The Columbus dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 19??-1922, 1921-05-25

tlNHlooni ana tue cabutl stranger
would never guess from the frivolous
repartee and engaging manner Of its
guests that serious business was being
transacted. Yet 1t Is at these teas
that many New York artists find their
various types OF models.
On the third floor of its large, old
fashioned home, the club maintains a
costume department, which contains
costumes of every period and national
ity. These are often rented at a nom
/ inal fee with the model For instance,
while the reporter was visiting the
club the other day a wealthy artist,
who lives in suburb of New York,
came in and told the secretary he was
In search of Dutch type and Dutch
costume of the kind worn by a certain
group of peasants living on an island
in the Zuyder Zee. The artist was told
to go up to the clubroom and make
himself at home, while the secretary
found him a model. In q remark
ably short time, a flaxen-haired girl,
with broad cheek bones and a robust
figure came in the front door in an
swer to the secTetary's telephone sum
mons, and was rushed up to the third
floor to be fitted for the peasant cos
tune. The same afternoon she was
out at the artists suburban studio.
ready to pose.
Once, every February, the club has
a models review, which is considered
one of the most important events in
artistic circles. To this review all
of the known artists in the city are
invited. The clubroom is turned into
a small auditorium, with rows of
chairs to accommodate a larged-szed
artist audience, while in the center
of the room is an elevated platform
for the exhibition of the models.
The girls appear in the most beau
tiful costumes that the costume de-
partment is capable of turning out
costumes representing everything
from the early Greek and the Italian
renaissance periods to the latest frock
and chapeau coming from the Paris
maisons BY reviewing these models,
the artist often gets the inspiration
of his life, so we are told, while the
model gets well paid job.
Fashions in Models.
Not all of the models in greatest
demand are beautiful, but all Of them
are distinctive. Types are what the
artist wants-not necessarily pretty
faces. This year girls of the Spanish
type are much in demand. While last
year there seemed to be a general
preference for French girls. A few
of the models, who are kept very busy
posing for mural decorations and char
acter poses, are middle aged ANA gray
haired, but as a rule the life Of the
average model is only toosgh0rt- Youth,
with its shimmering skin and firm, |
supple muscles, is the chief require
ment in the posing profession 80 when |
a model enters her thirties, she also |
begins to look for another kind of |
employment. Sometimes she herself |
tries poster or commercial art de-
signing, and others raturnfrom whence
they came-the theatrical profession |
or the business office.
knowing how tragically short IS the
career of the poser, the Art Work
ers' club endeavorg to persuade its
members to study for another pro-
fession while doing their regular work.
According to the secretary most of /
them are now following this advice, !
which keeps them extremely busy and |
certainly unable to indulge "a AL the
mad gayety with which, the public
credits them. "Of course" sic ex-
planned casually, "the majority Of
them marry-either the artists they
pose for, or milliOnaires. Hts no trou,
BILE for an art model to marry The
mere fact that she is an art model has
a tremendous fascination for men,"
Not Always So Popular
"Then it seems to us that the art
model does not require much help"
said we. $50 why did you start this
club for her? She seems to be the last
kind of female I'm need of charity"
Then the secretary explained that |
popular There was a time years ago |
when no one paid much attention to /
them. When Miss Helen Sargent, now
Mrs. Ripley Hitchcock and founder OF /
the club, was studying at the Art /
Students league some years ago, for /
example such was the case. One af-
ternoon a young girl posing for her
class tainted from fatigue, and ac- |
cording to Mrs. Hitchcock, 1t was ten
minutes before anybody went TO her |
assistance. "Oh, it's only a model"
they said indfferently. "They are
always doing that"
1t was then that Mrs. Hitchcock de-
termned that things should change, 1
that an organized club should be start
ed for their benefit, and that the time /
should come when artists models
would be looked upon as human beings
and treated seriously.