicago World's Fair; art delegate to the International Congress of Women in London, in 1899; afterward delegate to represent the United States at International Congress on Instruction in Art, Paris, 1900, and Berne, Switzerland, 1904; member of the Advisory Committee, Art Section, St. Louis Exposition, 1904; for many years was the only woman mezzotint engraver in the world ; has been principal of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women since 1886; president of the Plastic Club, Philadelphia, and vice-president of the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
HARRIET SARTAIN.
MARY L. MACOMBER.
Born at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 21, 1861; daughter of Frederic W. and Mary W. Macomber; studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and under Dunning, Duveneck, Crowningshield and Grundmann. Exhibited at The Hague, Carnegie Institute, Chicago Art Institute, Chicago World's Fair, St Louis Exposition; National Academy of Design, Society of American Artists, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Boston Art Club, Copley Society; received Dodge Prize at the National Academy of Design, honorable mention at the Carnegie Institute, medal at Massachusetts C. M. Association, 1895; medal at Atlanta Exposition, 1895; is represented in the prominent collection at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Her work, accompanied by articles, has been reproduced in the New England Magazine and other current periodicals. Member of the Copley Society, Boston.
KATHARINE AUGUSTA CARL.
Born in Louisiana; daughter of Francis Augustus Carl, Ph.D., LL.D., and Mary (Breadon) Carl. She was graduated from the State College, of Tennessee, at Memphis, with the degree of M.A., and afterward studied art in Paris under Bouguereau, Jean Paul Laurens and Gustave Courtois. She first exhibited in the Paris Societe des Artists Francais, in 1887, received honorable mention from that society in 1890, and was made an associate of the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, in 1894. Miss Carl is a painter of portraits and figure paintings, and has painted many notable subjects, among whom was the late Empress Dowager of China. The Empress Dowager conferred upon her the orders of officer of the Double Dragon and the Manchu Flaming Pearl. She wrote and illustrated an account of her life in the Imperial Palace, of China, which was published under the title of "With the Empress Dowager of China." Miss Carl is a member of the International Society of Women Artists, London; Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, and of the Lyceum Clubs, of London, and Paris.
MARIA LONGWORTH STORER.
Mrs. Bellamy Storer was born in Cincinnati, in March, 1849. She studied especially music and drawing when she was a child, and is greatly interested in everything that could help to educate and enlighten other people in both these arts. The Cincinnati musical festivals grew out of a conversation with Mrs. Storer's friend, Theodore Thomas, when he was visiting her in Cincinnati, ii. 1872. She asked him why they might not unite together all their choral societies, and he bring his orchestra and create a great festival organization. He liked the idea very much and under his great leadership they had musical festivals in Cincinnati which have never been surpassed by any in England or Continental Europe. In 1876 she was much interested in the exhibition of pottery and porcelain at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, and became anxious to have a place of her own to make experiments in native clays. After working for a while in a pottery where granite ware was made she started, in 1879, a pottery of her own in an old schoolhouse ​ she owned on the banks of the Ohio River. She named the pottery "Rookwood," after their country place. The first kiln was drawn in February, 1880. For ten years after that she worked there almost daily, selecting shapes and artistic designs. Her decorators were usually young men and women who had been students at the art school, an institution in which her father, Joseph Longworth, was much interested, and to which he gave an endowment of three hundred thousand dollars. Mrs. Storer was given the patent for the using of a colored glaze over colored decoration and the Rookwood pottery of that time was dipped in a very thick deep yellow glaze, which gave a rich tone to every color underneath it, like the varnish of an old master. This ware obtained a gold medal at the Paris Exposition of 1889. In 1891 Mrs. Storer's husband was elected to the House of Representatives and, on leaving Cincinnati, she gave the Rookwood pottery to her friend, Mr. William Watts Taylor, who had been business manager for four years and had put the pottery on a paying basis. In her time it was rather an expensive luxury costing her about two thousand dollars a year more than it brought in.
EVELYN LONGMAN.
