Alinari, Photo. In the Uffizi, Florence. PORTRAIT OF ANGELICA KAUFFMAN. Painted By Herself
Alinari, Photo
In the Uffizi, Florence
PORTRAIT OF ANGELICA KAUFFMAN
Painted By Herself
Raphael Mengs, himself an artist, thus esteems her: "As an artist she is the pride of the female sex in all times and all nations. Nothing is wanting—composition, coloring, fancy—all are here."
Miss Kate Thompson writes: "Her works showed no originality nor any great power of execution, and, while sometimes graceful, were generally weak and insipid."
For myself I do not find her worthy of superlative praise or condemnation; one cannot deny her grace in design, which was also creditably correct; her poetical subjects were pleasing in arrangement; her historical subjects lacked strength and variety in expression; her color was as harmonious and mellow as that of the best Italian colorists, always excepting a small number of the greatest masters, and in all her pictures there is a something—itmust have been the individuality of the artist—that leads one to entertain a certain fondness for her, even while her shortcomings are fully recognized.
The story of Angelica Kauffman's life is of unusual interest. She was born at Coire, in the Grisons. 1742-1807. Her father, an artist, had gone from Schwarzenburg to Coire to execute some frescoes in a church, and had married there. When Angelica was a year old the family settled in Morbegno, in Lombardy. Ten years later, when the child had already shown her predilection for painting and music, a new home was made for her in Como, where there were better advantages for her instruction.
Her progress in music was phenomenal, and for a time she loved her two arts—one as well as the other—and could make no choice between them. In one of her pictures she represented herself as a child, standing between allegorical figures of Music and Painting.
The exquisite scenery about Como, the stately palaces, charming villas, the lake with its fairy-like pleasure boats, and the romantic life which there surrounded this girl of so impressionable a nature, rapidly developed the poetic element born with her, which later found expression through her varied talents. During her long life the recollections of the two years she passed at Como were among the most precious memories associated with her wandering girlhood.
From Como she was taken to Milan, where she had still better advantages for study, and a world of art was opened to her which far exceeded her most ardent imaginings.Leonardo had lived and taught in Milan, and his influence with that of other Lombard masters stirred Angelica to her very soul.
Her pictures soon attracted the attention of Robert d'Este, who became her patron and placed her in the care of the Duchess of Carrara. This early association with a circle of cultured and elegant men and women was doubtless the origin of the self-possession and modest dignity which characterized Angelica Kauffman through life and enabled her becomingly to accept the honors that were showered upon her.
Her happy life at Milan ended all too soon. Her mother died, and her father decided to return to his native Schwarzenburg to execute some extensive decorative works in that vicinity. In the interior decoration of a church Angelica painted in fresco the figures of the twelve apostles after engravings from the works of Piazetta.
The coarse, homely life of Schwarzenburg was in extreme contrast to that of Milan and was most uncongenial to a sensitive nature; but Angelica was saved from melancholy by the companionship she felt in the grand pine forests, which soothed her discontent, while her work left her little time to pine for the happiness she had left or even to mourn the terrible loss of her mother.
Her father's restlessness returned, and they were again in Milan for a short time, and then in Florence. Here she studied assiduously awhile, but again her father's discontent drove him on, and they went to Rome.
Angelica was now eighteen years old, and in a measurewas prepared to profit by the aid and advice of Winckelmann. He conceived an ardent friendship for the young artist, and, though no longer young, and engaged in most important and absorbing research, he found time to interest himself in Angelica's welfare, and allowed her to paint his portrait, to which she gave an expression which proved that she had comprehended the spirit of this remarkable man of threescore years.
While at Rome Angelica received a commission to copy some pictures in Naples. After completing these she returned to Rome, in 1764, and continued her studies for a time, but her interests were again sacrificed to her father's unreasonable capriciousness, and she was taken to Bologna and then to Venice. This constant change was disheartening to Angelica and of the greatest disadvantage to her study, and it was most fortunate that she now met Lady Wentworth, who became her friend and afterward took her to England.
Angelica had already executed commissions for English families of rank whom she had met in various cities of Italy, and her friends hoped that she would be able to earn more money in England than in Italy, where there were numberless artists and copyists. After visiting Paris she went to London, where a brilliant career awaited her, not only as an artist, but in the social world as well.
De Rossi thus describes her at this time: "She was not very tall, but slight, and her figure was well proportioned. She had a dark, clear complexion, a gracious mouth, white and equal teeth, and well-marked features;... above all,her azure eyes, so placid and so bright, charmed you with an expression it is impossible to write; unless you had known her you could not understand how eloquent were her looks."
