The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-09-06

The Queerest Strike Yet.
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The queere6t strike In theses day. ut
strikes has Just occurred IA tbls CITY
among female m0dels for sr(iet& The
trouble began IN e1etpdlo ~ Nth>
tGlrls Surprised - y .by3 SPAN
1sh Explorer" FOR models Re 90
Ebloyed three OF the most famnuS OF
Ne ,class in the city,Swgpen well
| knoW4 ln-all the studios, Rpd yhosafe
reputed to ba the most- pexyect u pdi4t
ofpAYsLe development q the I1odsl9
81 09oilsd statss. The pose one az
these fair figurantes was called upon
to assume~was y particularly arduens
one, requiring muscular strain and a
ana paisfiuf Sstdres A aef u 8 second.
sitting she revolted, and refused to
continue unless her pay, which was
1 %ang. Tse siRIse Was TX a seys
Their figures were already outlined
upon the canvas in group which he
could not hope to obtain by any other
models. The price he was already pay
ing them was q good one. They sat
for four hours day each, which was
an outlay of $30-a large sum for a
member, of the rliIhners' craft. He
could hot afford to Increase 1t, and all
his appeals to them were utterly In
vain. They even rejected compro-
mise of 1915, and finally left the stu
do In body. That evening the in
dignant ladies circulated among their
professional friends, and next day u
general war was declared against the
artistic Coppressors. The Bohemians
OF the brush took the matter very
coolly, however. They smoked their
pipes, drank their beer, and made
sketches for new pictures for several
days, turning deaf ear to the fair
strikers claims,
Finally deputation Of the models,
numbering every one of them, waited
on the French artist in q body. AS
sured OF the cooperation. OF BIS fellow
artists, the gallant Frenchman told
them smilingIy that he would not pay
a single cent more than he had hither-
to been doing. The seven or eight
other resident artists who have pro-
fessional use for posturants were visit
ed with the same result. 1--WE are all
going out,Of town soon, anyhow" said
the pfineipaI Of Ntheihc blandiy, "and
you'll have time to think the matter
over at leisure Try a glass OF wine.
Mol! Then good afternoon" His
words carried conviction to the souls
of the strikers, The result Is easily
foreseen." Next day the three Indian
girls returned to their posts, and before
night the strike was at an end. The
only participants i'm 1t had been of the
gentler sex, and all of that indepen-
dent class whose only resource is the
patronage OF the painters. The male
models and the females employed at
the public art schools here are perfect
". contente,t with their lot.
There are mall Ia this city about
thirty people, men. and women, who
make q living as nude models Tor the
Various art schools and artists here,
and perhaps Ten more, who serve as
"draped models" The lady who led
the revolt in the Frenchman's studio
ign young womau of %, OF a remark.
abIS fifier development. and perfect
bthnette Quiet and ladylike In man.
| ner, one would never have suspected
ia casual intercourse with her that she
gained livelihood by exhibiting her.
self to an artistic eve for reproduction
| and parade before the public. Her
version of the strike Is q characteristic
one. Gt
~ have been a model for six years."
| she said Sand have sat fOrnearly every
artist in thei city, and for more than
one in Philadelphia, Boston and Chi
cago. I began as q draped model for
one Of Frank Leslie's artists, Mr.. John
Hyde, who got me aplace at the Acad-
envy of Design, where posed for near
ly two wears. For the first few days 1t
was horrible work, and almost died
of shame and modification. Then,
however, 1 got used TO it. / was
making q good living and was civilly
treated. Besides, during all that time
| no one ever saw my face. They allow
| female model there to wear mask,
and they all avail themselves OF the
opportunity. Insult? No, there Is
not the slightest danger of 1t from the
male students at least. There never
was an insulting, word said to me or a
coarse remark made before me In the
classes.
Perry, the artist, saw me, and shortly
| afterward engaged me to pose for his
| Venus Rising from the Sea- Since
| then 1 have been posing privately, and
have done well. You have seen me
| in pictures, mean-many time.
lizard work ? / should say 1t was.
But.then It Isl not for very long. When
/ played Venus to Mr.. Perry's Pyg-
maliOn, for instance, had to lie OH a
sheet Of plate glass in an alcove OF
green curtains, and q very bard bed /
found it, as you can imagine. This
was to produce the effect of, the green
reflection Of the sea. When 1 posed
for Mr.. BenselTs Creole wore only
o strip of thin cause about my hips,
and lay in aihAmmock until the cords
cut into my flesh.
"That pose of the FreRohnan, how
ever, was worse than either. See here"
She threw herself into the attitude OF
one surprised and terrified, with body
bent to one side and downward, aud
one hand out. ''The position was bad
enough, p she continued, ''butt TO make
matters worse, Mr.. Nwas very
1 captious, and grumpled Ill even quiV-
cred. nAtthe end of each fifteen min
utes, when / got ten minutes rest, 4
invariably was SO badly cramped that
/ I did not recover until 1t was time fol
me to begin, 10 suffer again. He was
| in such q hurry to finish the work, too,
4 that he required ms to stand four hours
aaay, two In the morning and two IN
/ afternoon He was as bad as q woman
4 --andwomen, as Isuppose you know
/ are the most cruel to the models of al
students sSssv x2gs t fsas 5n pose single sG'
female.
"It is pretty hard to get employment
for draped posing she added. Most
of the artists use their wives, daugh.
tiers, or lady friends for that purpose
There is even one artist here, an ole
German, who uses his three young
daughters as models. He painted
them In a group as the Three Graces
for the Centennial Exhibition.