Has recently come into prominence through the execution of work for Wellesley College. She has already done some of the handsomest bronze work in this country. Her work for Wellesley is a set of bronze doors and transoms for the Wellesley Library Building, in memory of the late Professor Eben Norton Horsford, who died in 1893. Miss Longman's education was acquired entirely in America, chiefly at the Chicago Art Institute. Most of her works have been portrait busts and works of a similar nature. Three years ago, however, she made her first bronze doors, and the circumstances surrounding her first selection for her first commission, placed her at once as the most successful young woman worker in bronze in America. This commission, she received through competition held for a pair of bronze doors and a transom for the entrance to the chapel at the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis. It was open to all American sculptors and conducted under the auspices of the National Sculpture Society. A jury of five men was selected to pick the winning design. The identity of the competitors was kept strictly a secret and the judges had no means of knowing whose work they were considering. Miss Longman won the award by unanimous decision on the first vote, over thirty-seven competitiors. She is rapidly forging to the front as an artist in bronze. She is a member of the American Numismatic Society, the American Federation of Arts, and the National Sculpture Society, and is one of the few women associates of the National Academy of Design.
MRS. WILLIAM ASTOR CHANLER.
SALLY JAMES FARNHAM
Sally James Farnham, artist and sculptor. Her father was Colonel Edward C. James; her mother, Sarah Perkins. Mrs. Farnham is descended from a long line of soldiers and jurists on one side and sailors on the other. She was born and reared in Ogdensburg, New York. She gave no indication in her early youth of the wonderful talent she possessed. She never received what is ordinarily considered essential to ultimate success, art education. She was not a student in Paris or Rome nor did she show any special taste for drawing or for things artistic during her school days. She was simply a descendant of a cultured race and lived among people of strong artistic tendencies; enjoyed the advantage of extensive foreign travel, becoming familiar with the masterpieces of ancient and modern sculpture. Unconscious of possessing any talent in this line, while convalescing after a severe illness, her husband brought her some modeling wax, in the hope that it could help her to while away a period of enforced inactivity. From this she fashioned a recumbent figure of great beauty and delicacy, representing Iris, "Goddess of the Rainbow." This she executed, in the absence of modeling tools, by the use of the surgical instruments loaned her by the attending physician and the finished result was most charming. The fact that this first effort possessed the technique and finish usually found in the works of the trained and experienced artists, gave rise to the feeling among those who saw Mrs. Farnham's work, that a great future was before her. Her first portrait work was in bronze, a full length figure. This was followed by a bust which is a fine example of the sculptor's skill. Then followed the spirited bronze called "Cowboy Fun." This group is vibrant with life.
The Great Neck Steeple Chase Cup was modeled by Mrs. Farnham, and is considered one of the most artistic pieces of this kind ever produced. Mrs. Farnham's most ambitious effort is the soldiers' and sailors' monument in Ogdensburg, her birthplace. Mrs. Farnham's work for the government has met with great praise from artists and laymen. She did the frieze in the council room of the building of the Pan-American Republics, at Washington, and also designed the medal which was given Mr. Carnegie by the government, in appreciation of his gift of a large sum of money toward this building as a contribution toward the efforts for peace. There is an originality in her work which gives it strength and vitality. Mrs. Farnham is destined to become one of the noted artists and sculptors in this country.
ANNE WHITNEY.
Born in Watertown, Mass., in 1821. Descended from early New England colonists. Her first work was a portrait bust of her father and mother. Her first ideal work was her conception of Lady Godiva, which was exhibited in Boston. This was followed by "Africa," a colossal statue. The "Lotus-Eater" was her next work. After this she spent five years of study in Europe during which time she executed "The Chaldean Astronomer," and "Roma." After her return to America the State of Massachusetts commissioned her to make a statue ​ in marble of Samuel Adams the Revolutionary patriot, for the National Gallery in Washington, and one in bronze for Adams Square in Boston. She went to Rome to execute this commission. Since these works she has executed a sitting statue of Harriet Martineau, of heroic size, for Wellesley College, and another ideal statue of Lief Erikson, the young Norseman who, A.D. iooo sailed into Massachusetts Bay. Miss Whitney has made many fine medallions, fountains and portrait busts, among the latter, one of President Stearns of Amherst College, President Walker of Harvard, Professor Pickering of Harvard, William Lloyd Garrison, Honorable Samuel Sewall of Boston, Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, ex-president of Wellesley College, Adeline Manning, Miss Whitney's friend, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frances E. Willard, Lucy Stone, Mary A. Livermore and others.
