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Bilinska, Anna.Received the small gold medal at Berlin in 1891, and won distinguished recognition at other international exhibitions in Berlin and Munich by her portraits and figure studies. She was born in Warsaw in 1858, and died there in 1893. She studied in Paris, where she quickly became a favorite painter of aristocratic Russians and Poles. Her pictures are strong and of brilliant technique.
Biondi, Nicola.Born at Capua, 1866. This promising young Italian painter was a pupil of the Institute of Fine Arts in Naples. One of her pictures, called "Una partita," was exhibited at Naples and attracted much attention. It was purchased by Duke Martini. Another, "Ultima Prova," was exhibited in Rome and favorably noticed.
Blau, Tina.Honorable mention in Paris, 1883, for her"Spring in the Prater." Her "Land Party" is in the possession of the Emperor of Austria, and "In Spring-time" belongs to the Prince Regent of Bavaria. This talented landscape painter was born in Vienna, 1847. She was a pupil of Schäffer in Vienna, and of W. Lindenschmitt in Munich. After travelling in Austria, Holland, and Italy, she followed her predilection for landscape, and chose her themes in great part from those countries. In 1884 she married Heinrich Lang, painter of battle scenes (who died in 1891), and she now works alternately in Munich and Vienna. In 1890 she gave an exhibition of her pictures in Munich; they were thought to show great vigor of composition and color and much delicacy of artistic perception. Her foreign scenes, especially, are characterized by unusual local truth and color. Among her best works are "Studies from the Prater in Vienna," "Canal at Amsterdam," "Harvest Day in Holland," "The Arch of Titus in Rome," "Street in Venice," and "Late Summer."
Bloch, Mme. Elisa.Honorable mention, 1894. Officer of public instruction, Commander of the Order of the Liberator; Chevalier of the Order of the Dragon of Annam. Born at Breslau, Silesia, 1848. Pupil of Chapu. She first exhibited at the Salon of 1878, a medallion portrait of M. Bloch; this was followed by "Hope," the "Golden Age," "Virginius Sacrificing his Daughter," "Moses Receiving the Tables of the Law," etc. Mme. Bloch has made numerous portrait busts, among them being the kings of Spain and Portugal, Buffalo Bill, C. Flammarion, etc.
At the Salon of the Artistes Français, 1903, Mme. Bloch exhibited a "Portrait of M. Frédéric Passy, Member of the Institute."
Boccardo, Lina Zerbinah.Rome.
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Boemm, Ritta.A Hungarian artist. Has been much talked of in Dresden. She certainly possesses distinguished talents, and is easily in the front rank of Dresden women artists. Her gouache pictures dealing with Hungarian subjects, a "Village Street," a "Peasant Farm," a "Churchyard," exhibited at Dresden in 1892, were well drawn and full of sentiment, but lacking in color sense and power. She works unevenly and seems pleased when she succeeds in setting a scene cleverly. She paints portraits also, mostly in pastel, which are spirited, but not especially good likenesses. What she can do in the way of color may be seen in her "Village Street in Winter," a picture of moderate size, in which the light is exquisite; unfortunately most of her painting is less admirable than this.
Boissonnas, Mme. Caroline Sordet.Honorable mention at the Salon of Lyons, 1897. Member of the Exposition Permanente Amis des Beaux-Arts, Geneva. Born in Geneva. Pupil of the School of Fine Arts, Geneva, under Prof. F. Gillet and M. E. Ravel.
This artist paints portraits principally. She has been successful, and her pictures are in Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey, Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Dresden, Naples, etc.
Bompiani-Battaglia, Clelia.Born in Rome, 1847.Pupil of her father, Roberto Bompiani, and of the professors in the Academy of St. Luke. The following pictures in water-colors have established her reputation as an artist: "Confidential Communication," 1885; the "Fortune-Teller," 1887; "A Public Copyist," 1888; and "The Wooing," 1888.
Bonheur, Juliette—Mme. Peyrol.Born at Paris. Sister of Rosa Bonheur, and a pupil of her father. Among her pictures are "A Flock of Geese," "A Flock of Sheep Lying Down," and kindred subjects. The last-named work was much remarked at the Salon of 1875. In 1878 she exhibited "The Pool" and "The Mother's Kiss."
Mme. Peyrol was associated with her famous sister in the conduct of the Free School of Design, founded by Rosa Bonheur in 1849.
