The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-03-22
WOMAN'S PLACE IN ART
Mrs. EIIiott's Closing Lecture at the
Art Club.
INSPlRER, EDUCATOR, CREATOR.
A Thrce-fold Mission-The Early Feminine
Paiptsrs-Ladies Work and the Nigor
II Displays--An Appreciative Tribute
to Her Sex's Services.

cries of talks on art in the rooms OF the
Providence Art Club yesterday afternoon
holding the attention of her audience for
more than an hour. Her lectures have
been well attended and have proved sug-
Qcstive as we'll as interesting.
Mrs. Elliott spoke yesterday afternoon
on ''Woman in Art"
She said: IT will say little to you on
q very large subject. The relation of
woman to art is three-fold, and one may
deal with, first, woman as an inspiration;
again, woman as an educator, and lastly,
woman as creator. The first division is
the most familiar. How precious the
high place of woman is; she must never
suffer herself to step down from the
pedestal.
Woman as an educator has also lofty
mission. The conserving of knowled &c
and handing down OF tradition is a most
valuable part of mental labor Inherit
ance. the widest OF all human gifts, is free
TO all men. but the handing down of this
inheritance belongs 20 women. And so
woman has crept into the school room and
now reigns there supreme. The eighteenth
century saw the embryo OF democracy and
the nineteenth century the birth. With
the birth of democracy .the son of the
peasant comes into competition with
the son of the rich man, and with the
Wilderness Of competition many men be-
came unable TO support womankind and
SO, for the sake of the next generation, il
became necessary for women TO become
bread winners. II is democratic ideo for
woman TO earn her living by the work of
the hand. Modern civilization forces
woman to labor in the higher fields. Here
she is often met with distrust and jeal-
ousy by competing men and thought
less women. AS Che field OF her labor
grew larger higher field had to be found
and this is why woman holds her high
position in art"
Mrs. Elliot. in speaking of the first
woman artists related the story of the
young Greek woman who traced her lovers
head on the curtain, the shadow having
been thrown on the cloth by the light of n
lamp. A clay model was made from this
outline and the Greek maiden thus be-
came the first modeller. The famous
Dutch painter pointed to n wife or a
daughter as promising pupil and the
progress of women in art was marked.
The early woman painters OF the rem ais
sance were spoken of.
In continuing, Mrs. Elliott said, the
name OF Madame lie Brun Immediately
calls TO mind the remarkable and charm
ing picture executed by herself of herself
and daughter. Madame LIE Brun was
born in Paris in 1865. Her artistic talent
was marked when she was yet young and
her father on seeing one of her drawings
on a scrap Of paper exclaimed, Thou
shalt be an artist, my daughter, il ever
there was one." Maria Antoinette be-
came the artists patron and friend. The
king, queen, and most OF the members of
the royal family were among her many
sitters. Although she was, perhaps, little
fitted for the purpose, Madame lie Brun
became a teacher and from the time she
began her new vocation until she fled from
France 20 Italy she earned 100000 francs.
We find many mentions of this famous
French woman in history. Madame lie
Bruins letters have been collected in
most interesting book which you cannot
afford to miss. When the storm of the
revolution broke forth, Madame lie Brun
an the guise OF a seamstress, together with
her daughter fled to Italy, where she was
received with open arms; but IL was in
Russia that she made her greatest tri-
umph. She died in 1S45, aged 81.
In that wonderful eighteenth century
there Is no person more familiar TO us
than Angelica kaufman. Madame lie
Brun knew and respected her. In Milan
she was the fayorite protige of the court
ladies, She came to London in 1867 where
she was recognized as n bright star. To
be in love with Angelica became all the
fashion. At the height Of her fame she
, entered into a clandestine marriage with
a pretended nobleman who deserted her
and filled the remainder of her life with
sorrow. She went to work at art. with
all the passion of a broken heart, but at
last seemed to find peace for she again
married In 1877 the savings of a lifetime
were swept away by the failure of bank
aud she was left with nothing but her
art 70 fall back upon. She died in Italy
ten years after this In Sir Joshua Rey-
nold's diary we find constand mention Of
Angelica whom he prettily called Miss
Angel Mr.. Longfellow long ago said TO
my mother when they both were young,
"A work of art is not to be judged by its
defects Much of Angelica's work now
seems weak and sentimental, but she lived
in a sentimental age. There is much of
grace and poetry in her compositions.
Elizabeth Thompson, now Mrs. Butler,
Is without peradventure one of the first
half dozen of the English painters of to-
day. Her first picture TO win her renown
was the Roll Call" Her works are
chiefly military and she can compare
favorably with the celebrated military
painters.
Z. " Because there has never been any
among women like Michael Angelo or
Raphael, people say that she has not done
anything. Until the nineteenth century
woman never had any chance to develop
her genius. Now, in the reports and
catalogues OF art schools and exhibits the
proportion OF women's names is very
large. Ths .ist of women who have done
or are doing good work in our country Is
very large. Mrs. Nathaniel Hawthorne
was one OF our early artists. Emma
Stebbins and Mrs. Freeman are sculptors
OF whom we may well be proud. The
woman etchers OF America are a strong
body"
The last painter spoken OF was Rosa
Bonheur who, Mrs. Elliott said. is an
artist dearly familiar TO us all. There is
something inspiring in this woman's life.
When girl an ambition was aroused
within her to become an artist, and this
ambition proved an important factor i'm
her life. IL was while she was painting
the Horse Fair that she donned male |
attire that she might visit stables 10
sketch the animals. She Is the greatest
living animal painter and though She new
lives a more retired life she is still hard at
work. She is seventy years old and may |
she long live 10 carry on the art she has so /
long and modestly served"