VINNIE REAM HOXIE.
Was born in Madison, Wisconsin, September 25, 1847. Is the daughter of Robert Lee and Lavinia McDonald Ream. Studied art in Washington, and afterwards in Paris under Bonnat. Her first work of note was a statue of Abraham Lincoln under commission from Congress. This was done from life, and later she executed the statue of Admiral Farragut, another commission from the government through an act of Congress, and this statue now adorns Farragut Square in Washington. She has done many ideal figures : "Miriam," "The West," "Sappho," "The Spirit of the Carnival," a bust of Mary Powell, now in the state hall of Brooklyn, portraits and medallions of General George B. McClellan, Thaddeus Stevens, General Sherman, Ezra Cornell, General John C. Freemont, T. Buchanan Read, E. B. Washburn, Horace Greeley, Peter Cooper, also Cardinal Antonelli, Pere Surgeon, Franz Liszt, Gustave Dore, and is now engaged on a heroic statue of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood a commission from the state of Iowa, which is to be placed in the rotunda of the National Capitol. In 1878 Vinnie Ream married Richard Leveridge Hoxie of the United States army.
HARRIET G. HOSMER.
This famous American sculptor stands out in strong relief among those women of America who have attained distinction in this art. Miss Hosmer was born in Watertown, Mass., October 9, 1830. Her mother died when she was quite young, and a sister also dying with the mother's disease, consumption, Dr. Hosmer determined that Harriet should develop physically before any great effort was made toward her education. Her early life was accordingly spent in the woods and fields about their home and on the Charles River, which flowed near. She grew up like a boy. She was an eager reader and so her education was largely of self-made manner and opportunity. In the first school in which she was placed her brother-in-law, Nathaniel Hawthorne, was principal, but he did not hesitate to write her father, that he could do nothing with her, and she was placed in the care of Mrs. Sedgwick, who had a school at Lenox, Berkshire County. Mrs. Sedgwick was a woman of great tact and breadth of mind, so she ​ soon won Harriet's confidence, and she remained under Mrs. Sedgwick's care for three years. In her early youth she had shown a great fondness for modeling her pets and treasures of the field, and so was permitted to take up lessons in modeling, drawing, and anatomical studies in Boston. She applied to the Boston Medical School for a course of study in anatomy, but her admittance was refused on account of her sex. Later she gained admission to the Medical College of St. Louis, and Professor Macdowell spared no pains to give her every advantage. The life-size medallion which she cut of Professor Macdowell on the base of his bust done by Clevenger, is treasured up to this day by that college. While in St. Louis, she made her home with the family of a former friend and companion at Lenox, Wayman Crow, who proved a most valued friend, and who gave her the order for her first statue when she went to Rome as a student. On her return home Dr. Hosmer fitted up a studio for her and she did Canova's "Napoleon" in marble for her father. Her next work was an ideal bust of Hesper. Then she asked her father to permit her to go to Rome to study, as she wished to make this her life work, and on November 12, 1852, Dr. Hosmer and she arrived in Europe. She desired especially to become a student for a time under John Gibson, the leading English sculptor, and when he saw the photographs of her "Hesper," he consented to take her as a pupil, and for seven years she worked under his direction and encouragement. She copied the "Cupid" of Praxiteles, and "Tasso" from the British Museum. Her first original work was "Daphne," then she produced her "Medusa." These were both accepted in Boston in 1853, and were much praised by Mr. Gibson. She also had the gratification of receiving words of approval from Rauch, the great Prussian sculptor, whose work of the beautiful Queen Louise at Charlottenburg is one of the famous pieces of sculpture of modern times. Later she did for Mr. Crow, "OEnone," and later "Beatrice Cenci," for the St. Louis Mercantile Library. Her father having lost his property and no longer being able to bear the expense of her studies, she determined to support herself by her own work. She took some modest apartments and disposed of all her luxuries and plunged into her work, the results of which have added to her fame. One of her pieces of work was entitled "Puck." This she duplicated for many crowned heads and distinguished people of many of the Continental countries. She did an exquisite figure upon the sarcophagus of the sixteen-year-old