Bonheur, Marie Rosalie.1822-99. Member of Antwerp Institute, 1868. Salon medals, 1845, 1848, 1855, 1867; Legion of Honor, 1865; Leopold Cross, 1880; Commander's Cross, Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic, 1880. Born in Bordeaux. She was taught drawing by her father, who, perceiving that she had unusual talent, permitted her to give up dressmaking, to which, much against her will, she had been apprenticed. From 1855 her fame was established; she was greatly appreciated, and her works competed for in England and the United States, as well as in European countries.
Her chief merit is the actual truthfulness with which she represented animals. Her skies might be bettered in some cases—the atmosphere of her pictures was sometimes open to question—but her animals were anatomically perfect and handled with such virility as few men have excelled or even equalled. Her position as an artist is so established that no quoted opinions are needed when speaking of her—she was one of the most famous women of her century.
Her home at By was near Fontainebleau, where she lived quietly, and for some years held gratuitous classes for drawing. She left, at her death, a collection of pictures, studies, etchings, etc., which were sold by auction in Paris soon after.
Her "Ploughing in the Nivernais," 1848, is in the Luxembourg Gallery; "The Horse Fair," 1853, is seen in the National Gallery, London, in a replica, the original being in the United States, purchased by the late A. T. Stewart. Her "Hay Harvest in the Auvergne," 1855, is one of her most important works. After 1867 Mlle. Bonheur did not exhibit at the Salon until 1899, a few weeks before her death.
One must pay a tribute to this artist as a good and generous woman. She founded the Free School of Design for Girls, and in 1849 took the direction of it and devoted much of her valuable time to its interests. How valuable an hour was to her we may understand when we remember that Hamerton says: "I have seen work of hers which, according to the price given, must have paid her a hundred pounds for each day's labor."
The story of her life is of great interest, and can be but slightly sketched here.
She was afoot betimes in the morning, and often walked ten or twelve miles and worked hard all day. The difficulty of reaching her models proved such a hindrance to her that she conceived the idea of visiting the abattoirs, where she could see animals living and dead and study their anatomy.
It is not easy to imagine all the difficulties she encountered in doing this—the many repulsive features of such places—while the company of drovers and butchers made one of the disagreeables of her pursuits. Her love for the animals, too, made it doubly hard for her to see them in the death agony and listen to their pitiful cries for freedom.
In all this experience, however, she met no rude or unkind treatment. Her drawings won the admiration of the men who watched her make them and they treated her with respect. She pursued her studies in the same manner in the stables of the Veterinary School at Alfort and in the Jardin des Plantes.
At other times she studied in the country the quiet grazing herds, and, though often mistaken for a boy on account of the dress she wore, she inspired only admiration for her simplicity and frankness of manner, while the graziers and horse-dealers respectfully regarded her and wondered at her skill in picturing their favorite animals. Some very amusing stories might be told of her comical embarrassments in her country rambles, when she was determined to preserve her disguise and the pretty girls were equally determined to make love to her!
Aside from all this laborious study of living animals, she obtained portions of dead creatures for dissection; also moulds, casts, and illustrated anatomical books; and,in short, she left no means untried by which she could perfect herself in the specialty she had chosen. Her devotion to study and to the practice of her art was untiring, and only the most engrossing interest in it and an indomitable perseverance, supplemented and supported by a physically and morally healthful organization, could have sustained the nervous strain of her life from the day when she was first allowed to follow her vocation to the time when she placed herself in the front rank of animal painters.
A most charming picture is drawn of the life of the Bonheur family in the years when Rosa was making her progressive steps. They lived in an humble house in the Rue Rumfort, the father, Auguste, Isidore, and Rosa all working in the same studio. She had many birds and a pet sheep. As the apartment of the Bonheurs was on the sixth floor, this sheep lived on the leads, and from time to time Isidore bore him on his shoulders down all the stairs to the neighboring square, where the animal could browse on the real grass, and afterward be carried back by one of the devoted brothers of his mistress. They were very poor, but they were equally happy. At evening Rosa made small models or illustrations for books or albums, which the dealers readily bought, and by this means she added to the family store for needs or pleasures.
In 1841, when Rosa was nineteen years old, she first experienced the pleasures, doubts, and fears attendant upon a public exhibition of one's work. Two small pictures, called "Goats and Sheep" and "Two Rabbits," were hung at the Salon and were praised by critics and connoisseurs. The next year she sent three others, "Animals in a Pasture," "A Cow Lying in a Meadow," and "A Horse for Sale." She continued to send pictures to the Salon and to some exhibitions in other cities, and received several bronze and silver medals.
