The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-07


| men into the mixed classes when there are
separate ateliers Ia which they could work
as at Colorassl's, where there are two sets OF
studios. those for women and those for men
| IN which womsn are also allowed, because
| IN these latter there are places for only SO
many, and for every woman who enters a
| man Is thrown out; but | do not often hear
! OBJECTIONS urged on any other ground, for
We admire the women's bravery. They can
not get 50 good instructions as We caa, but
they are patient and persevering. They say
! the men are stronger workers than they are
ana SO when they get an opportunity they
much prefer 10 work With men; it helps
| Them
In the seDarate classes of the Academic
Julian the work of women as art students
| Is ranked higa. For seven years am told
the prize sketches the four ateiers for men
and for women have been entered annually
IN competition Of sexes-this being the
only opportunity afforded either TO see the
! work Of the other--and this year ID tue first
in which the women have not carried of
the palm. A fuller statement than had
| opportunity TO ask for of the terms OF I've
| competition or the departments or classes to
which it is extended. might modify this
| assertion of feminine success, but the fact
that the Prix de Rome for painting aud
that for sculpture have both fallen this year
TO former students of the Academic
Julian indicates that the women have had
| worthy foemen. There are not above a
| couple OF dozen American girls now paint
ing at Julian's, but American talent aud
the influence of the American woman's
steady straightforward character in the
| studios is warmly commended The work
OF Mile. klumpke, from San Francisco, now
OF Paris, who has received mention in the
Salon: of Dora Wheeler. by which name
/ she Is still best known i'll spite of recent
marriage; of RoSiHa Emmett Sherwood, Of
| Mrs. Brewster Sewell of Miss Gardner,
VINO received medal at the exposition, and
| of other former students from the United
States Is spoken of with enthusiasm.
In spite of the discontinuance of mixed
classes at Julian's there are some of the
professors who still consider them prefer
| able. Benjamin Constant | understand, is
more than willing that things should re-
main as they are. So is T. Robert Fleury
Lefebrre, however holds that mixed
classes are decidedly advantageous TO
women. Few of them, he says, are as
strong workers as the better students
among the men, it is not good for them to
| compare their work exclusively with that
\ OF their own sex. They got on faster in
| the broader field.
An American woman well known in
New York and Philadelphia, but long resi-
dent in Paris, heard the ar list arguing to
| this effect recently. m. Lefebrre," said
she, may | ask you question:
Certainly, madame, replied the painter.
You have a daughter, | believer
Yes, madame"
! Would You permit her to paint from
nude model in a mixed classs"
| Certainly, not, madame"
The mixed classes are not as a rule open
to visitors, but one can accomplish much
with the help of acquaintance and diplo-
macy. The studio IN the Rue de la Grands-
| Chaumlere, through which a dark haired
| briRht-eyed girl of not more than 20 acted
| as my guide, differed in few particulars
| from the atelier for women in the Passage
des Panoramas 1t was larger lower ceiled
and with sc0rching sun blazing through
its skylight. The stairway leading Co it
was narrower and the stair carpet more
| frayed. The dais for the models was longer,
1 for the occasional accommodation of two at
| a time. The walls were more thickly hung
| with plaster heads and feet and arms. and
in the way of properties" there were guam
| ties of faded hangings Like every other
| atelier have seen i'll Paris it was far more
dingy ami battered and careless of comfort
than the not highly ornamented or luxuri-
| Gus work-rooms of the New York Art Stu
dents League.
The model was girl, possibly of Is or l6,
| in the pose of runner. Her looseaed hair
| half falling on her shoulders was of a warm
brown, heavy and beautiful; but for the
|
| Bougueraeu at work and thereafter held
him to possess the liveliest Imagination of
all mortals since he could paint such female
charms from such dirty females
At the further end of the room a group OF
| three or four were transferring to canvas
the head and shoulders only of peasant
| boy with an olive skin and "a shock of
| tangled hair The number of students at
work was not large, the classes not having
| filled up for the winter. Six or seven were
! women. The look of a studio at this season
does not afford a rule by which to Judge it
when the cold weather crowds come flock
| ing in, but this one was quiet and well-be-
haved enough for decorous Boston. The
model has fifteen minutes out Of every hour
for rest, and in the intervals there was
much lighting of cigarettes and good
natured discussion and raillery, the women
| drawing apart meanwhile in little group
| of their own.
"Ah, but it's not like this always" said a
| slender dark girl from Kansas City--fve Of
| the women at work being America ns-"in
January we almost need the riot act read
sometimes"
THE impression prevails in America that
conduct in the mixed ateliors sometimes
borders on the scandalous."
Eyes were opened in genuine surprise.
"To work in a class like this Is not
pleasant altogether, said one of the young
artists who ''has ordersp and who has ex-
hibited in the Salon, 'bu5 except for rare
episodes it's not worse than the nature of the
thing makes it; the other students for the
most part let US alone. I've worked both in
an atelier for women and in mixed classes,
and while this is rather more of nervous
strain, learn more and certainly with no
more scandal"
"Can young women who live by them
selves in Paris got about comfortablyP
''As to that the Latin Quarter is much
more American In the liberty it gives us
socially than We should fad the rest of the
city. I've not tried it myself, but | know
of girls who ride about in parties of three
or four on the tops of the trans In the even
ing and get delightful airings. Then we
have our student clubs ana chocolate parties
in our rooms and tea drinkings."
"And nobody molests you when you are
80 independently
"Some of us, put in the youngest Of the
girls, who had not thus far spoken
wouldn't know it if we were molested
don't understand twenty words of French
and it makes the less difference what goes
ON around me-"
With the hundreds of American girls who |
are studying in Paris, the comparative
DaucitY of achievement il accounted for bV |