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Part of the American
History & Genealogy Project |
Women as Artists

Looking back over the field of art for
the past five centuries, one cannot fail to be impressed by the
exceeding scarcity of men and women who have attained enduring
eminence as painters of portraits. Though in every exhibition of
current work numerous portraits are shown, few are found worthy
of prominent preservation, and the painters who can be counted
upon for worthy productions can equally be enumerated. One of
those who to-day holds pre-eminence is Cecilia Beaux. Comparison
is often made between her work and that of Sargent Most critics
think her work is more studied but equally strong.


Cecilia Beaux 1855 ~
1942
Cecelia Beaux is a dramatist in her studies of character and her
art is probably more subtle and more various than that of any
woman painter who has devoted her life to portraiture. Her work
is modern in every way. Her handling is broad and strong. Many
of her touches seem most accidental, while they are of the
highest art. Miss Beaux is one of those painters who seem to
have arrived almost abruptly on a plane of exceptional
accomplishment. Few better works has she produced than those
exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1896, which took the French
critics by storm, and brought her the honor of Associate
Membership in the Societe Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Her
portraits of the daughters of Mr. Richard Watson Gilder and the
portrait of Mr. Gilder were considered of masterly
interpretation. There is one portrait wherein Miss Beaux
actually created personality. This was her portrait of John Paul
Jones, which was presented by the Class of 1881 to the United
States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Katharine Augusta Carl
1865 ~ 1938
Born in Louisiana; daughter of Francis Augustus Carl, Ph. D.,
LL.D. and Mary (Breadon) Carl. She was graduated from the State
College, of Tennessee, at Memphis, with the degree of M.A., and
afterward studied art in Paris under Bouguereau, Jean Paul
Laurens and Gustave Courtois. She first exhibited in the Paris
Societe des Artists Francais, in 1887, received honorable
mention from that society in 1890, and was made an associate of
the Societe Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, in 1894. Miss Carl
is a painter of portraits and figure paintings, and has painted
many notable subjects, among whom was the late Empress Dowager
of China. The Empress Dowager conferred upon her the orders of
officer of the Double Dragon and the Manchu Flaming Pearl. She
wrote and illustrated an account of her life in the Imperial
Palace, of China, which was published under the title of "With
the Empress Dowager of China." Miss Carl is a member of the
International Society of Women Artists, London; Societe
Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, and of the Lyceum Clubs of
London, and Paris.
Charlotte B. Coman 1833
~ 1924
Mrs. Coman was born in Waterville, New York; studied in Paris
under H. Thompson, and Emille Vernier; exhibited in Paris Salon,
St. Louis World's Fair, and various exhibitions in the United
States Received bronze medal at the California Mid-winter
Exposition, prize at Woman's Art Club, member of New York Water
Color Society, Art Workers' Club and Women's Art Club. "A
French Village" exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1878,
"Near Fontainebleau," "Sunset at the Seaside"
exhibited in Boston in 1877, "On the Borders of the Marne"
and "Peasant Home in Normandie," are among her best
works.
Amalia Kussner Coudert
1875 ~ 1932
Is a miniature painter. Born March 26, 1875, in Terre Haute,
Indiana. Daughter of Lorenz Kussner. Married July 3, 1900, in
New York City, to Charles Dupont Coudert. In 1896 went to London
and painted the portrait of the King (then the Prince of Wales)
and many of the prominent people of England. In 1899 was
summoned to Russia to paint portraits of the Emperor and Empress
and of the Honorable Cecil Rhodes, in Africa.
Susan Hale 1833 ~ 1910
Born in Boston, December 5, 1833. Daughter of Nathan and Sarah
Preston Everett Hale. Artist in water colors. Exhibitor of
landscapes in Boston and New York. Author of "Life and
Letters of Thomas Gold Appleton"; also "Family Flight,"
Series of Travels for Young People. She wrote in
connection with her brother, Edward Everett Hale.
Miss Avis Hekking
Born in New York City, daughter of J. A. Hekking, the well-known
landscape painter, who came to America at an early age. Miss
Hekking's great-great-grandfather was sergeant-major under
General Putnam, and served through the Revolutionary War,
distinguishing himself in the battles of Trenton and Princeton.
Her family are all artists, several of her brothers have won
world-wide reputations as violoncellists.
Miss Hekking studied in Paris under Pourtois Debat-Ponson and
Blanc; became a pupil of M. Lange. Later she accompanied her
parents to Florence, Italy, where she worked in her father's
studio, painting several portraits and historical pictures. In
her leisure hours she wrote plays. Of late years she has worked
steadily at painting and literature and sends, annually, a
picture to the Fine Arts Exhibition in Florence.
Mrs. William Henry Horne
Mrs. William Henry Home was born at Eliot, Maine, the daughter
of Lizzie Young and John Harrison Mathes. She was educated in
Portsmouth and Boston, and studied art in Boston, New York and
in the studio of W. D. Tenney with whom she painted for twenty
years.
