Evening star., 1914-04-25
MADE HER LIFE WORK
PAINTING OF FLOWERS
National Museum Shows Collection
of Water Colors by
Adelia Gates.
Travelled to Far Parts of World in
Order to Find Subjects
for Brush.

y
painted by the later traveller and artist
Miss Adelia Gates. and presented to the
Smithsonian Institution by her niece,
Miss Eleanor Lewis of Yellow Springs
Ohio. is now exhibited in the new build
ing Of the National Museum.
The subjects treated embrace a wide
range OF foreign and domestic plants
painted by the artist in this country and
abroad. Some additions have recently
been made to the original deposit by the
donor. who has endeavored TO bring to-
sether all the flower studies made by
Miss Gates, many of which were widely
distributed by her prior to her DEATH
With these additions the collection now
numbers some 600 paintings.
During the latter part of her life Miss
Gates became a great traveller and an
artist of no mean ability, and. being
student of nature. 1t became her pleasure
to record and preserve what appealed to
her interest
Had an Exceptional Career.
Her career was an exceptional one. and
the chronicle of her travels and adven-
lures, by her friend, Miss Adela +. Or
pen. reads like a romance. She was born
in a log house on a farm in New York
state and attended a country school of
which she herself became the teacher at
the age. of sixteen. Desiring a better ed
ucation than the village offered, she sue
ceeded, by working in a cotton mill at
Lowell and by teaching school. in accu-
mulating sufficient funds to enable her to
attend a college in Antioch. Ohio. for
two years. A little later she attached
herself to a small family in Kansas, and
as companion of the daughter made her
FIRST trip to Europe in. 1851 Together
they visited Ireland. France, Germany
and Italy. where studies in language, mu-
sic and art were pursued.
When fifty years old Miss Gates under
took The stady of flower painting. being
at that time Interpreter for a friend who
was study ing in Geneva under the noted
fioweI ,artist. Nine. vouga. >
The school in which she studied gave
special @attention to the delicate treat
ment. Of flowers, 1t advocated the free
use of.body color. thus differing from the
Older system of transparent pigments and
effects. :4ss
The paper used is dark colored rather
than white which sets off the flowers:
better: causing them to stand out from
luster. and does not require the use Of
shading or shadows. Only the Opaque
solid water gcolors are used much after
the fashion of oil painting. rs
Painted. Direct From Nature.
Miss Gates seldom si1etched cher sub
jects with pencil. but outlined them. with
the eoler Actually observed, drawing
directly from nature with her brush, a
method which gave true value to- her
reproductions. and eliminated the shard
lines seen in paintings of the more pop
ular school.
Betwesh 1880 and 1886 Miss Gates spent
her time in journeying over America
from ocean to ocean. adding many
sketches to her collection. and teaching
her art IN various localities whereby
her reputation as a painter of flowers
was much strengthened. In 1885 she re-
turned to Europe and soon afterward
began<Er aeries Of travels, which EXTEND
ed into the Algerian desert. Egypt and
Palestine, and as far north as Iceland.
The artist-explorer's ability to paint
proved both a benefit and protection in
the Sahara desert. where the natives re-
garded her associations with flowers
and herbs as Indicative Of curative
powers, and treated her as a medicine
woman. T.
The paintings now exhibited in the
National Museum constitute the life
work OF this indefatigable and fearless
woman, who when more than sixty
years old. travelled to the far corners of
the earth to paint and preserve rare
flower specimens for posterity.