In 1845 she sent twelve works to the Salon, accompanied by those of her father and her brother Auguste, who was admitted that year for the first time. In 1848 Isidore was added to the list, exhibiting a picture and a group in marble, both representing "A Combat between a Lioness and an African Horseman." And, finally, the family contributions were completed when Juliette, now Madame Peyrol, added her pictures, and the works of the five artists were seen in the same Exhibition.
In 1849 Rosa Bonheur's "Cantal Oxen" was awarded the gold medal, and was followed by "Ploughing in the Nivernais," so well known the world over by engravings and photographs. When the medal was assigned her, Horace Vernet proclaimed her triumph to a brilliant assemblage, and also presented to her a magnificent vase of Sèvres porcelain, in the name of the French Government. This placed her in the first rank of living artists, and the triumph was of double value to her on account of the happiness it afforded her father, to see this, his oldest child, of whose future he had often despaired, taking so eminent a place in the artistic world.
This year of success was also a year of sorrow, for before its end the old Raymond had died. He had been for some time the director of the Government School of Design for Girls, and, being freed from pecuniary anxiety,he had worked with new courage and hope. After her father's death Rosa Bonheur exhibited nothing for two years, but in 1853 she brought out her "Horse Fair," which added to her fame.
She was perfectly at home in the mountains, and spent much time in the huts of charcoal burners, huntsmen, or woodcutters, contented with the food they could give her and happy in her study. Thus she made her sketches for "Morning in the Highlands," "The Denizens of the Mountains," etc. She once lived six weeks with her party on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, where they saw no one save muleteers going and coming, with their long lines of loaded mules. Their only food was frogs' legs, which they prepared themselves, and the black bread and curdled milk which the country afforded. At evening the muleteers would amuse the strangers by dancing the national dances, and then repose in picturesque groups just suited to artistic sketching. In Scotland and in Switzerland, as well as in various portions of her own country, she had similar experiences, and her "Hay-Making in Auvergne" proves that she was familiar with the more usual phases of country life. At the Knowles sale in London, in 1865, her picture of "Spanish Muleteers Crossing the Pyrenees," one of the results of the above sojourn in these mountains, sold for two thousand guineas, about ten thousand dollars. I believe that, in spite of the large sums of money that she received, her habitual generosity and indifference to wealth prevented her amassing a large fortune, but her fame as an artist and her womanly virtues brought the rewards which she valued above anything that wealth could bestow—such rewards as will endure through centuries and surround the name of Rosa Bonheur with glory, rewards which she untiringly labored to attain.
Bonsall, Elizabeth F.First Toppan prize, and Mary Smith prize twice, at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Member of Plastic Club, Philadelphia. Born at Philadelphia. Studied at the above-named Academy and in Paris; also at the Drexel Institute, Philadelphia, under Eakins, Courtois, Collin, and Howard Pyle.
Miss Bonsall is well known for her pictures of cats. She illustrated the "Fireside Sphinx," by Agnes Repplier. Her picture of "Hot Milk" is in the Pennsylvania Academy; her "Suspense," in a private gallery in New York.
An interesting chapter in Miss Winslow's book, "Concerning Cats," is called "Concerning Cat Artists," in which she writes: "Elizabeth Bonsall is a young American artist who has exhibited some good cat pictures, and whose work promises to make her famous some day if she does not 'weary in well-doing.'"
Miss Bonsall has prepared a "Cat Calendar" and a "Child's Book about Cats," which were promised to appear in the autumn of 1903.
Bonsall, Mary M.First Toppan prize at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Member of the Plastic Club, Philadelphia. Studied at above academy under Vonnoh, De Camp, William Chase, and Cecilia Beaux.
This artist paints portraits, which are in private hands.
Bonte, Paula.Born in Magdeburg, 1840, and from 1862 to 1864 was a pupil of Pape in Berlin. She travelledand studied in Northern Italy and Switzerland, and from these regions, as well as from Northern Germany, took her subjects. She has exhibited pictures at various exhibitions, and among her best works should be mentioned: "The Beach at Clovelly in Devonshire," "From the Bernese Oberland," "The Riemenstalden Valley," etc.