Mrs. Home is the vice-regent of the John Paul Jones Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution, member of the Twentieth
Century Club of Boston, The Fathers' and Mothers' Club, The
Copley Society, and is a well-known artist of Boston and New
York where her work is frequently exhibited.
Mary L. Macomber 1861 ~
1916
Born at Fall River, Massachusetts, August 21, 1861; daughter of
Frederic W. and Mary W. Macomber; studied at the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts and under Dunning, Duveneck, Crowningshield and
Grundmann. Exhibited at The Hague, Carnegie Institute, Chicago
Art Institute, Chicago World's Fair, St Louis Exposition;
National Academy of Design, Society of American Artists,
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Boston Art Club, Copley
Society; received Dodge Prize at the National Academy of Design,
honorable mention at the Carnegie Institute, medal at
Massachusetts C. M. Association, 1895; medal at Atlanta
Exposition, 1895; is represented in the prominent collection at
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Her work, accompanied by
articles, has been reproduced in the New England Magazine and
other current periodicals. Member of the Copley Society, Boston.
Florence MacKubin 1857
~ 1918
Born in Florence, Italy. Daughter of Charles Nicholas, of
Maryland, and Ellen M. Fay MacKubin. Painter of miniatures, and
exhibitor at all of the large expositions. Selected by Governor
Smith and the Board of Public Works of Maryland, in 1900, to
paint the portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria (after whom Maryland
was named), to be hung in the State House. This was executed in
a copy of the portrait by Vandyck, in Warwick Castle, England.
Also painted the portrait of Governor Lowndes, to be hung in the
executive chamber in the Maryland State House; the portrait of
Professor Basil Gildersleeve, for the University of Virginia,
and a miniature of Cardinal Gibbons; and portraits of the first
and second Barons of Baltimore, founders of Maryland.
Anna Lea Merritt 1844 ~
1930
In the front rank of our noted women painters stands Anna Lea
Merritt, who is as well known in England as in her own country.
She was not taught in schools, and to this fact is probably
attributable the great individuality conspicuous in her works.
She belongs to no particular religion in art, and attended no
school or class, but diligently attended Mr. Marshall's lectures
on anatomy, a subject to which she devoted much attention and
study. She had a few lessons from Professor Legros and from Mr.
Henry Merritt, whom she afterwards married; also from Mr.
Richmond, R. A., and from Mr. William Roxall, R.A.
Much of Mrs. Merritt's work has been in portraiture. She did
some decorative pictures for the Woman's Building, Chicago
World's Fair, and later frescoed St. Martin's Church, at
Chilworth. Mrs. Merritt was at one time a member of the
Painters' Etchers' Society, and has exhibited many original
etchings.
Rhoda Carleton Marian Holmes
Nicholls 1854 ~ 1930
Born in Coventry, England; daughter of William and Marian
Holmes; studied at Bloomsburg Art School, and at the Circle
Artistic, Rome; married to Burr H. Nicholls, in 1884; exhibited
at the Royal Academy, London; Dudley Gallery, London; also in
Rome, Turin, Milan, and all current American exhibitions.
Received Queen's Scholarship London; medal at Prize Fund
Exhibition New York; medal at Boston Biennial Exhibition,
Chicago World's Fair, 1893; medal at Charles-ton Exposition, at
the West Indian and Interstate Exhibition Nashville, at the
Pennsylvania Art Exposition, St Louis Exposition; represented in
Boston Art Club, Boston Museum of Art; illustrated (in
collaborntion) Powell's Venetian Life; is author of articles in
the Art Exchange, Art Amateur and Ceramic Studio; member of the
National Arts Club, New York; was vice-president for nine years
of the Water Color Club, of New York; member of the American
Society of Miniature Painters, Pen and Brush Club, Woman's Art
Club, (of which she is a member of the Art Committee), Art Club,
of Canada. Nineteenth Century Club. Her address is 913 Seventh
Avenue, New York City.
Violet Oakley 1874 ~
1961
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, 1874; studied at the Art
Students' League in New York, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
under Howard Pyle; in Paris, under Raphael Collin and Aman Jean;
has exhibited extensively throughout the United States; received
gold medal for illustrations, St. Louis Exposition, 1904; also
medal for mural decoration at the St Louis Exposition; gold
medal of honor at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1905; is
represented in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; member of
the Society of Illustrators, New York Water Color Club,
fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Water Club, and Plastic Club, of
Philadelphia.