daughter of Madam Talconnet, who died in Rome. Her statue of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, was considered one of her greatest works. It was exhibited in Chicago at the Sanitary Fair in behalf of the soldiers, and from its exhibition Miss Hosmer received five thousand dollars. While on a visit to this country in i860, she received an order from St. Louis for a bronze portrait statue of Missouri's famous statesman, Thomas Hart Benton, which was unveiled May 27, 1868, in Lafayette Park by Mrs. John C. Fremont, the daughter of Benton. For this work Miss Hosmer received the greatest praise and a substantial remuneration of ten thousand dollars. Orders now crowded upon her. Her "Sleeping Faun" is an exquisite piece of work, and was exhibited at the Dublin Exposition in 1865. Her "Siren fountain," executed for Lady Marian Alford, is one of her most artistic productions, and for many years prior to her death she was engaged in preparing a ​ golden gateway for Ashridge Hall, England, ordered by Earl Brownlow. She did the statue of the beautiful Queen of Naples, for which she received royal praise and approval. Harriet Hosmer has placed the name of American women high among the sculptors of modern times. Her death in 1908 was a loss to the artistic world.
ELIZABETH NEY.
One of the famous artists of this country, and a worthy follower of Harriet Hosmer, enjoys deserved fame as a sculptor. She studied under Bauch and opened a studio after his death in Berlin, where her works received the warmest praise and admiration. Some of her more conspicuous works are the statues of Mitscherlich, Jakob Grimm, and other celebrities. She was summoned to the Royal Court of Hanover, where she did "The Blind King," "Joachim the Violinist of Arcady," "Stockhausen the Singer," and the gloomy features of the great philosopher Schopenhauer, and later a statue of Garibaldi. While in Munich, she did much of the ornamentation of the interior of some of the public buildings. She executed busts of Liebig and Wohler, which now adorn the Polytechnic School of Munich. She did also what was considered by Emperor William a remarkable bust of Bismarck. This was accepted in the Paris Exposition of 1868, and Mrs. Ney's name is justly placed among American sculptors.
GERTRUDE WHITNEY.
This distinguished young sculptress is the daughter of the late Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the wife of Harry Payne Whitney, of New York. She studied abroad, and has executed a number of marbles and bronzes for public places, notably, the fountain for the Pan-American Building, Washington, D. C.
FLORENCE FREEMAN.
Born in Boston in 1836; she received her earliest instruction in sculpture from Richard S. Greenough. In 1861 she went to Italy with Miss Charlotte Cushman, remaining a year in Florence under the instruction of Hiram Powers. In 1862 she removed her studio to Rome where she spent the rest of her professional life. Among her most important works are a bust ot "Sandalphon," bas-reliefs of Dante and the sculptured chimney piece representing "Children and the Yule Log, and Fireside Spirits," which was exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, 1876 and received honorable mention.
ENID YANDELL.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, October 6, 1870 ; is the daughter of Lunsford P. and Louise Elliston Yandell ; educated at Hampton College ; received degree of B.A. in Louisville, Ky.; exhibited at the Paris Salon since 1895, and has appeared in all of the current exhibitions of the United States; received Designer's Medal at the Chicago World's Fair, where she did a great deal of work for the ​ Women's Building; Medal at the Tennessee Centennial, Pan-American Exposition, St. Louis Exposition; member of the National Sculpture Society, National Arts Club, Municipal Art Society, and National Historical Preservation Society of New York City.
One of the -remarkable features of Miss Yandell's career is the brief period of time in which she has made her reputation. Thirteen years ago she was a member of the Art Students' League. The most imposing product of Miss Yandell's genius is the heroic figure of Athena, which stood in front of the reproduction of the Parthenon at the Nashville Exposition. It is the best figure ever designed by a woman.
MISS AVIS HEKKING.
Born in New York City, daughter of J. A. Hekking, the well-known landscape painter, who came to America at an early age. Miss Hekking's great-great-grandfather was sergeant-major under General Putnam, and served through the Revolutionary War, distinguishing himself in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. Her family are all artists, several of her brothers have won world-wide reputations as violoncellists.