Boott, Elizabeth.Born in Cambridge. Miss Boott was one of those pupils of William M. Hunt to whom he imparted a wonderful artistic enthusiasm, energy, and devotion. After studying in Boston she studied in Paris under Duveneck—whom she afterward married—and under Couture. Her subjects were genre, still-life, and flowers, and were well considered. Among her genre pictures are "An Old Man Reading," an "Old Roman Peasant," and a "Girl with a Cat." When in Italy she painted a number of portraits, which were successful. Miss Brewster, who lived in Rome, was an excellent critic, and she wrote: "I must say a few words about a studio I have lately visited—Miss Boott's. I saw there three very fine portraits, remarkable for strength and character, as well as rich coloring: one of Mr. Boott, one of Bishop Say, and the third of T. Adolphus Trollope, the well-known writer and brother of the novelist, Anthony Trollope. All are good likenesses and are painted with vigor and skill, but the one of Mr. Trollope is especially clever. Trollope's head and face, though a good study, are not easy to paint, but Miss Boott has succeeded to perfection. His head and beard are very fine. The face in nature, but for the melancholy, kindly look about the eyes and mouth, would be stern; Miss Boott has caughtthis expression and yet retained all the firm character of the countenance. It is remarkable that an artist who paints male heads with such a vigorous character should also give to flowers softness, transparency, and grace. Nothing can be more lovely than Miss Boott's flower studies. She has some delicious poppies among wheat, lilies, thistles. She gets a transparency into these works that is not facile in oil. A bunch of roses in a vase was as tender and round and soft-colored as in nature. Among all the many studios of Rome I do not know a more attractive one than Miss Boott's."
Bortolan, Rosa.Born at Treviso. She was placed in the Academy at Venice by her family, where she had the benefit of such masters as Grigoletti, Lipparini, Schiavoni, and Zandomeneghi. She early showed much originality, and after making thorough preliminary studies she began to follow her own ideas. She was of a mystical and contemplative turn of mind, and a great proportion of her work has been of a religious nature. Her pictures began to attract attention about 1847, and she had many commissions for altar-pieces and similar work. The church of Valdobbiadene, at Venice, contains "San Venanziano Fortunatus, Bishop." "Saint Louis" was painted as a commission of Brandolin da Pieve; "Comte Justinian Replying to Bonaparte in Treviso" was a subscription picture presented to Signor Zoccoletto. Portraits of the Countess Canossa-Portalupi and her son, of Luigia Codemo, and of Luigi Giacomelli are thought to possess great merit; while those of Dr. Pasquali (in the Picture Gallery at Treviso) and Michelangelo Codemo have beenjudged superior to those of Rosalba Carriera and Angelica Kauffmann. Her sacred pictures, strong and good in color, are full of a mystical and spiritual beauty. Her drawing is admirable and her treatment of detail highly finished.
Borzino, Leopoldina.Milanese water-color painter. Has shown excellent genre pictures at various exhibitions. "The Holiday" and the "Return from Mass" were both exhibited and sold at Rome in 1883; "The Way to Calvary" was seen at Venice in 1887. "The Rosary," "Anguish," and "Going to the Fountain" are all distinguished by good color as well as by grace and originality of composition.
Bouguereau, Mme. Elizabeth Jane.SeeGardner.
Boulanger, Mme. Marie Elizabeth.Medals at the Paris Salon in 1836 and 1839. Born in Paris, 1810. Her family name was Blavot, and after the death of M. Boulanger she married M. Cavé, director of the Academy of the Beaux-Arts. Her picture of "The Virgin in Tears" is in the Museum of Rouen; and "The Children's Tournament," a triptych, was purchased by the Government.
Bourrillon-Tournay, Mme. Jeanne.Medal of the second class at Exposition Universelle at Lyons; silver medal at Versailles; honorable mention at Paris Salon, 1896; the two prizes of the Union des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs—les Palmes Académique, 1895; the Rosette of an Officer of the Public Instruction in 1902. Member of the Société des Artistes Français, of the Union des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs, and of the Associationde Baron Taylor. Born at Paris, 1870. Pupil of Ferdinand Humbert and G. C. Saintpierre.
This artist paints portraits, and among them are those of a "Young Girl," which belongs to the general Council of the Seine; one of the Senator Théophile Roussel, of the Institute, and a portrait of an "Aged Lady," both purchased by the Government; one of M. Auguste Boyer, councillor of the Court of Cassation, and many others.
At the Salon des Artistes Français, 1902, Mme. Bourrillon-Tournay exhibited two portraits, one being that of her mother; in 1903, that of M. Boyer and one of Mme. B.
Bowen, Lota.Member of Society of Women Artists, London, the Tempera Society, and the "91" Art Club. Born at Armley, Yorkshire. Studied in Ludovici's studio, London; later in Rome under Santoro, and in the night classes of the Circolo Artistico.
Her pictures are principally landscapes, and are chiefly in private collections in England. Among the most important are "On the Venetian Lagoons," "Old Stone Pines, Lido, Venice," "Evening on Lake Lugano," "Evening Glow on the Dolomites," "The Old Bird Fancier," "Moonrise on Crowborough, Sussex." All these have been exhibited at the Academy.