Emily Sartain 1841 ~
1927
Born in Philadelphia; daughter of John and Susan Sartain;
studied engraving under her father; also at the Pennsylvania
Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia; and under Christian
Schuessele; and in Paris under E. Luminais; exhibited at the
Paris Salon and in all prominent exhibitions of the large cities
of the United States; received medal for oil painting at the
Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876; the Mary Smith Prize
at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; medals for engravings
at the Atlanta Exposition and Pan-American Exposition; member of
the International Bureau of Awards, the Art Department of the
Chicago World's Fair, chairman of Artists' Committee officially
in charge of Pennsylvania State Building, Chicago World's Fair;
art delegate to the International Congress of Women in London,
in 1899; afterward delegate to represent the United States at
International Congress on Instruction in Art, Paris, 1900 and
Berne, Switzerland, 1904; member of the Advisory Committee, Art
Section, St. Louis Exposition, 1904; for many years was the only
woman mezzotint engraver in the world; has been principal of the
Philadelphia School of Design for Women since 1886; president of
the Plastic Club, Philadelphia, and vice-president of the
Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts,
Philadelphia.
Harriet Sartain 1873 ~
1957
Born in Philadelphia; daughter of Henry and Maria Sartain;
studied at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women exhibited
in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Art Club,
New York Water Color Club, American Water Color Society, Chicago
Art Institute, Chicago World's Fair, St Louis Exposition;
instructor of drawing and water color in the Philadelphia School
of Design for Women since 1893; director of the Art Department
of Swarthmore College 1902; instructor in art at Pocono Pines
Assembly, summer schools at Naomi Pines, Pennsylvania; member of
the Plastic Club of Philadelphia and alumnae of the Philadelphia
School of Design for Women.
Carrie M. Shoff
Mrs. Carrie M. Shoff was born in Huntington, Indiana, April 2,
1849, invented a method of manufacturing imitation limoges,
largely used in the manufacture of advertising signs and in
cheaper wares.
Emily Maria Scott 1832
~ 1915
Born at Springwater, New York; daughter of Thomas Lawrence and
Almira Spafard; studied at the National Academy of Design, and
at the Art Students' League, in New York, and in Paris under
Raphael Collin. Married to Charles Scott, in 1860; exhibited at
the Paris salon in 1886, and Paris Exposition in 191 1. Appears
in all the current exhibitions and expositions held in the
United States. Received gold medal at Atlanta Exposition;
honorable mention at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901;
represented in the Erie Public Library; vice-president New York
Water Color Club; member of American Water Color Society and
National Arts Club, New York.
Eugenia Shankland
Is a member of the "Order of the Visitation" in Wilmington,
Delaware, and is the daughter of Manning R. Shankland. She is an
artist of some note, painting a number of fine altar pieces for
several of the churches of the Capital City, and her copy of
Washington, in the room of the vice-president at the United
States Capitol, has attracted much attention.
Annie C. Shaw 1852 ~
Born at Troy, New York, 1852; lived for some years in Chicago
studying art under H. C. Ford; in that city she was elected an
associate of the Chicago Academy of Design, in 1873, and an
academician, in 1876, the first woman upon whom the distinction
has been conferred. Among her paintings are "On the Calumet,"
"Willow Island," "Keene Valley," "Ebb Tide
on the Coast of Maine," "Head of a Jersey Bull," "The
Return from the Fair" and "Illinois Prairie." She
has exhibited in Chicago, Boston. New York and the Centennial
Exposition.
Isabel Elizabeth Smith
1845 ~
Miss Isabel Elizabeth Smith was born in Clairmont County, Ohio,
in 1845. After studying abroad for three years. Miss Smith
opened a studio in Washington, District of Columbia, where she
met with marked success, painting portraits of many prominent
persons. She has won quite an enviable reputation as a miniature
painter and is now doing work on the Pacific coast.
Rosina Emmett Sherwood
1854 ~ 1948
Mrs. Rosina Emmett Sherwood was born in New York, December 13,
1854. She was a twin sister of Robert Temple Emmett, direct
descendant of Thomas A Emmett, the Irish Patriot She studied
under William M. Chase; also in Paris. Her first work was on
china, followed by illustrations of juvenile books. In 1884 she
illustrated Mrs. Barton Harrison's "Old Fashioned Tales." She is
a member of The American Society, and a member of the Society of
American Artists. In 1887 she married the son of Mrs. John
Sherwood.
Ellen Hardin Walworth
(The Younger) 1858 ~
Was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, October, 1858. Was the
Daughter of Mansfield Tracy Walworth. She was a student of art,
conducting classes in sketching, and was principal of St Mary's
Academy, Albany, from 1888 to 18901 Author of "An Old World
as Seen Through Young Eyes," "Lily of the Mohawks,"
"Life and Sketches of Father Walworth," and other
works.
Jennie Wilde
Is the daughter of Judge R. H. Wilde a distinguished newspaper
writer and jurist of New Orleans, her native city. She was a
student of designing and painting in some of the foremost art
schools of Europe. Is a contributor to Northwestern periodicals
and devotes her time to art and journalism. Owing to her
creative ability and inventive genius as an artist, Miss Wilde
has been invited by the Carnival Society of New Orleans to
design the tableaux and many of the spectacular effects used
during the Mardi Gras festival each year in New Orleans.
Women of
America

Source: The Part Taken by Women in
American History, By Mrs. John A. Logan, Published by The Perry-Nalle
Publishing Company, Wilmington, Delaware, 1912.
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