Miss Hekking studied in Paris under Pourtois Debat-Ponson and Blanc; became a pupil of M. Lange. Later she accompanied her parents to Florence, Italy, where she worked in her father's studio, painting several portraits and historical pictures. In her leisure hours she wrote plays. Of late years she has worked steadily at painting and literature and sends, annually, a picture to the Fine Arts Exhibition in Florence.
JULIE RIVE KING.
Madame Julie Rive King was born October 31, 1857, in Cincinnati. Her mother, Mrs. Caroline Rive, was a cultured musician and pianist, being a teacher of these arts. At quite an early age, Julie became a remarkable piano player, appearing in concerts. After studying in New York she returned to her home and created great excitement by her remarkable performances as an artist. In 1873 she went to Europe to study under Liszt, appearing in public in Leipsic and other cities, where the musical world ranked her among the great pianists of the day. She won a brilliant triumph in all the great cities of Europe. Owing to the sudden death of her father, who was killed in a railway accident, she returned to the United States and very soon after this married Frank H. King. She made a tour of this country in concert, establishing her reputation as the greatest pianist in the United States at that time. In 1884, owing to failure in health she retired from the concert stage and devoted her life to teaching.
MRS. ALOYSIUS LOUIS APFELBECK (MARIE LOUISE BAILEY).
Was born in Nashville, Tennessee, October 24, 1876. She was the daughter of Dr. Patrick H. Bailey. She received from the Shah of Persia, in 1902, ​ the Persian medal for art and science, sharing with Mme. Modjeska the distinction of being the only women in the world to receive this honor. She has also a medal for art from the Court of Coburg, and the honor of "Imperial Chamber Virtuoso" from Austria, and from the Emperor Francis Joseph, the Elizabethan medal for Art and Science, and the Golden Order of Merit of the Cross and Crown. These distinctions have been rarely conferred upon foreigners. She is the wife of Captain A. L. Apfelbeck, of the Austrian army.
CAROLINE KEATING REED.
Born in Nashville, Tenn. Is the daughter of Colonel J. M. Keating, a newspaper man of prominence in that city; was a pupil of Emile Levy; studied in New York under S. B. Mills and Madame Carreno; took lessons from Mrs. Agnes Morgan and subsequently from Richard Hoffman and Joseffy; is a successful teacher of music in Memphis; always giving free lessons to one or two pupils, as her contribution to charity and the advancement and aid of her own sex; has written a primer on technique for beginners.
JULIA ELIDA DICKERMAN.
Julia Elida Dickerman, daughter of Charles E. and Ellen Louise Dickerman, was born in Carbondale, Illinois, February 21, 1859. Ln 1869 Miss Katie Logan—a relation and adopted daughter of General and Mrs. Logan—who possessed a fine soprano voice which had been highly cultivated by the best teachers of Philadelphia and New York, came to Carbondale to reside in General Logan's family, and at the earnest solicitations of friends, among them Mr. and Mrs. Dickerman, gave lessons to a few young girls in vocal and instrumental music. Elida Dickerman was one of her pupils. Miss Logan soon discovered that Elida Dickerman had musical talents of the highest quality, and was exceedingly proud of the progress of her young pupil, who so faithfully and indefatigably mastered every lesson she gave her. She discovered that Elida's voice had a wide range and if properly trained would win her an enviable reputation. At the age of thirteen she was taken to New Haven, Conn., to school, and to study music. Here her musical education was pursued until, as a young lady, she returned to Southern Illinois to practice her chosen musical profession. As a teacher, soloist and organist she has ever since been well known throughout Illinois and the Middle West. She married Charles A. Sheppard, a merchant of Carbondale.
GERALDINE FARRAR.
Born February 28, 1882, at Melrose, Massachusetts. Is the daughter of Sydney and Henrietta Barnes Farrar. Musical education was completed in Paris and Berlin. Made her debut at the Royal Opera House in Berlin, October 15, 1901, as Marguerite in Faust. Has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company since 1906.
LILLIAN NORDICA.