"Miss Lota Bowen constantly receives most favorable notices of her works in magazines and journals. She is devotedly fond of her art, and has sought subjects for her brush in many European byways, as well as in North Africa, Turkey, and Montenegro. She paints portraits and figure subjects; has a broad, swinging brush andgreat love of 'tone.' Miss Bowen has recently built a studio, in Kensington, after her own design. She is in London from Christmas time to August, when she makes an annual journey for sketching."
Bozzino, Candida Luigia.Silver medal at Piacenza. Born at Piacenza, 1853. Pupil of her father. Her portrait of Alessandro Manzoni was her prize picture. The "Madonna of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" was painted on a commission from the Bishop of Piacenza, who presented it to Pope Pius IX.; after being exhibited at the Vatican, it was sent to the Bishop of Jesi, for the church of Castelplanio. Other celebrated works of hers are a "Holy Family," the "Madonna of Lourdes," and several copies of the "Viâ Crucis," by Viganoni.
In 1881 this artist entered the Ursuline Convent at Piacenza, where she continues to paint religious pictures.
Bracken, Julia M.First prize for sculpture, Chicago, 1898; appointed on staff of sculptors for the St. Louis Exposition. Member of Arts Club, Western Society of Artists, Municipal Art League, and Krayle Workshop, Chicago. Born at Apple River, Ill., 1871. Pupil of Chicago Art Institute. Acted as assistant to Lorado Taft, 1887-92. Was much occupied with the decorations for the Columbian Exposition, and executed on an independent commission the statue of "Illinois Welcoming the Nations." There are to be five portrait statues placed in front of the Educational Building at St. Louis, each to be executed by a well-known artist. One of these is to be the work of Miss Bracken, who is the only woman among them. Miss Bracken has modelled an heroic portrait statue of President Monroe; beside the figure is a globe, on which he points out the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
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Bracquemond, Mme. Marie.Pupil of Ingres. A portrait painter, also painter of genre subjects. At the Salon of 1875 she exhibited "The Reading"; in 1874 "Marguerite." She has been much occupied in the decoration of the Haviland faience, a branch of these works, at Auteuil, being at one time in charge of her husband, Félix Bracquemond. In 1872 M. Bracquemond was esteemed the first ceramic artist in France. An eminent French critic said of M. and Mme. Bracquemond: "You cannot praise too highly these two artists, who are as agreeable and as clever as they are talented and esteemed."
Mme. Bracquemond had the faculty of employing the faience colors so well that she produced a clearness and richness not attained by other artists. The progress made in the Haviland faience in the seventies was very largely due to Mme. Bracquemond, whose pieces were almost always sold from the atelier before being fired, so great was her success.
Brandeis, Antoinetta.Many prizes at the Academy of Venice. Born of Bohemian parents in Miscova, Galitza, 1849. Pupil of Iavurek, of Prague, in the beginning of her studies, but her father dying and her mother marrying again, she was taken to Venice, where she studied in the Academy several years under Grigoletti, Moja, Bresolin, Nani, and Molmenti. Although all her artistic trainingwas received in Italy and she made her first successes there, most of her works have been exhibited in London, under the impression that she was better understood in England.
Annoyed by the commendation of her pictures "as the work of a woman," she signed a number of her canvases Antonio Brandeis. Although she painted religious subjects for churches, her special predilection is for views of Venice, preferably those in which the gondola appears. She has studied these in their every detail. "Il canale Traghetto de' San Geremia" is in the Museum Rivoltella at Trieste. This and "Il canale dell' Abbazia della Misericordia" have been much commended by foreign critics, especially the English and Austrians. Other Venetian pictures are "La Chiese della Salute," "Il canale de' Canalregio," and "La Pescaria."
Breslau, Louisa Catherine.Gold medal at Paris Exposition, 1889; gold medal at Paris Exposition, 1900. Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1901. Member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. A Swiss artist, who made her studies at the Julian Academy under Robert-Fleury.
She has painted many portraits. Her picture "Under the Apple-Tree" is in the Museum at Lausanne; the "Little Girls" or "The Sisters" and the "Child Dreamer"—exhibited at Salon, 1902—are in the Gallery of the Luxembourg; the "Gamins," in the Museum at Carpentras; the "Tea Party," at the Ministry of the Interior, Paris.
