The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-05-26
A TRIO OF WOMEN ARTISTS.
Three Names that Have Added Grace
and Fame to America.
Miss Ransom and Her Portrait Work-Mrs.
RObinsOn's Inspired Brush and Vim
ME Rean's Chisel.


Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal
WASHINGTON, May 23.-To-day [ will intro
duce to your notice, pursuant to my idea
commenced in my last of giving the ladies a
chance, some of the lady artists of Washing
ton. l will begin with Miss Caroline Ran
som, who is the first woman to be recognized
by the patronage of the government, and,
therefore, entitled to pioneer these articles.
She is a Cleveland lady, and received her first
Washington order during the war, for por-
trait of Hon. Joshua r. Giddings, directly
after his death. 1t now hangs in the old hall
of the House of Representatives. She has a
portrait of Thomas Jefferson in the State
Department., purchased by Blaine,
who had admired it years before
when he saw it in Cleveland; also, one of
Alexander Hamilton in the room of the Sec
rotary of the Treasury, and one of General
Dix in Mr.. News room at the Treasury De-
partment The last two are copies the first
from Weimer, a German artist and the sec
ond from Huntington, the president of the
Academy of Design in New York Miss
Ransom is pleasant little lady, with sunny
blue eyes and nut brown hair, untouched by
Father Time, though she is no longer girl.
Her rooms on f street are filled with beauti-
full things, and an atmosphere of home per-
vades everything, Notwithstanding the fact
of the lady's splinter condition and public
career. II could not paint in any room but
parlOr," she remarked when something was
said about this. Il can cook in a kitchen, if
1t is clean, no matter how homely the room
is. for that seems fitting, but l must have
beauty around me when l court it.
Yes, can cook meal. or
do any kind of domestic work, as
well as anyone and l must run out and see
to my peas now, or they may scorch which
would spoil them, you know" she smilinglv
added, as she disappeared through tide door
She had just discharged one of the nations
wards from her service because she did not
wish to present her with all her worldly pos
sessions. Her great picture, THE Rock of
Chlckamauga," is a splendid production
Pap Thomas is represented standing on a
stone parapet his hat in the right hand
which hangs idly at his side, and a walking
cane and tield-glass in the left. One hardly
knows how to account for that cane, by the
way, as his horse, standing Just in the rear,
suggests a riding-whip if anything, where
spurs are all sufficient The man is magnifi-
cent; be seems breathing, and his attitude is
graceful, as well as imposing, but thatridicu-
lous horse looks like boys hobby.
Il never could paint a horse" she
admitted The landscape is lovely, though
she does not pretend to be anything but a
portrait painter, in which she certainly ex
cells, but the room is too small for so large a
picture, which spols the perspective some,
making the smoke of the battle, two miles
away, seem just beyond General Thomas
shoulder. saw, also picture Of Garfield,
painted twenty years ago. The face, though
SO much younger, is faithful likeness, and
all the better, to my thinking, for the absence
of tbs lines that proclaimed in mis- later face
the life OF political schemer, and the faulti-
ness of poor, weak humanity. Garfed's face
was too mobile to hide anything. The old
flag of the Forty-second Ohio regiment is
draped in the background. This picture is
the only portrait in oil ever painted
Mrs. Lucretia Garfield, who paid
the artist, 81 500 in cash for it. She loaned
it to Miss Ransom to copy the face in an
other picture, which she is just beginning for
the Army of the Cumberland.
Mr. S. IMoGENE ROBINSON MORRELL.
There is no greater artist in America than
Mrs. Imogene Robinson Morrell. She seems
equally at home in every branch of her art
Her landscapes are natures self; she can
paint horse equal to Rosa Bonheur, and a
man equal to anybody on this side of the big
water, anyhow. Her two famous pictures
are worth visit to Washington to see; and
her studio is full of others. She has just sold
portrait of General Dix to the Congressional
library committee, which is the most
speaking likeness l ever saw. l am
proud to know that our Hoosier states
man, Dan Voorhees,, knows enough of
things better than politics to choose such a
picture. Mrs. Morrill, has Just leased the old
octagon mansion, the house in which the
Monroe doctrine was born, and is fitting it
up for her National Academy of Fine Arts
This is her pet hobby, and if she paints as
good horse there as the group in her pict-
ure of Washington Meeting the Provision
Train" we will have q school of art in
America equal to any in Europe. From my
heart l hope she may succeed and the dream
which began during the dark night of the
siege of Paris have a glorious fruiton. This
frail little woman deliberately elected to
stay there during all that horror rather than
to come home before she had achieved sue
cess; and she went to PARIS to learn the Eu-
ropean method of teaching With true
Yankee wit she laid in stores of pro-
visions beforehand. This she was obliged
to conceal, for the government
turned the city into com
munity, and madeeverybody relinquish their
eatables. paying them for them, and then di-
vided the stores in daily rations Four
ounces of flesh to each adult, and sometimes
horse or dog flesh at that. Mrs Morrel fried
her doughnuts at midnight, so they would not
smell the lard, and invited hungry princes to
dine at her bountiful table,
MRS. FAssETT AND WINNIE REAM
Mrs Fassett, the painter of the Electoral
Commission" has just gone to New York to
set up studio there, for the purpose of exc
cutting number of orders from that place.
Her great picture is a perfect portrait gal
lery of the lions composing that historical
body. This lady is especially happy in
crayon drawing, and has head of Garfield
that is one of the most perfect likenesses of
that rather overdone statesman in exist
ence. Mrs. Fassett is large, handsome