Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
History
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.
Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
Women artists -- Biography
*<b>COX, LOUISE.</b> The picture by Mrs. Cox, reproduced in this book,
illustrates two lines in a poem by Austin Dobson, called "A Song of
Angiola in Heaven."
"Then set I lips to hers, and felt,--
Ah, God,--the hard pain fade and melt."
<b>DE MORGAN, EMILY.</b> Family name Pickering. When sixteen years old,
this artist entered the Slade School, and eighteen months later received
the Slade Scholarship, by which she was entitled to benefit for three
years. At the end of the first year, however, she resigned this privilege
because she did not wish to accept the conditions of the gift.
As a child she had loved the pictures of the precursors of Raphael, in
the National Gallery, and her first exhibited picture, "Ariadne in
Naxos," hung in the Grosvenor Gallery in 1877, proved how closely she had
studied these old masters. At this time she knew nothing of the English
Pre-Raphaelites; later, however, she became one of the most worthy
followers of Burne-Jones.
About the time that she left the Slade School one of her uncles took up
his residence in Florence, where she has spent several winters in work
and study.
One of her most important pictures is inscribed with these lines:
"Dark is the valley of shadows,
Empty the power of kings;
Blind is the favor of fortune,
Hungry the caverns of death.
Dim is the light from beyond,
Unanswered the riddle of life."
This pessimistic view of the world is illustrated by the figure of a
king, who, in the midst of ruins, places his foot upon the prostrate form
of a chained victim; Happiness, with bandaged eyes, scatters treasures
into the bottomless pit, a desperate youth being about to plunge into its
depths; a kneeling woman, praying for light, sees brilliant figures
soaring upward, their beauty charming roses from the thorn bushes.
Other pictures by this artist remind one of the works of Botticelli. Of
her "Ithuriel" W. S. Sparrow wrote: "It may be thought that this Ithuriel
is too mild--too much like Shakespeare's Oberon--to be in keeping with
the terrific tragedy depicted in the first four books of the 'Paradise
Lost.' Eve, too, lovely as she is, seems to bear no likelihood of
resemblance to Milton's superb mother of mankind. But the picture has a
sweet, serene grace which should make us glad to accept from Mrs. De
Morgan another Eve and another Ithuriel, true children of her own fancy."
The myth of "Boreas and Orithyia," though faulty perhaps in technique, is
good in conception and arrangement.
Mrs. De Morgan has produced some impressive works in sculpture. Among
these are "Medusa," a bronze bust; and a "Mater Dolorosa," in
terra-cotta.
<b>DESCHLY, IRENE.</b> Born in Bucharest, the daughter of a Roumanian
advocate. She gave such promise as an artist that a government stipend
was bestowed on her, which enabled her to study in Paris, where she was a
pupil of Laurens and E. Carrière.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account