At the Salon of 1902 Mlle. Breslau exhibited six pictures, among which were landscapes, two representing September and October at Saint-Cloud; two of fruit and flowers; all of which were admired, while the "Dreamer" was honored with a place in the Luxembourg. In the same Salon she exhibited six pictures in pastel: four portraits, and heads of a gamin and of a little girl. The portrait of Margot is an ideal picture of a happy child, seated at a table, resting her head on her left hand while with the right she turns the leaves of a book. A toy chicken and a doll are on the table beside her. In the Salon of 1903 she exhibited five pictures of flowers and another called the "Child with Long Hair."
I was first interested in this artist by the frequent references to her and her work in the journal of Marie Bashkirtseff. They were fellow-pupils in the Julian Academy. Soon after she began her studies there Marie Bashkirtseff writes: "Breslau has been working at the studio two years, and she is twenty; I am seventeen, but Breslau had taken lessons for a long time before coming here.... How well that Breslau draws!"
"That miserable Breslau has composed a picture, 'Monday Morning, or the Choice of a Model.' Every one belonging to the studio is in it—Julian standing between Amalie and me. It is correctly done, the perspective is good, the likenesses—everything. When one can do a thing like that, one cannot fail to become a great artist. You have guessed it, have you not? I am jealous. That is well, for it will serve as a stimulus to me."
"I am jealous of Breslau. She does not draw at all like a woman."
"I am terrified when I think of the future that awaits Breslau; it fills me with wonder and sadness. In her compositions there is nothing womanish, commonplace, or disproportioned. She will attract attention at the Salon, for, in addition to her treatment of it, the subject itself will not be a common one."
The above prophecy has been generously fulfilled. Mlle. Breslau is indeed a poet in her ability to picture youth and its sweet intimacies, and she does this so easily. With a touch she reveals the grace of one and the affectations of another subject of her brush, and skilfully renders the varying emotions in the faces of her pictures. Pleasure and suffering, the fleeting thought of the child, the agitation of the young girl are all depicted with rare truthfulness.
Brewster, Ada Augusta.
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Brickdale, Miss Eleanor Fortescue.
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Bricci or Brizio, Plautilla.Very little is known of this Roman artist of the seventeenth century, but that little marks her as an unusually gifted woman, since she was a practical architect and a painter of pictures. She was associated with her brother in some architectural works in and near Rome, and was the only woman of her time in this profession.
She is believed to have erected a small palace near the Porta San Pancrazio, unaided by her brother, and is credited with having designed in the Church of San Luigide' Francesi the third chapel on the left aisle, dedicated to St. Louis, and with having also painted the altar-piece in this chapel.
Bridges, Fidelia.Associate of the National Academy of Design in 1878, when but three other women were thus honored. Born in Salem, Massachusetts. Studied with W. T. Richards in Philadelphia, and later in Europe during one year. She exhibited her pictures from 1869 in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Her subjects were landscapes and flowers. In 1871 she first painted in water-colors, which suited many of her pictures better than oils. She was elected a member of the Water-Color Society in 1875. To the Philadelphia Exposition, 1876, she sent a "Kingfisher and Catkins," a "Flock of Snow Birds," and the "Corner of a Rye-Field." Of the last a writer in theArt Journalsaid: "Miss Bridges' 'Edge of a Rye-Field,' with a foreground of roses and weeds, is a close study, and shows that she is as happy in the handling of oil colors as in those mixed with water."
Another critic wrote: "Her works are like little lyric poems, and she dwells with loving touches on each of her buds, 'like blossoms atilt' among the leaves."
Her pictures are in private collections, and are much valued by their owners.
Brooks, Maria.
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Brownscombe, Jennie.Pupil of the National Academy and the Art Students' League, New York, and of Henry Mosler in Paris.
Paints genre subjects, among which are: "Love's Young Dream," "Colonial Minuet," "Sir Roger de Coverly at Carvel Hall," "Battle of Roses," etc.
The works of this artist have been reproduced in engravings and etchings, and are well known in black and white. Her water-colors, too, have been published in photogravure.
Miss Brownscombe exhibits at many American exhibitions and has had her work accepted at the Royal Academy, London.
Browne, Matilda.Honorable mention at Chicago, 1893; Dodge prize at National Academy of Design, 1899; Hallgarten prize, 1901. Born in Newark, New Jersey. Pupil of Miss Kate Greatorex; of Carleton Wiggins, New York; of the Julian Academy, Paris; of H. S. Birbing in Holland, and of Jules Dupré on the coast of France. When a child this artist lived very near Thomas Moran and was allowed to spend much time in his studio, where she learned the use of colors.
She exhibited her first picture at the National Academy of Design when twelve years old, and has been a constant contributor to its exhibitions since that time; also to the exhibitions of the American Water-Color Society.
