The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-01
WOMEN PAINTERS or PARIS
MANY or rHEM-FEVE IN FINE
LEGION or HON0R.

one Of IrAem Gets tae Honor Of . ''Retro-
sDeCtlys'' just a Century After AAEeiscA
k~aurrmlaAn's Dcath-studios Where
they LsprR-EHtsnsIve ExhibIs0rs-
ona OF tho features Of the autumn Salon
In Paris was the exhibition In a room ~
themselves OF 100 pictures by Nine. Berthe
Morizot, s~ister-in-law OF Qua Manet-
The display consisted Of corners on gardens
and orcharda. stretches Of Norman cOast.
and PORTRAITS Of women and giTis done IN
paarly grays lie up with faint tinses Oh
carmine
IL was the first time that a woman had
held the honor OF a RETROSPECTIVE In Paris
IL was regarded AZ showing the place thRs
women have achieved in n little more h
a century in the history Of art. Hhis years
il lust a century since the death Of AngSlic0
Kaufrmann, the first woman painter 60
achieve great reputation
Al the time Of her death Mime. Vtgee-
Lebrun was painting the portraits th9S
have made her known all over the world.
Then came a long interval until the rise I
Rosa Bonheur in the COS. But the latter
half OF the nineteenth century saw a great
change.
Women took up painting n even
sculpture in great numbers. These who de-
vote their lives to art ere becoming more
numerous every year and at present there
are five women who have been decorated
with the Legion Of Honor.
Rosa Bonheur, the great animal painter.
was the first wcma an artist TO enjoy that
distinction. The Empress Eugene urged
that IL be conferred on her when she and
NAPOLEON III. visited the painter In tho
| chateau at BY. Napoleon refused to grant
IL. The Empress bided h6r tine. The Eext
year. 1855. the Emperor made n trip 10
Algeria, leaving the Empress regent. ShO
made a hurried trip to By and conferred
the honor she desired.
Rosa Bonheur was distinctly not feminine,
but her success stimulated tho movement
of women toward artistic work. She
received o.. 900 for her Horse Fair" tho
earliest Of her workslapd she left a fortune
of several million fra c..
Tha five women who are decorated with
the Legion OF ono to-day are Nine. Made
leine Lemairc, who Is described as the Rosa
Ronheur OF Flowers; Nine. Louise Abbema,
Nine. Virginie DemOnt-BretOn. painter Of
marine pieces: Miss Mary Cassatt. an Ameri-
can girl domiciled in France who Is famous
for the PICTURES Of child life, and Mile.
Dufau. FAINTER Of scenes and incidents In
the Basque IrOvinces.
Ihere are several htlulOS 9FeClblIY re-
| served for the instruction NJ Urls. The
Girls, wearing Mother Hubbards over their
street dress, sketch and paint industriously
from the living moiel.
The suDreme authority OF the studio II
the mGssieye. or mace bearer as she IL called
in students slang. She is one OF the girls
elected by her comrades. She runs the
finances, deals with tho models. settles
disputesN and exercises sue discipline AS
may be necessary generally as little az
possible.
She is generally experienced enough TO
give elementary criticism and help hints,
The professor only appears twice q week.
He visits each easel and criticises. usually
without mercy or regard for the sex Of biz
victims.
Many OF the puriIs are foreigners, AmerI-
cans, Germans, Russians. It was in the
Academic Julian that Marie Bashkirtsef
painted her humorous piece -Le Meeting
which won for her a medal Of honor.
Young women are now admitted 20 the
regular Glasses OF the Eoole des Beaux Arts.
with the male students. They paint to-
gether from the same models and are IN
competition FOR the great prizes. including
the Prix de Rome, but no woman has as yet
captured any Of the onors Of the school.
There are ALSO special courses for women
in other pubic institutions.
Every year more than 300 women have
pictures hung In the Salon exhibitions.
There are besides two nua exhibitions
exclusively for
At one OF these. the Societ6 des Femmes
Artistes. the number Of exhibitors Ia limited
to forty each year. The other is the Union
des Femmes Peintres ct Sculpteurs; its
catalogue contains more than a thousand
numbers in each exhibition.