Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D Part 53

At the Paris Exposition, 1900, she exhibited two excellent portraits, one of her father and another of Ellen Key; also a charming genre subject, "The Old Couple."

ROMANI, JUANA, H. C. Born at Velletri, 1869. Pupil of Henner and Roybet, in Paris, where she lives. This artist is, _sui generis_, a daughter of the people, of unconventional tastes and habits. She has boldly reproduced upon canvas a fulness of life and joy, such as is rarely seen in pictures.

While she has caught something of the dash of Henner, and something of the color of Roybet, and gained a firm mastery of the best French technique, these are infused with the ardor of a Southern temperament.

Her favorite subjects are women--either in the strength and beauty of maternity, or in the freshness of youth, or even of childhood.

Some critics feel that, despite much that is desirable in her work, the soul is lacking in the women she paints. This is no doubt due in some measure to certain types she has chosen--for example, Salome and Herodias, in whom one scarcely looks for such an element.

Her portrait of Roybet and a picture of "Bianca Capello" were exhibited at Munich in 1893 and at Antwerp in 1894. The "Pensierosa" and a little girl were at the Paris Salon in 1894, and were much admired. "Herodias"

appeared at Vienna in 1894 and at Berlin the following year, while "Primavera" was first seen at the Salon of 1895. This picture laughs, as children laugh, with perfect abandon.

A portrait of Miss Gibson was also at the Salon of 1895, and "Vittoria Colonna" and a "Venetian Girl" were sent to Munich. These were followed by the "Flower of the Alps" and "Desdemona" in 1896; "Dona Mona,"

palpitating with life, and "Faustalla of Pistoia," with short golden hair and a majestic poise of the head, in 1897; "Salome" and "Angelica," two widely differing pictures in character and color, in 1898; "Mina of Fiesole," and the portrait of a golden-haired beauty in a costume of black and gold, in 1899; the portrait of Mlle. H. D., in 1900; "L'Infante," one of her most n.o.ble creations, of a remarkably fine execution, and a ravis.h.i.+ng child called "Roger"--with wonderful blond hair--in 1901.

Mlle. Romani often paints directly on the canvas without preliminary sketch or study, and sells many of her pictures before they are finished.

Some of her works have been purchased by the French Government, and there are examples of these in the Luxembourg, and in the Gallery of Mulhausen.

RUPPRECHT, TINI. After having lessons from private instructors, this artist studied under Lenbach. She has been much influenced by Gainsborough, Lawrence, and Reynolds, traces of their manner being evident in her work. She renders the best type of feminine seductiveness with delicacy and grace; she avoids the trivial and gross, but pictures all the allurements of an innocent coquetry.

Her portrait of the Princess Marie, of Roumania, was exhibited in Munich in 1901; its reality and personality were notable, and one critic called it "an oasis in a desert of portraits." "Anno 1793" and "A Mother and Child" have attracted much favorable comment in Munich, where her star is in the ascendant, and greater excellence in her work is confidently prophesied.

SCHWARTZE, THERESE. Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1885; gold medal, 1889. Diploma at Ghent, 1892; gold medal, 1892. At International Exhibition, Barcelona, 1898, a gold medal. Made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Na.s.sau, 1896. Born in Amsterdam about 1851. A pupil of her father until his death, when she became a student under Gabriel Max, in Munich, for a year. Returning to Amsterdam, she was much encouraged by Israels, Bilders, and Bosboom, friends of her father.

She went to Paris in 1878 and was so attracted by the artistic life which she saw that she determined to study there. But she did not succeed in finding a suitable studio, neither an instructor who pleased her, and she returned to Amsterdam. It was at this time that she painted the portrait of Frederick Muller.

In the spring of 1880 she went again to Paris, only to "feast on things artistic." A little later she was summoned to the palace at Soestdijk to instruct the Princess Henry of the Netherlands. In 1883 she served with many distinguished artists on the art jury of the International Exhibition at Amsterdam.

In 1884 she once more yielded to the attraction that Paris had for her, and there made a great advance in her painting. In 1885 she began to work in pastel, and one of her best portraits in this medium was that of the Princess (Queen) Wilhelmina, which was loaned by the Queen Regent for the exhibition of this artist's work in Amsterdam in 1890.

The Italian Government requested Miss Schwartze to paint her own portrait for the Uffizi Gallery. This was shown at the Paris Salon, 1889, and missed the gold medal by two votes. This portrait is thought by some good judges to equal that of Mme. Le Brun. The head with the interesting eyes, shaded by the hand which wards off the light, and the penetrating, observant look, are most impressive.

She has painted a portrait of Queen Emma, and sent to Berlin in 1902 a portrait of Wolmaran, a member of the Transvaal Government, which was esteemed a work of the first rank. She has painted several portraits of her mother, which would have made for her a reputation had she done no others. She has had many notable men and women among her sitters, and though not a robust woman, she works incessantly without filling all the commissions offered her.

Her pictures are in the Museums of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Her work is full of life and strength, and her touch shows her confidence in herself and her technical knowledge. She is, however, a severe critic of her own work and is greatly disturbed by indiscriminating praise. She is serious and preoccupied in her studio, but with her friends she is full of gayety, and is greatly admired, both as a woman and as an artist.

VAN DER VEER, MISS. "This artist," says a recent critic, "has studied to some purpose in excellent continental schools, and is endowed withal with a creative faculty and breadth in conception rarely found in American painters of either s.e.x. Her genre work is full of life, light, color, and character, with picturesque grouping, faultless atmosphere, and a breadth of technical treatment that verges on audacity, yet never fails of its designed purpose."

The fifty pictures exhibited by Miss Van der Veer in Philadelphia, in February, 1904, included interiors, portraits--mostly in pastel--flower studies and sketches, treating Dutch peasant life. Among the most notable of these may be mentioned "The Chimney Corner," "Sat.u.r.day Morning,"

"Mother and Child," and a portrait of the artist herself.

WALDAU, MARGARETHE. Born in Breslau, 1860. After studying by herself in Munich, this artist became a pupil of Streckfuss in Berlin, and later, in Nuremberg, studied under the younger Graeb and Ritter. The first subject chosen by her for a picture was the "Portal of the Church of the Magdalene." Her taste for architectural motives was strengthened by travel in Russia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

The fine old churches of Nuremberg and the venerable edifices of Breslau afforded her most attractive subjects, which she treated with such distinction that her pictures were sought by kings and princes as well as by appreciative connoisseurs.

Her success increased her confidence in herself and enhanced the boldness and freedom with which she handled her brush. An exhibition of her work in Berlin led to her receiving a commission from the Government to paint two pictures for the Paris Exposition, 1900. "Mayence at Sunset" and the "Leipzig Market-Place in Winter" were the result of this order, and are two of her best works.

Occasionally this artist has painted genre subjects, but her real success has not been in this direction.