Her English friends belonged to the most cultivated circles, many of them being also of high rank. Artists united to do her honor—showing no professional envy and making no opposition to her election to the Academy. Many interesting incidents in her association with London artists are related, and it is said that both Fuseli and Sir Joshua Reynolds were unsuccessful suitors for her hand. Miss Thackeray, in her novel, "Miss Angel," makes Angelica an attractive heroine.
The royal family were much interested in her, and the mother of the King visited her—an honor never before accorded to an artist—and the Princess of Brunswick gave her commissions for several pictures.
De Rossi says that her letters at this time were those of a person at the summit of joy and tranquillity. She was able to save money and looked hopefully forward to a time when she could make a home for her unthrifty father. But this happy prosperity was suddenly cut short by her own imprudence.
After refusing many eligible offers of marriage, she was secretly married to an adventurer who personated the Count de Horn, and succeeded by plausible falsehoods in convincing her that it was necessary, for good reasons, to conceal their marriage. One day when painting a portrait of Queen Charlotte, who was very friendly to the artist, Angelica was moved to confide the secret of her marriageto the Queen. Until this time no one save her father had known of it.
Her Majesty, who loved Angelica, expressed her surprise and interest and desired that Count de Horn should appear at Court. By this means the deceit which had been practised was discovered, and the Queen, as gently as possible, told Angelica the truth. At first she felt that though her husband was not the Count de Horn and had grossly deceived her, he was the man she had married and the vows she had made were binding. But it was soon discovered that the villain had a living wife when he made his pretended marriage with Angelica, who was thus released from any consideration for him. This was a time to prove the sincerity of friends, and Angelica was comforted by the steadfastness of those who had devoted themselves to her in her happier days. Sir Joshua Reynolds was untiring in his friendly offices for her and for her helpless old father.
There were as many differing opinions in regard to Angelica Kauffman, the woman, as in regard to the quality of her art. Some of her biographers believed her to be perfectly sincere and uninfluenced by flattery. Nollekens takes another view; he calls her a coquette, and, among other stories, relates that when in Rome, "one evening she took her station in one of the most conspicuous boxes in the theatre, accompanied by two artists, both of whom, as well as many others, were desperately enamoured of her. She had her place between her two adorers, and while her arms were folded before her in front of the box, over which she leaned, she managed toclasp a hand of both, so that each imagined himself the cavalier of her choice."
When Angelica could rise above the unhappiness and mortification of her infatuation for the so-called De Horn, she devoted herself to her art, and during twelve years supported her father and herself and strengthened the friendships she had gained in her adopted land. At length, in 1781, her father's failing health demanded their return to Italy; and now, when forty years old, she married Antonio Zucchi, an artist who had long loved her and devoted himself to her and to her father with untiring affection.
The old Kauffman lived to visit his home in Schwarzenburg and to reach Southern Italy, but died soon after.
Signor Zucchi made his home in Rome. He was a member of the Royal Academy, London, and was in full sympathy with his wife in intellectual and artistic pursuits and pleasures. De Rossi says: "It was interesting to see Angelica and her husband before a picture. While Zucchi spoke with enthusiasm Angelica remained silent, fixing her eloquent glance on the finest portions of the work. In her countenance one could read her emotions, while her observations were limited to a few brief words. These, however, seldom expressed any blame—only the praises of that which was worthy of praise. It belonged to her nature to recognize the beauty alone—as the bee draws honey only out of every flower."
Her home in Rome was a centre of attraction to the artistic and literary society of the city, and few persons of note passed any time there without being presented toher. Goethe and Herder were her friends, and the former wrote: "The good Angelica has a most remarkable, and for a woman really unheard-of, talent; one must see and value what she does and not what she leaves undone. There is much to learn from her, particularly as to work, for what she effects is really marvellous." In his work called "Winckelmann and His Century," Goethe again said of her: "The light and pleasing in form and color, in design and execution, distinguish the numerous works of our artist.No living painterexcels her in dignity or in the delicate taste with which she handles the pencil."
In the midst of the social demands on her time in Rome, she continued to devote herself to her art, and Signor Zucchi, hoping to beguile her into idleness, purchased a charming villa at Castel Gondolfo; but in spite of its attractions she was never content to be long away from Rome and her studio.
Thus in her maturer years her life flowed on in a full stream of prosperity until, in 1795, Signor Zucchi died. Angelica survived him twelve years—years of deep sadness. Not only was her personal sorrow heavy to bear, but the French invasion of her beloved Italy disquieted her. Hoping to regain her usual spirits, she revisited the scenes of her youth and remained some time in Venice with the family of Signor Zucchi. Returning to Rome she resumed her accustomed work, so far as her health permitted.