Her earliest pictures were of flowers, and during several years she had no teacher. At length she decided to study battle painting, and, after a summer under Carleton Wiggins, she went abroad, in 1890, and remained two years, painting in the schools in winter and out of doors in summer. Miss Browne exhibited at the Salon des Beaux-Arts in 1890, and many of her works have beenseen in exhibits in this country. The Dodge prize was awarded to a picture called "The Last Load," and the Hallgarten prize to "Repose," a moonlight scene with cattle. Her pictures are in private collections.
Brown, Mrs. Agnes—Mrs. John Appleton Brown.Born in Newburyport. This artist paints in oils. Her subjects are landscapes, flowers, and still life. She has also painted cats successfully.
I have a winter landscape by Mrs. Brown which is unusually attractive and is often admired. She sends her works to the exhibitions of the Boston Art Club and to some exhibitions in New York.
Browne, Mme. Henriette.Born at Paris; 1829-1901. Pupil of Chaplin. The family name of this artist was Bouteiller, and she married M. Jules de Saux, but as an artist used the name of an ancestress. Her pictures of genre subjects very early attracted attention, especially in 1855, when she sent to the Salon "A Brother of the Christian School," "School for the Poor at Aix," "Mutual Instruction," and "Rabbits." Her works were popular and brought good prices. In 1868 "The Sisters of Charity" sold for £1,320.
In 1878 she exhibited "A Grandmother" and "Convalescence." Her Oriental scenes were much admired. Among these were "A Court in Damascus," "Nubian Dancing Girls," and a "Harem in Constantinople." Mme. Browne was also skilful as an engraver.
T. Chasrel wrote inL'Art: "Her touch without over-minuteness has the delicacy and security of a fine work of the needle. The accent is just without that seekingfor virile energy which too often spoils the most charming qualities. The sentiment is discreet without losing its intensity in order to attract public notice. The painting of Mme. Henriette Browne is at an equal distance from grandeur and insipidity, from power and affectation, and gathers from the just balance of her nature some effects of taste and charm of which a parvenu in art would be incapable."
The late Rev. Charles Kingsley wrote of the picture of the "Sisters of Charity," of the sale of which I have spoken, as follows: "The picture which is the best modern instance of this happy hitting of this golden mean, whereby beauty and homely fact are perfectly combined, is in my eyes Henrietta Browne's picture of the 'Sick Child and the Sisters of Charity.' I know not how better to show that it is easy to be at once beautiful and true, if one only knows how, than by describing that picture. Criticise it, I dare not; for I believe that it will surely be ranked hereafter among the very highest works of modern art. If I find no fault in it, it is because I have none to find; because the first sight of the picture produced in me instantaneous content and confidence. There was nothing left to wish for, nothing to argue about. The thing was what it ought to be, and neither more nor less, and I could look on it, not as a critic, but as a learner only."
This is praise indeed from an Englishman writing of a Frenchwoman's picture—an Englishman with no temptation to say what he did not think; and we may accept his words as the exact expression of the effect the picture made on him.
Brune, Mme. Aimée Pagès.Medal of second class at Salon of 1831; first class in 1841. Born in Paris. 1803-66. Pupil of Charles Meynier. Painted historical and genre subjects. In 1831 she exhibited "Undine," the "Elopement," "Sleep," and "Awakening." In 1841 a picture of "Moses." She painted several Bible scenes, among which were the "Daughter of Jairus" and "Jephthah's Daughter."
Buechmann, Frau Helene.Her pictures have been seen at some annual exhibitions in Germany, but she is best known by her portraits of celebrated persons. Born in Berlin, 1849. Pupil of Steffeck and Gussow. Among her portraits are those of Princess Carolath-Beuthen, Countess Brühl, Prince and Princess Biron von Kurland, and the youngest son of Prince Radziwill. She resides in Brussels.
Butler, Mildred A.Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colors and of the Society of Lady Artists. Pupil of Naftel, Calderon, and Garstin. Has exhibited at the Royal Academy and New Gallery. Her picture called the "Morning Bath," exhibited at the Academy in 1896, was purchased under the Chantry Bequest and is in the Tate Gallery. It is a water-color, valued at £50.
Miss Butler exhibited "A Corner of the Bargello, Florence," at the London Academy in 1903.
