Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-08-25
eMFRICAN GIRLS FIGURE FAULTY

.r,o American woman's head is
.oo large for her height.
oyer legs are too short for hef
body.
"Her shoulders are too narrow,
"uer hips are too wide.
~uer chest is hollow.
. "Her arms are undeveioped ana
thin" NTH
rh;s is the Judgment Of Ralph
c,orkson. the American artist, of the
..,,orfactions of the figure OF the
american woman. Mr.. Clarkson bases
h;s statements upon the examination
If hundreds of professional models
wbo pose for decorative and ideal
work.
American Figure Has pegenerated.
"Judging the average figure of the
American woman he says, from
Tho model. it has degenerated greatly
from the ideal. In nine cases out OF
+en the American model has figure
which is so exaggerated IN the hips
that she is pronounced and developed
in the lower part of the body and total
" inadeauate in the shoulders and
bust
"The effort of the artist, of course,
is to produce a figure which is en-
Hrely symmetrical-that IS, One in
which no part shall emphasize Itself
especially. The figure of the modern
woman. however, is far from conform
ing to this standard. and it is almost
Invariably the case with the profess
sional model that the hips and lower
rart of the body are too prominent,
while the upper part Is narrow, with
lack of STRENGTH in the shoulders. and
with arms frequently remarkably
small in proportion.
Defects in Arms and Neck.
ssYou will notice these same char
acteristics in the figure of the fash
ionably dressed woman. The slender
ness of her arms is particularly evil
dent, though this is defect for which
there does not seem to be any apparent
reason. It is conceded that the meas
urement of the upper part of the arm
ought to equal that of the neck. But
this is far from being the case with
the modern woman. Where you see
the arms large and we'll developed
it is apt to be upon the type that Is
overdeveloped in other directions. In
modern life this is the attribute Of
the woman who is gross. instead of be-
ing associated with slenderly built
hips, as in the Venus de Medici.
"Another thing that impresses you
about the woman of today is that she
is .heady.' Her head is too large for
her body You will find In the meas
urements of the Medici and other
ideal figures that the whole height is
eight times the length of the head
the figure, in other words, is eight
heads high. In the measure
ments of the average mod
ern woman the proportion
of the head is one-sixth and half
If the effect of the present style of
hat and of hair dressing is taken into
consideration, it of course raises the
proportion. This effect is strength.
ened by the fact that she Is usually
underheight, owing to disproportion
ate shortness of the legs. On this ac
count the half line of the figure Is at
much higher point than formerly
A difficulty which artists meet with
also in working from life Is the ab
sence of curved lines in the legs In
stead, a remarkable straightness VI
line seems to be the rule.
Bust Development Faulty.
The profile view of the moderr
figure is also faulty. Either the bus
is undeveloped, or. if it is developed
enough, it gives the impression of be
ing too much emphasized in it's rela
ton to the rest of the chest Tht
chest has the appearance of being hol
low above it, and the bust appears t,
be heavy. instead of expressing it
self in a line with the rest Of the fig
ure"
Mr. Clarkson is not the only artis
who, if he expressed his frank opin
lon, would deal an equally strong blow
to shatter the ideal of herself whic1
the world of her admirers has raise,
up for the American girl 1t is be
lleved to be shared by the most prom
lnent OF the American artists. It Is al
SO the first criticism which visitor
from foreign shores make of our we
men. When the great Fronoh .xHet