Madame Lillian Nordica, born Lillian Norton, was born in Farmington, Maine, and spent her early life in Boston where her family lived, on account of the educational advantages for their daughters. Madame Nordica's voice was never seriously considered until after the death of her next older sister, Wilhelmina.
On the death of her sister, Madame Nordica's mother transferred her interest and ambition to the one whose talent had until then gone unrecognized. At the age of thirteen she entered the New England Conservatory of Boston with a scholarship. Her teacher, John O'Neill, was so severe and exacting that Madame Nordica was the only scholar remaining of the class at the end of the four years' course. During this period of study she secured an engagement as soloist at the Temple Street Church in Boston. Her first appearance was as soloist with Gilmore's band, giving two concerts a day and touring through the country. Following this American tour, she went with the band for concerts in Ireland and Paris, and by the end of this tour she had saved enough money for a course of study in Italy under San Giovanni of Milan, who coached her for her debut as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."
Madame Nordica has always prided herself on her American birth, and the affection in which her American admirers have always held her was shown in the presentation to her of a magnificent diamond tiara, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York some years ago, as a tribute of affection.
EMMA WIXON NEVADA.
CLARA LOUISE KELLOGG.
Clara Louise Kellogg was born July 12, 1842, at Sumterville, S. C. Her father was the well-known inventor, George Kellogg, and her childhood was spent in Birmingham, Conn. In i860 she made her debut in the Academy of Music in "Rigoletto," and in 1864 she appeared as Marguerite in Gounod's "Faust," making a remarkable success, and was considered the greatest impersonator of that role ever seen in this country. After this brilliant success Miss Kellogg went to London, and appeared at her Majesty's Theatre and at the Crystal Palace the same year. In 1868 she toured the United States in concert under Max Strakosch. In 1869 she sang Italian Opera in New York City, and for three years enjoyed a great triumph. She then organized her own company, singing in English. In 1876 she organized another opera company, and appeared as Aida and Carmen. After this she again sang in concert throughout the country for several years. In 1880 she accepted an engagement in Austria to sing in opera, and here she sang in Italian with a company of German singers. Later the tour was extended to Russia and she sang with marked success in St. Petersburg. She was the first American artist to win recognition in Europe. Having amassed quite a fortune on the stage, she retired in 1889. She became the wife of Carl Strakosch.
MME. SELMA KRONOLD.
Was born in Cracow, Poland. Received her musical education at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipsic, where she won the Mendelssohn prize, and at the age of seventeen was engaged by Anton Seidl to sing Wagnerian roles. Is a grand opera singer of note both in Europe and America. In 1904 she retired from the stage and organized and founded the Catholic Oratoria Society and is to-day a director of this society and of the free vocal classes for men and women in connection with it.
JESSAMINE POLAK (BARONESS VON ELSNER.)
Was born at Burlington, Iowa, in 1869. Daughter of Baron Hugo Bongenslav von Eisner, member of an ancient, noble family of Silesia, and Amanda Kate Dimmett, whose family was among the early settlers of Bloomington, Illinois. Baroness Von Eisner has been a concert singer both in this country and in Europe.
MARIE VAN ZANDT.
Born in Texas, October 8, 1861. Daughter of Mrs. Jennie Van Zandt, the well-known singer, whose father was Signor Antonio Blitz. Miss Van Zandt was trained by her mother, as she had early displayed strong musical tendencies. In 1873 she and her mother went to London, where she studied. Adelina Patti took a personal interest in her training. Later she studied in Milan, Italy, and made her operatic debut in Turin in 1879. In 1880 she appeared in London in ​ Her Majesty's Opera Company, winning success. In 1881 she appeared in Paris in the Opera Comique in "Mignon" and sang there for four seasons. She sang in many of the principal cities of Europe, enjoying a pronounced musical success in her own country and was ranked as one of the foremost sopranos of her time. Miss Van Zandt married Petrovich TzcherinofF in 1898, and has now retired from the stage.
ANNIE LOUISE CAREY.