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Butler, Lady Elizabeth.Born in Lausanne about 1844. Elizabeth Southerden Thompson. As a child this artistwas fond of drawing soldiers and horses. She studied at the South Kensington School, at Florence under Bellucci, and in Rome. She worked as an amateur some years, first exhibiting at the Academy in 1873 her picture called "Missing," which was praised; but the "Roll-Call," of the following year, placed her in the front rank of the Academy exhibitors. It was purchased by the Queen and hung in Windsor Castle. She next exhibited the "Twenty-Eighth Regiment at Quatre Bras," the "Return from Inkerman," purchased by the Fine Art Society for £3,000. This was followed by kindred subjects.
In 1890 Lady Butler exhibited "Evicted," in 1891 the "Camel Corps," in 1892 "Halt in a Forced March," in 1895 the "Dawn of Waterloo," in 1896 "Steady the Drums and Fifes," in 1902 "Tent Pegging in India," in 1903 "Within Sound of the Guns."
In 1869 she painted a religious picture called the "Magnificat." In water-colors she has painted "Sketches in Tuscany" and several pictures of soldiers, among which are "Scot's Grays Advancing" and "Cavalry at a Gallop."
Lady Butler has recently appeared as an author, publishing "Letters from the Holy Land," illustrated by sixteen most attractive drawings in colors. TheSpectatorsays: "Lady Butler's letters and diary, the outcome of a few weeks' journeyings in Palestine, express simply and forcibly the impressions made on a devout and cultivated mind by the scenes of the Holy Land."
In 1875 Ruskin wrote in "Notes of the Academy": "I never approached a picture with more iniquitous prejudice against it than I did Miss Thompson's—'Quatre Bras'—partlybecause I have always said that no woman could paint, and secondly because I thought what the public made such a fuss aboutmustbe good for nothing. But it is Amazon's work this, no doubt of it, and the first fine pre-Raphaelite picture of battle we have had; profoundly interesting, and showing all manner of illustrative and realistic faculty.... The sky is most tenderly painted, and with the truest outline of cloud of all in the Exhibition; and the terrific piece of gallant wrath and ruin on the extreme left, when the cuirassier is catching round the neck of his horse as he falls, and the convulsed fallen horse, seen through the smoke below, is wrought through all the truth of its frantic passion with gradations of color and shade which I have not seen the like of since Turner's death."
TheArt Journal, 1877, says: "'Inkerman' is simply a marvellous production when considered as the work of a young woman who was never on the field of battle.... No matter how many figures she brings into the scene, or how few, you may notice character in each figure, each is a superb study."
Her recent picture, "Within Sound of the Guns," shows a company of mounted soldiers on the confines of a river in South Africa.
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Cameron, Katherine.Member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-Colors; Modern Sketch Club, London; Ladies' Art Club, Glasgow. Born in Glasgow. Studied at Glasgow School of Art under Professor Newbery, and at the Colarossi Academy, Paris, under Raphael Collin and Gustave Courtois.
Her pictures are of genre subjects principally, and are in private collections. "'The Sea Urchin,'" Miss Cameron writes, "is in one of the public collections of Germany. I cannot remember which." She also says: "Except for my diploma R. S. W. and having my drawings sometimes in places of honor, usually on the line, and often reproduced in magazines, I have no other honors. I have no medals."
In theMagazine of Art, June, 1903, her picture of a "Bull Fight in Madrid" is reproduced. It is full of action and true to the life of these horrors as I have seen them in Madrid. Doubtless the color is brilliant, as the costumes of the toreadors are always so, and there are two in this picture. This work was displayed at the exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy, June, 1903—of which a writer says: "A feeling for color has always been predominant in the Scottish school, and it is here conspicuously displayed, together with a method of handling, be it in the domain of figure or landscape, which is personal to the artist and not a mere academic tradition."
In theStudioof May, 1903, J. L. C., who writes of the same exhibition, calls this picture "admirable in both action and color."
Carl, Kate A.Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1890; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1896; honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1900. Associé de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Born in New Orleans. Pupil of Julian Academy and of Courtois in Paris.
This artist's name has been made prominent by the fact of her being selected to paint a portrait of the Empress of China. Miss Carl has frequently exhibited at the Salon. In 1902 she sent portraits in both oil and water-colors. One of these works, called "Angelina," impresses one as a faithful portrait of a model. She is seated and gracefully posed—the face is in a full front view, the figure turned a little to one side and nude to the waist, the hands are folded on the lap and hold a flower, a gauze-like drapery falls about the left shoulder and the arms, but does not conceal them; the background is a brocade or tapestry curtain.
I have seen a reproduction only, and cannot speak of the color. The whole effect of the picture is attractive. For the purpose of painting the portrait of the Chinese Empress, Miss Carl was assigned an apartment in the palace. It is said that the picture was to be finished in December, 1903, and will probably be seen at the St. Louis Exhibition.
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