She held fast to the German spirit through all the changes in her life, with the same determination which made it possible, in her strenuous labors, to retain hergentle womanliness. Just before she died she desired to hear one of Gellert's spiritual odes.
She was buried in Sant' Andrea dei Frati, beside her husband. All the members of the Academy of St. Luke attended her obsequies, and her latest pictures were borne in the funeral procession. Her bust was placed in the Pantheon, and every proper tribute and honor were paid to her memory in Rome, where she was sincerely mourned.
Although Angelica lived and worked so long in London and was one of the thirty-six original members of the Royal Academy, I do not think her best pictures are in the public galleries there. Of course many of the portraits painted in London are in private collections. Her pictures are seen in all the important galleries of Europe. Her etchings, executed with grace and spirit, are much esteemed and sell for large prices. Engravings after her works by Bartolozzi are most attractive; numerous as they were, good prints of them are now rare and costly.
She painted several portraits of herself; one is in the National Portrait Gallery, London, one at Munich, and a third in the Uffizi, Florence. The last is near that of Madame Le Brun, and the contrast between the two is striking. Angelica is still young, but the expression of her face is so grave as to be almost melancholy; she is sitting on a stone in the midst of a lonely landscape; she has a portfolio in one hand and a pencil in the other, and so unstudied is her pose, and so lacking in any attempt to look her best, that one feels that she is entirely absorbed in her work. The Frenchwoman could not forget to beinteresting; Angelica was interesting with no thought of being so.
I regard three works by this artist, which are in the Dresden Gallery, as excellent examples of her work; they are "A Young Vestal," "A Young Sibyl," and "Ariadne Abandoned by Theseus."
On the margin of one of her pictures she wrote: "I will not attempt to express supernatural things by human inspiration, but wait for that till I reach heaven, if there is painting done there."
In 1784 Angelica Kauffman painted "Servius Tullius as a Child" for the Czar of Russia; in 1786 "Hermann and Thusnelda" and "The Funeral of Pallas" for Joseph II. These are now in the Vienna Gallery. Three pictures, "Virgil Reading the Æneid to the Empress Octavia," "Augustus Reading Verses on the Death of Marcellus," and "Achilles Discovered by Ulysses, in Female Attire," were painted for Catherine II. of Russia. "Religion Surrounded by Virtues," 1798, is in the National Gallery, London. A "Madonna" and a "Scene from the Songs of Ossian" are in the Aschaffenburg Gallery. A "Madonna in Glory" and the "Women of Samaria," 1799, are in the New Pinakothek, Munich, where is also the portrait of Louis I. of Bavaria, as Crown Prince, 1805. The "Farewell of Abelard and Heloise," together with other works of this artist, are in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. A "Holy Family," and others, in the Museo Civico, Venice. "Prudence Warning Virtue against Folly," in the Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia. Portraits of Winckelmann in the Städel Institute, Frankfort,and in the Zürich Gallery. Portrait of a Lady, Stuttgart Museum; the Duchess of Brunswick, Hampton Court Palace; the architect Novosielski, National Gallery, Edinburgh. In addition to the portraits of herself mentioned above, there are others in Berlin Museum, the Old Pinakothek, Munich, the Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, and in the Philadelphia Academy.
Kaula, Mrs. Lee Lufkin.Member of the Woman's Art Club, New York. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania. Pupil in New York of Charles Melville Dewey and the Metropolitan Art Schools; in Paris, during three years, pupil of Girardot, Courtois, the Colarossi Academy, and of Aman-Jean.
Mrs. Kaula is essentially a portrait painter, although she occasionally paints figure subjects. Her portraits are in private hands in various cities, and her works have been exhibited in Paris, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, etc. She paints in both oil and water-colors.
Kayser, Ebba.Medals in Vienna, Dresden, and Cologne for landscapes and flower pieces. Born in Stockholm, 1846. When twenty years old she went to Vienna, where she studied under Rieser, Geyling, and Karl Hannold. She did not exhibit her works until 1881, since when she has been favorably known, especially in Austria. A water-color of a "Mill near Ischl" and several other pictures by this artist have been purchased for the Imperial Collections.
Keith, Dora Wheeler.
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Kemp-Welch, Lucy Elizabeth.Fellow and Associate of Herkomer School, and member of the Royal Society of British Artists. Born at Bournemouth, 1869. Has exhibited annually at the Royal Academy since 1894. In 1897 her picture of "Colt Hunting in the New Forest" was purchased by the trustees of the Chantrey Bequest; in 1900 that of "Horses Bathing in the Sea" was bought for the National Gallery at Victoria. In 1901 she exhibited "Lord Dundonald's Dash on Lady-smith."
