Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 77

Several times I have referred to the progress in art displayed by woman at St. Louis. This was evidenced not only in the magnificent specimens of her brush and chisel in the Fine Arts Museum in both the home and foreign art schools, but in the prolific efforts of her skill in outside exposition sculpture, where woman's work, side by side with man's, was pointed to with exultation as one of the greatest triumphs of the twentieth century exposition. We all recall how many of the most notable pieces of statuary crowning the various great palaces were the work of divinely endowed women. Such was the superb "Victory,"

surmounting Festival Hall, the conception of Mrs. Evylyn B.

Longman, while the spirit of "Missouri," which winged its flight from the summit of the great Missouri Building, was executed by Miss Carrie Wood, of St. Louis. To Miss Grace Lincoln Temple, the beautiful decorations of the interior of the United States Government Building were due. The two "Victory" statues on the Grand Basin and the Daniel Boone statue were executed by Miss Enid Yandell, by birth a Kentuckian, but now of New York. The statues of James Monroe, James Madison, George Rogers Clark, on Art Hill, were, respectively, done by Julia M. Bracken, Chicago; Janet Scudder, Terre Haute, and Elsie Ward, Denver. The reclining figures over the central door of the Liberal Arts Building were by Edith B. Stephens, of New York, and the east and north spandrels of the Machinery Building were done by Melva Beatrice Wilson, New York.

Glancing at the portrait painting of Cecelia Beaux, the work of Mary MacMonnies, of Margaret Fuller, of Mrs. Kenyon c.o.x, and of Kate Carr, of Tennessee; of Virginia Demont-Breton, of France: of Lady Tadema and Henrietta Rae, of Great Britain, we feel, as well as see, the exalted place woman's genius has given her in the art world of to-day. While in science we point with gratification not only to Madame Currie, but to the astronomical work of Miss Whitney, of Va.s.sar; of Miss Agnes Clerke, of Cambridge, England, and of Dorothea Klumpke, born in San Francisco, but connected with the Paris Observatory and one of the foremost astronomers of France. In archaeological works Miss Elizabeth Stokes, of Alexandra College, Dublin; in research work, Miss Skeel, of Westfield College, London; and in mathematics, Sophia Kowalevski, of Stockholm, and Charlotte Angus Scott, born in England and professor at Bryn Mawr, stand out preeminent--adding even greater l.u.s.ter to the woman's page of science, on which in the past the names of Caroline Herschel, Mary Summerville, and Maria Mitch.e.l.l were written in illumined letters.

In medical works, especially in the United States, and more particularly in the profession of surgery, women have scored for themselves many glorious successes, though it is not possible here to enter into an amplification of the subject.

In conclusion, I would say that the Louisiana Purchase Exposition markedly showed the setting aside by women of former traditions and her expansion into a new life, where, though by no means giving up the ornamental and social, she has yet demonstrated her rights to be recognized in the broader and more useful fields of discovery, investigation, and invention in art, science, and industry. She is everywhere the rival of man, everywhere entering with enthusiasm his chosen paths, excepting perhaps in naval and military operations, and as nurse and ministering doctor she is even there.

As the World's Fair at St. Louis was a stupendous triumph of modern times in manufactures, in economic and liberal arts, in electricity, in history, in science, in architecture, in agriculture and forestry, in landscape gardening, in machinery, in archaeology, in education, in fine arts--in fact, along every line of practical work as well as in the sciences and arts--so woman's progress in every department was such as to gleam forth from even the superb and marvelous splendor everywhere reflected as worthy of her highest ambition and as suggestive of untold and signal possibilities for the future.

GROUP 4, MRS. E.H. THAYER, OF DENVER, COLO., JUROR.

Under the group heading "Special Education in Fine Arts," the two cla.s.ses into which it was divided represented: (Inst.i.tutions for teaching drawing, painting, and music. Art schools and inst.i.tutes. Schools and departments of music; conservatories of music. Methods of instruction, results obtained. Legislation, organization, general statistics.)

