Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-10-29
THE NORTH WINDOW
BY Leila MecLin.

that lot of hard work goes into the
making let him read Janet Scudder s
delightful autobiography. Modelling
My Life" which has lately come from
the press of one Of our leading pub
fishers. 1t Is the story. very simply
told. OF the struggles of a young girl
born and brought up in one Of our
Midwestern cities, to find adequate
artistic Observation-Disclosures which
eventually were crowned with sue
cess; the story OF a courageous, de-
termined woman, who loved life with
the intensity of the born artist, and
found Joy all along the hard, rough
way. Better than anything else, this
story sets forth the life and aspira-
tons Of an artist, and it is Of peculiar
interest to us today because it is the
life of one still living, with whose
work the majority are familiar.
X X r
Apparently in Janet Scudder the
love Of beauty and the urge to arts
tic expression were Unborn. At the
her grandmother with her hands full
Of flowers to ask, How did they ever
get these beautiful colors?" Being told
that colors were given flowers by God,
she gasped, HE painted them-how?'
And when her grandmother said,
"Why do you ask. child?" her reply
was, Because / want to paint some
Just like them-I've got to; must.
The creative instinct was born at that
moment II knew" she says, that
T had to make something beautiful.
and ! realize now that from that day
1 have been working steadily and
enthusiastical never admitting dis
coura cement and never acknoWledg-
ing that 1t was a struggle, TO give
back in some form the joy the color
Of those flowers gave me-" Referring
to the habit of the poets and writer's
to call this desire to create something
beautiful 1.-The divine fire.. she con
tinues: "Divine fire-perhaps 1t Is
that. Surely it is divine In the Joy
it gives"
Janet Scudder's first adventure In
art was in partnership with girl
friend, Caroline Pebble. who. II we
are not mistaken, later also became
a sculptor. A county fair was to be
held and certain cash prizes were
offered for art work-Sl5 for the best
crayon portrait of mother ana cnliu,
$40 for a water color Of flowers, 50
for a landscape, 81. so for hammered
brass tray. etc. These young adVen'
turers determined to win all or these
prizes, and set to work diligently 10
master the several arts. all In
month. They told no one, but they
achieved their aim. When the fair
opened they not only found their
modest efforts on view, surrounded
nv an extensive collection OF glass
lars, homemade preserves and oeiiies'
but that each one had won a oiue
ribbon. 81 have never experienced
a thrill like that" she says. II never
SHALL couldn't-things like tha'
only come once In a lifetime. Ever,
when saw my Frog touhlain
placed In the Metropolitan Museum
in New York and my boy WIN
Fish" in the Luxembourg Museum IN
Paris. did not have nearly the sahie
sensation of achievement.
Because of her evident talent, Janet
Scudder was sent by her father at
the age of Is to the Cincinnati ART
Academy to study. 1t was great ao-
venture It meant, she knew. priEa,
ton and sacrifice at home; 1t speiied
opportunity to her, and when the
principal asked her what she wanted
to study-which of all the branches
Of art that were taught In the acao,
envy she intended to master-sne salo
she would like to study them all. For
tunately for her, the principal was
wise enough to advise that she should
begin by entering the drawing class;
IT have always been very thanKIui
that 7 did" she says. "a sculptor
must know how to draw, even II moo
ern painters think II unnecessary.
Several years later. when she went
70 work in MacMonnies' studio in
Paris. the first thing that he said to
her was. You must draw, draw,
draw. draw, all the time-aN day, all
night, until you know you can ara"
to the very best of your ability.
From Cincinnati, after her fathers
death, she went to Chicago, where she
lived with q brother, helped with the
Homework and earned her living as
woodcarver until the Wooocarwers
Union obliged her to stop. Then.
when things were darkest, she found
her way to dorado Taft's studio, was
admitted as a helper, and came into
the genial, inspiring atmosphere which
has cheered many another young, as
piring sculptor on his or her way.
This was Just before the days OF the
World Fair, when that great WHITE
CITY rose up on the shores OF Lake
Michigan, destined to exert SO power
full an influence on the development
of art in the United States. dorado
Taft was put in charge or a large
amount of the sculptural work being
produced. Janet Scudder was then
one of his so-called white rabbits" a
group of young woman assistants.
many of whom have since won laurels
Tor themselves.
Here destiny again stepped forward.
One day, passing before what was
later to be the court of honor, Janet
Scudder saw a number of men placing
a plaster boat in the center OF large
basin. The lines Of the boat caught
her attention. "It had the grace and
sweep of a gesture" she says, "the
gesture of a master of line" This
was MacMonnies' great fountain
group, which, alas. has not yet been
put in permanent form! That day
would study with MacMonnies; that he
was to be her master. Going to Paris.
she finally succeeded In getting Mr..
MacMonnies to take her into his
studio. When she did she could hard
ly believe her good fortune. You can
imagine" she says. that I went away
with a whole cageful of birds singing
in my heart that day, and they kept
on singing all through the night and
trt" the next morning" This was
only tive beginning, not the end, how
ever. ar hard work.
A similar thrill came when Stanford
White. then at the zenith Of his sue
cess. bought her Frog Fountain" that
merry work in sculpture which was
done early in her career. when she
found herself" and determined that
henoeforth this was her mission-the
creating Of lovely little figures in
bronze, spiritually akin to those pro-
duced by the great sculptors Of the
Italian Renaissance. But even then
difficulties were not at an end-diffi-
culties never are at an end for the
a.4i.4 hut +hnt La balf tho srar,a I'M