In July, 1903, in his article on the Royal Academy Exhibition, the editor of theMagazine of Art, in enumerating good pictures, mentions: "Miss Lucy Kemp-Welch's well-studied 'Village Street' at dusk, and her clever 'Incoming Tide,' with its waves and rocks and its dipping, wheeling sea gulls."
Mr. Frederick Wetmore, in writing of the Spring Exhibition of the Royal Painter Etchers, says: "Miss Kemp-Welch, whose best work, so delicate that it could only lose by the reduction of a process block, shows the ordinary English country, the sign-post of the crossways, and the sheep along the lane."
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Kendell, Marie von.Born in Lannicken, 1838. Pupil of Pape, Otto von Kameke, and Dressier. She travelled in England, Italy, and Switzerland, and many of her works represent scenes in these countries. In 1882 she painted the Cadinen Peaks near Schluderbach, in the Ampezzo Valley. At the exhibition of the Women Artists in Berlin, 1892, she exhibited two mountain landscapes and a view of "Clovelly in Devonshire." The last was purchased by the Emperor. To the same exhibition in 1894 she contributed two Swiss landscapes, which were well considered.
Kielland, Kitty.Sister of the famous Norwegian novelist, Alexander Kielland. Her pictures of the forests and fjords of Norway are the best of her works and paintedcon amore.Recently she exhibited a portrait which was much praised and said to be so fresh and life-like in treatment, so flexible and vivacious in color, that one is involuntarily attracted by it, without any knowledge of the original.
Killegrew, Anne.Was a daughter of Dr. Henry Killegrew, a prebendary of Westminster Cathedral. Anne was born in 1660, and when still quite young was maid of honor to the Duchess of York, whose portrait she painted as well as that of the future King James II. She also painted historical subjects and still-life.
One of her admirers wrote of her as "A grace for beauty and a muse for wit." A biographer records her death from smallpox when twenty-five years old, "to the unspeakable reluctancy of her relatives." She was buried in the Savoy Chapel, now a "Royal Peculiar," and a mural tablet set forth her beauty, accomplishments, graces, and piety in a Latin inscription.
Anne Killigrew was notable for her poetry as well as for her painting. Dryden wrote an ode in her memory which Dr. Johnson called "the noblest our language has produced." It begins: "Thou youngest virgin daughter of the skies." After praising her poetry Dryden wrote:
"Her pencil drew whate'er her soul designed,And oft the happy draught surpassed the image of her mind."
"Her pencil drew whate'er her soul designed,And oft the happy draught surpassed the image of her mind."
"Her pencil drew whate'er her soul designed,
And oft the happy draught surpassed the image of her mind."
Of her portrait of James II. he says:
"For, not content to express his outward part,Her hand called out the image of his heart;His warlike mind—his soul devoid of fear—His high designing thoughts were figured there."
"For, not content to express his outward part,Her hand called out the image of his heart;His warlike mind—his soul devoid of fear—His high designing thoughts were figured there."
"For, not content to express his outward part,
Her hand called out the image of his heart;
His warlike mind—his soul devoid of fear—
His high designing thoughts were figured there."
Having repeated these panegyrics, it is but just to add that two opinions existed concerning the merit of Mistress Killigrew's art and of Dryden's ode, which another critic called "a harmonious hyperbole, composed of the Fall of Adam—Arethusa—Vestal Virgins—Dian—Cupid—Noah's Ark—the Pleiades—the fall of Jehoshaphat—and the last Assizes."
Anthony Wood, however, says: "There is nothing spoken of her which she was not equal to, if not superior, and if there had not been more true history in her praises than compliment, her father never would have suffered them to pass the press."
Kindt, Adele.This painter of history and of genre subjects won her first prize at Ghent when less than twenty-two, and received medals at Douai, Cambrai, Ghent, and Brussels before she was thirty-two. Was made a member of the Brussels, Ghent, and Lisbon Academies. Born in Brussels, 1805. Pupil of Sophie Frémiet and of Navez. Her picture of the "Last Moments of Egmont" is in the Ghent Museum; among her otherhistorical pictures are "Melancthon Predicting Prince Willem's Future" and "Elizabeth Sentencing Mary Stuart," which is in the Hague Museum. The "Obstinate Scholar" and "Happier than a King" are two of her best genre pictures.
King, Jessie M.A most successful illustrator and designer of book-covers, who was educated as an artist in the Glasgow School of Decorative Art. In this school and at that of South Kensington she was considered a failure, by reason of her utterly unacademic manner. She did not see things by rule and she persistently represented them as she saw them. Her love of nature is intense, and when she illustrated the "Jungle Book" she could more easily imagine that the animals could speak a language that Mowgli could understand, than an academic artist could bring himself to fancy for a moment. Her work is full of poetic imagination, of symbolism, and of the spirit of her subject.