One of the noted svngers produced by America. She was born in Wayne, Maine, October 22, 1842. Daughter of Dr. Nelson Howard and Maria Stockbridge Carey. Studied under Lyman Wheeler of Boston, and Giovanni Corsi, Milan, Italy, making her debut in Italian opera in Copenhagen. Was afterward a member of the opera company under Strakosch, singing the principal contralto roles in grand opera both in America and Europe. In 1882 she married Charles Monson Raymond, a banker of New York City, and retired from the stage.
EMMA ABBOTT.
SARAH HERSHEY EDDY.
Daughter of the late Benjamin and Elizabeth Hershey; was born in Lancaster, Penn., and educated in Philadelphia, where she received her musical training and made her debut as a singer. She sang for some years in a church choir. Her voice breaking down, she devoted herself to the study of the piano and in 1867 went to Europe and settled in Berlin, where she studied harmony, score-reading, piano playing under Professor Stern, and singing under Miss Jennie Mayer and others of the best known teachers and artists of Germany. After three years she studied in Italy under some of the best Italian masters, both in music and language. Later she went to London where she took a course in oratorical work with Madam Sainton-Dolby. In 1871 she returned to America, and for several months gave private lessons in New York City, when she was called to Pittsburgh to fill the post of professor in the vocal department of a female college. In 1875 she went to Chicago, and with W. S. B. Matthews founded the Hershey School of Musical Art. The success of this school attracted students from all over the United States. Mr. Clarence Eddy was eventually made director of this school and in 1879 he married Miss Sarah Hershey. Under their joint management the school continued to prosper until the duties became so exacting that both resigned and devoted themselves to teaching in private classes. In 1887 Mrs. Eddy was elected a member of the Board of Examiners in the Vocal Department of the American College of Music, and in 1893 she was made vice-president of the Woman's Musical Congress at the World's Fair in Chicago, and was one of the Examining Committee of Musical Competition, of which Theodore Thomas was the presiding officer. In 1895 Mrs. Eddy retired from her profession and has since lived in Paris.
COUNTESS MARIO VENTURINI.
Was born in New York City where her father, Edward Otto Stern, a naturalized American, was Russian Vice-Consul and a great financier. While Vice-Consul, Mr. Stern married Maltide Druilhet, daughter of Jules Antoine and Emma A. Druilhet, of New Orleans. Miss Stern's maternal great-grandfather was proprietor of St. James Parish, New Orleans. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, her maternal grandfather, Jules Antoine Druilhet, better known as Captain Druilhet, was the youngest captain of the Louisiana volunteers. He equipped a regiment of St. James Parish at his own expense and was under orders of Jones, Jefferson and Beauregard.
Madam Druilhet, the mother of Countess Mario Venturini, was an accomplished pianist, and her salon was for many years the musical center of New Orleans. Left a widow a few years after her marriage, Mrs. Stern left America and went to live in Belgium where her home was the center of the best artists of the country. Surrounded by such associations during her childhood, Miss Stern early developed artistic tastes which eventually became the ruling passion of her youth. Miss Stern made her social debut at the Court of Brussels, where she was presented by the United States American Minister, Honorable Bellamy ​Storer. Miss Stern gave up her social career to enter the Academie Julien to pursue her studies in art. While here she became very much interested in the American students, young girls studying art in Paris. On the 9th of November, 1903, Miss Stern married Count Mario Venturini.
ETHEL ATWOOD.
Miss Atwood was born in Fairfield, Maine, September 12, 1870. Is a musician of note in orchestral work. In Boston she formed the Fadette Ladies' Orchestra, which was soon in such demand that she made this her profession. She studied prompting, and is to-day considered one of the best prompters, and the only lady prompter in the United States.
MARGARET RUTHVEN LANG.
Born in Boston, November 27, 1867. Daughter of Benjamin Johnston Lang and Frances Morse Burrage Lang. Was a student of the violin under Louis Schmidt, Drechsler and Abel of Munich; Composition, with Victor Gluth of Munich; Orchestration under Chadwick of Boston and Macdowell. Is a composer of music for the pianoforte, solos, songs, choruses and orchestral works. Her work, "Dramatic Overture," has been performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and her "Witichis" was performed several times in Chicago under the leadership of Theodore Thomas. She is one of the most prominent musical composers of America.