Walter P. Watson, in a comprehensive critique of her work, says: "Her imaginations are more perfect and more minutely organized than what is seen by the bodily eye, and she does not permit the outward creation to be a hindrance to the expression of her artistic creed. The force of representation plants her imagined figures before her; she treats them as real, and talks to them as if they were bodily there; puts words in their mouths such as they should have spoken, and is affected by them as by persons. Such creation is poetry in the literal sense of the term, and Miss King's dreamy and poetical nature enables her to create the persons of the drama, to investthem with appropriate figures, faces, costumes, and surroundings; to make them speak after their own characters."
Her important works are in part the illustrations of "The Little Princess," "The Magic Grammar," "La Belle Dame sans Merci," "L'Evangile de l'Enfance," "The Romance of the Swan's Nest," etc.
She also makes exquisite designs for book-covers, which have the spirit of the book for which they are made so clearly indicated that they add to the meaning as well as to the beauty of the book.
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Kirchsberg, Ernestine von.Medal at Chicago Exposition, 1893. Born in Verona, 1857. Pupil of Schäffer and Darnaut. This artist has exhibited in Vienna since 1881, and some of her works have been purchased for the royal collection. Her landscapes, both in oil and water-colors, have established her reputation as an excellent artist, and she gains the same happy effects in both mediums. Her picture shown at Chicago was "A Peasant Home in Southern Austria."
Kirschner, Marie.Born at Prague, 1852. Pupil of Adolf Lier in Munich, and Jules Dupré and Alfred Stevens in Paris. In 1883 she travelled in Italy, and has had her studio in Berlin and in Prague. The Rudolfinum at Prague contains her "Village Tulleschitz in Bohemia." She is also, known by many flower pieces and by the "Storm on the Downs of Heyst," "Spring Morning," and a "Scene on the Moldau."
Kitson, Mrs. H. H.Honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1889; and the same at Paris Salon, 1890; two medals from Massachusetts Charitable Association; and has exhibited in all the principal exhibitions of the United States. Born in Brookline. Pupil of her husband, Henry H. Kitson, and of Dagnan-Bouveret in Paris.
The women of Michigan commissioned Mrs. Kitson to make two bronze statues representing the woods of their State for the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago. Her principal works are the statue of a volunteer for the Soldiers' Monument at Newburyport; Soldiers' Monument at Ashburnham; Massachusetts State Monument to 29th, 35th, and 36th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at National Military Park at Vicksburg; also medallion portraits of Generals Dodge, Ransom, Logan, Blair, Howard, A. J. Smith, Grierson, and McPherson, for the Sherman Monument at Washington.
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Klumpke, Anna Elizabeth.Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1885; silver medal, Versailles, 1886; grand prize, Julian Academy, 1889; Temple gold medal, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1889; bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1889. Member of the Copley Society, Boston; of the Society of Baron Taylor, Paris; and of the Paris Astronomical Society. Born in San Francisco. Pupil of the Julian Academy, under Robert-Fleury, and Jules Lefebvre, where she received, in 1888, the prize of the silver medal and one hundred francs—the highest awardgiven at the annual Portrait Concours, between the men and women students of the above Academy.
PORTRAIT OF ROSA BONHEUR. Anna E. Klumpke
PORTRAIT OF ROSA BONHEUR
Anna E. Klumpke
Among Miss Klumpke's principal works are: "In the Wash-house," owned by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; portrait of Mrs. Nancy Foster, at the Chicago University; "Maternal Instruction," in the collection of Mr. Randolph Jefferson Coolidge, Boston; many portraits, among which are those of Madame Klumpke, Rosa Bonheur, Mrs. Thorp, Mrs. Sargent, Count Kergaradec, etc.
In writing me of her own life-work and that of her family, she says, what we may well believe: "Longfellow's thought, 'Your purpose in life must be to accomplish well your task,' has been our motto from childhood."
Anna Klumpke, being the eldest of the four daughters of her mother, had a double duty: her own studies and profession and the loving aid and care of her sisters. In the beginning of her art studies it was only when her home duties were discharged that she could hasten to the Luxembourg, where, curiously enough, her time was devoted to copying "Le Labourage Nivernais," by Rosa Bonheur, whose beloved and devoted friend she later became.
Meantime Anna Klumpke had visited Boston and other cities of her native land, and made a success, not only as an artist, but as a woman, whose intelligence, cheerfulness, and broad interests in life made her a delightful companion. Sailing from Antwerp one autumn, I was told by a friend that a lady on board had a letter of introduction to me from Madame Bouguereau. It proved tobe Miss Klumpke, and the acquaintance thus begun, as time went on, disclosed to me a remarkable character, founded on a remarkable experience, and it was no surprise to me that the great and good Rosa Bonheur found in Anna Klumpke a sympathetic and reliable friend and companion for her last days.
The history of this friendship and its results are too well known to require more than a passing mention. Miss Klumpke is now established in Paris, and writes me that, in addition to her painting, she is writing of Rosa Bonheur. She says: "This biography consists of reminiscences of Rosa Bonheur's life, her impressions of Nature, God, and Art, with perhaps a short sketch of how I became acquainted with the illustrious woman whose precious maternal tenderness will remain forever the most glorious event of my life."
At the Salon des Artistes Français, 1903, Miss Klumpke exhibited a picture called "Maternal Affection."
Knobloch, Gertrude.Born at Breslau, 1867. Pupil of Skirbina in Berlin. Her studio is in Brussels. She paints in oil and water-colors. Among her best pictures are "In the Children's Shoes," "The Forester's Leisure Hours," and a "Madonna with the Christ Child."
Two of her works in gouache are worthy of mention: "An Effeminate" and "Children Returning from School."
Kollock, Mary.Born at Norfolk, Virginia, 1840. Studied at the Pennsylvania Academy under Robert Wylie, and in New York under J. B. Bristol and A. H. Wynant. Her landscapes have been exhibited at the National Academy, New York. Several of these were scenes aboutLake George and the Adirondack regions. "Morning in the Mountains" and "On the Road to Mt. Marcy" were exhibited in 1877; "A November Day" and an "Evening Walk," in 1878; "A House in East Hampton, Two Hundred and Twenty Years Old," in 1880; "On Rondout Creek," in 1881; and "The Brook," in 1882.
Koker, Anna Maria de.A Dutch etcher and engraver of the seventeenth century, who pursued her art from pure love of it, never trying to make her works popular or to sell them. A few of her landscapes fell into the hands of collectors and are much valued for their rarity and excellence. Three examples are the "Landscape with a View of a Village," "The Square Tower," and "Huts by the Water."
Komlosi, Irma.Born in Prague, 1850. Pupil of Friederich Sturm. This flower painter resides in Vienna, where her pictures are much appreciated and are seen in good collections. They have been purchased for the Art Associations of Brünn, Prague, and Budapest.
Kondelka, Baroness Pauline von—Frau von Schmerling. Born at Vienna. 1806-1840. She inherited from her father a strong inclination for art, and was placed by him under the instruction of Franz Potter. In the Royal Gallery, Vienna, is her picture called "Silence," 1834. It represents the Virgin with her finger on her lip to warn against disturbing the sleep of the Infant Jesus. The picture is surrounded by a beautiful arrangement of flowers. In 1836 she painted a charming picture called "A Bunch of Flowers." Her favorite subjects were floral, and her works of this sort are much admired.
Konek, Ida.Born at Budapest, 1856. Her early art studies were under G. Vastagh, C. von Telepy, W. Lindenschmit, and Munkácsy; later she was a pupil at the Julian Academy in Paris and the Scuola libera in Florence. In the Parish Church at Köbölkut are three of her pictures of sacred subjects, and in the Hungarian National Museum a picture of still-life. Her "Old Woman," 1885, is mentioned as attracting favorable notice.
Kora or Callirhoë.It is a well-authenticated fact that in the Greek city of Sicyonia, about the middle of the seventh century before Christ, there lived the first woman artist of whom we have a reliable account.
Her story has been often told, and runs in this wise: Kora, or Callirhoë, was much admired by the young men of Sicyonia for her grace and beauty, of which they caught but fleeting glimpses through her veil when they met her in the flower-market. By reason of Kora's attraction the studio of her father, Dibutades, was frequented by many young Greeks, who watched for a sight of his daughter, while they praised his models in clay.
At length one of these youths begged the modeller to receive him as an apprentice, and, his request being granted, he became the daily companion of both Kora and her father. As the apprentice was skilled in letters, it soon came about that he was the teacher and ere long the lover of the charming maiden, who was duly betrothed to him.
The time for the apprentice to leave his master came all too soon. As he sat with Kora the evening beforehis departure, she was seized by an ardent wish for a portrait of her lover, and, with a coal from the brazier, she traced upon the wall the outline of the face so dear to her. This likeness her father instantly recognized, and, hastening to bring his clay, he filled in the sketch and thus produced the first portrait in bas-relief! It is a charming thought that from the inspiration of a pure affection so beautiful an art originated, and doubtless Kora's influence contributed much to the artistic fame which her husband later achieved in Corinth.
In the latter city the portrait was preserved two hundred years, and Dibutades became so famous for the excellence of his work that at his death several cities claimed the honor of having been his birthplace.
Krafft, Anna Barbara.Member of the Vienna Academy. She was born at Igto in 1764, and died at Bamberg in 1825. She received instruction from her father, J. N. Steiner, of which she later made good use. Having married an apothecary, she went for a time to Salsburg, and again, after nine years in Prague, spent eighteen years in Salsburg, retiring finally to Bamberg. In the Gallery at Bamberg may be seen her portrait of the founder, J. Hemmerlein; in the Nostitz Gallery, Prague, a portrait of the Archduke Charles; in Strahow Abbey, Prague, a "Madonna"; and in the church at Owencez, near Prague, an altar-piece.
Kuntze, Martha.Born in Heinrichsdorf, Prussia, 1849. Pupil of Steffeck and Gussow in Berlin. In 1881 she went to Paris and studied under Carolus Duran and Henner, and later travelled in Italy, pursuing her art inFlorence, Rome, and Southern Italy. She has an excellent reputation as a portrait painter, and occasionally paints subjects of still-life.
Küssner, Amalia.SeeCoudert, Amalia Küssner.
Labille, Adelaide Vertus.Was born in Paris in 1749. She early developed a taste for art and a desire to study it. J. E. Vincent was her master in miniature painting, while Latour instructed her in the use of pastels. She was successful as a portrait painter and as a teacher, having some members of the royal family as pupils, who so esteemed her that they became her friends. She is known as Madame Vincent, having married the son of her first master in painting.
Her portrait of the sculptor Gois gained a prize at the Academy, and in 1781 she was made a member of that institution. We know the subjects of some large, ambitious works by Madame Vincent, on which she relied for her future fame, but unhappily they were destroyed in the time of the French Revolution, and she never again had the courage to attempt to replace them. One of these represented the "Reception of a Member to the Order of St. Lazare," the Grand Master being the brother of the King, who had appointed Madame Vincent Painter to the Court. Another of these works was a portrait of the artist before her easel, surrounded by her pupils, among whom was the Duchesse d'Angoulême and other noble ladies.
As Madame Vincent and her husband were staunch royalists, they suffered serious losses during the Revolution; the loss of her pictures was irreparable. She wasso disheartened by the destruction of the result of the labors of years that she never again took up her brush with her old-time ambition and devotion.
She died in 1803, at the age of fifty-four, having received many honors as an artist, while she was beloved by her friends and esteemed by all as a woman of noble character.
Laing, Mrs. J. G.Principal studies made in Glasgow under Mr. F. H. Newbery; also in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens and Aman-Jean.
This artist is especially occupied with portraits of children and their mothers. She has, however, exhibited works of another sort. Her "Sweet Repose" and "Masquerading" were sold from the exhibitions in London and Glasgow, where they were shown. "Bruges Lace-Makers" was exhibited in Munich in 1903.
The Ladies' Club of Glasgow is enterprising and its exhibitions are interesting, but Mrs. Laing is not a member of any club, and sends her pictures by invitation to exhibitions on the Continent as well as in Great Britain, and sometimes has a private exhibition in Glasgow.
Her study at Aman-Jean's and Colarossi's gave a certain daintiness and grace to her work, which is more Parisian than British in style. There is great freedom in her brush and a delicacy well suited to the painting of children's portraits; her children and their mothers really smile, not grin, and are altogether attractive. I cannot say whether the portraits I have seen are good likenesses, but they have an air of individuality which favors that idea.
Lamb, Ella Condie—Mrs. Charles R. Lamb. Dodge prize, National Academy, New York; medal at Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893; gold medal, Atlanta Exposition; medal at Pan-American Exposition, 1901. Member of Art Students' League, Woman's Art Club, National Art Club. Born in New York City. Pupil of National Academy of Design and of Art Students' League, New York, under C. Y. Turner, William M. Chase, and Walter Shirlaw; in Paris, pupil of R. Collin and R. Courtois; in England, of Hubert Herkomer, R.A.
Among Mrs. Lamb's works are "The Advent Angel"; "The Christ Child," a life-size painting, copied in mosaic for the Conrad memorial, St. Mary's Church, Wayne, Pennsylvania; "The Arts" and "The Sciences," executed in association with Charles R. Lamb, for the Sage Memorial Apse designed by him for Cornell University.
Of recent years Mrs. Lamb is much occupied in collaborating with her husband in decorative designs for public edifices. One of the works thus executed is a memorial window to Mrs. Stella Goodrich Russell in Wells College at Aurora. It represents three female figures against a landscape background. Literature is seated in the centre, while Science and Art stand in the side panels. It has the effect of a triptych.
Lamb, Rose.Two bronze medals in Boston exhibitions, 1878 and 1879. Member of the Copley Society. Born in Boston, where her studies have been made, chiefly under William M. Hunt.
Miss Lamb has painted portraits principally, a large number of which are in Boston in the homes of the families to which they belong. Among them are Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., and her children; Mr. J. Ingersoll Bowditch, Mr. Horace Lamb, the three sons of the late Governor Roger Wolcott, the daughters of Mrs. Shepherd Brooks, the children of Mrs. Walter C. Baylies, etc.
In 1887 Miss Lamb painted an admirable portrait of Mohini Mohun Chatterji, a Brahmin, who spent some months in Boston.
Lanciani, Marcella.Born in Rome, where her studies were made under Professor Giuseppe Ferrari in figure drawing, and under Signor Onorato Carlandi—the great water-color artist of the Roman Campagna—in landscape and coloring.
At the annual spring exhibition in the Palazzo delle Belle Arti, Rome, 1903, this artist exhibited four works: a life-size "Study of the Head of an old Roman Peasant"; a "Sketch near the Mouth of the Tiber at Finniscino"; "An Old Stairway in the Villa d'Este, at Tivoli"; "A View from the Villa Colonna, Rome."
Two of her sketches, one of the "Tiber" and one of the "Villa Medici," are in the collection of Mrs. Pierpont Morgan; two similar sketches are in the collection of Mrs. James Leavitt, New York; a copy of a "Madonna" in an old Umbrian church is in a private gallery in Rome; a "Winter Scene in the Villa Borghese" and two other sketches are owned in Edinburgh; the "Lake in the Villa Borghese" is in the collection of Mr. Richard Corbin, Paris; and several other pictures are in private collections in New York.
Lander, Louisa.Born in Salem, 1826. Manifested ataste for sculpture when quite young, and modelled likenesses of the members of her family. In 1855 she became the pupil of Thomas Crawford in Rome. Among her earlier works are figures in marble of "To-day" and "Galatea," the first being emblematic of America.
She executed many portrait busts, one of them being of Nathaniel Hawthorne. "The Captive Pioneer" is a large group. Among her ideal works are a statue of Virginia Dare—the first child born in America of English parents; "Undine," "Evangeline," "Virginia," etc.
Laukota, Herminie.Born in Prague, 1853. After having studied in Prague, Amsterdam, and Munich, she was a pupil of Doris Raab in etching. She paints portraits, genre and still-life subjects with artistic taste and delicacy. Her studio is in Prague. Among her best pictures are "Battle for Truth," "Sentinels of Peace," "A Contented Old Woman"; and among her etchings may be named "The Veiled Picture of Saïs," "Prometheus," "The Microscopist," "Before the Bar of Reason," etc. The latter was reproduced inZeitschrift für bildende Kunstin 1893, and was said to show a powerful fancy.
In 1875 and 1876 she exhibited her etchings in Vienna. The "Going to Baptism" in the second exhibition was much admired and aroused unusual interest.
La Villette, Mme. Elodie.Third-class medal, Paris Salon, 1875; bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1889; second-class medal, Melbourne Exposition; numerous diplomas and medals from provincial exhibitions in France; also from Vienna, Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Munich, and Chicago. Officer of the Academy. Born at Strasbourg. Educated at Lorient. She began to study drawing and painting under Coroller, a professor in the school she attended. She then studied six months in the Atelier School at Strasbourg, and finally became a pupil of Dubois at Arras. She has exhibited since 1870.
Her picture of the "Strand at Lohic," 1876, is in the Luxembourg Gallery; the "Cliffs of Yport" is in the Museum of Lille; "A Calm at Villers," in the Museum at Lorient; "Coming Tide at Kervillaine," in the museum of Morlaix, etc. Her marine views are numerous and are much admired.
At the Salon of the Artistes Français, 1902, Mme. La Villette exhibited "Twilight, Quiberon, Morbihan"; in 1903, "Fort Penthièvre, Quiberon," and "A Foaming Wave."
Le Brun, Mme.SeeVigée.
Lehmann, Charlotte.Born in Vienna, 1860. Daughter of an artist, Katharine Lehmann. Pupil of Schilcher and Pitner. Her works are principally portraits and studies of heads, in which she is successful. Her "Styrian Maiden" belongs to the Austrian Emperor, and is in Gödöllö castle.
Her portraits are seen at many exhibitions, and art critics mention her with respect.
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