Mrs. Thayer writes as follows:

As a juror of this group I was a.s.sociated with five jurors, all men, holding positions as professors of schools of art, and they agreed with me that the fine art work of the woman was equal to the men students and in some schools of art it was far superior; this was especially so in the study of the nude from the academies of art in New York and Philadelphia.

The only school of art in which we found the work of woman inferior to men was in Austria, excepting in the making of lace and embroidery; but the studies in figure painting was inferior to the same work done by woman in American schools. Yet the art students' work from Austria, as a whole, was so fine we gave that country the grand prize.

I was particularly pleased with the wall-paper designs made by women students in a school of design in New York City. They were most original and artistic. This school made a display of several hundred designs, and we were told they were all sold for large prices during the exposition to manufacturers of wall paper.

The New York Night School of Art showed some remarkably good work by girls who were employed during the day. The professor in charge told us that the girls were so eager for instruction in art that they would be waiting for the doors to open and would work longer hours and make greater progress than the men.

GROUP 7, MISS HOPE FAIRFAX LOUGHBOROUGH, OF LITTLE ROCK, ARK., JUROR.

Under the group heading "Education of defectives," the three cla.s.ses into which it was divided represented: Inst.i.tutions for the blind, publications for the blind; inst.i.tutions for the deaf and dumb; inst.i.tutions for the feeble-minded. (Management, methods, courses of study; results. Special appliances for instruction. Legislation, organization, statistics. Buildings; plans and models.)

Miss Loughborough presents the following report:

The jury of group 7 in the Department of Education had under its inspection the work of the blind, the deaf, and the feeble-minded. In view of the fact that the exhibits were sent by inst.i.tutes and special schools, and were the result of the cooperation of men and women teachers who selected the work of both boys and girls to represent the school as a whole, it was difficult to estimate with accuracy the proportional amount of women's work. As nearly as it can be estimated, however, two-fifths of the exhibits shown in the three cla.s.ses of which this group was composed were the work of women. With the exception of a few special prizes the awards were given to inst.i.tutions and not to individuals, but about 21 per cent of these were given for women's work. The work of the boys and girls in the shops was generally shown distinctly, but were not awarded separately, the whole idea being to show, not what the boys or girls, the teachers or princ.i.p.als were doing individually, but what results were being obtained in the inst.i.tutions from the best-known methods for special education, both in cla.s.s and industrial work, and particularly to show by means of the model school--or living exhibit--some of the cla.s.s methods in operation.

The living exhibits were the most striking in cla.s.ses 19 and 20.

They consisted of entire cla.s.ses which were brought, one at a time, from different State inst.i.tutions. Each cla.s.s remained at the fair some weeks, were provided with accommodations on the grounds, and had its recitations every day in a temporary schoolroom in the Educational Building. This cla.s.s room was always surrounded by a crowd of eager lookers on, who watched with the utmost attention the methods of instruction--so little known to the public in general--by which the deaf and blind make such wonderful progress. The work of instruction in the living exhibits, although almost entirely planned by men, was executed by women.

The awards for the living exhibits were given the inst.i.tutions from which the cla.s.ses came, with one exception. This exception was Lottie Sullivan, a deaf and blind girl from the Colorado inst.i.tution, who was awarded a gold medal for her apt.i.tude and the progress she had made. The jury thought at first that her teacher, too, deserved special recognition for the results obtained, but as it was found that the teacher in charge of Lottie Sullivan at the fair had had her but a short time, and that there was no one person responsible for her progress, it was decided to make no award.

Of the special schools, not State inst.i.tutions, which exhibited, those conducted by women showed work on a par with that done in the schools conducted by men, and received as liberal rewards.

Particularly creditable was the work done in the schools for the feeble-minded.

In group 7 the exhibits were divided into three cla.s.ses, 19, 20, and 21, the work respectively of the blind, the deaf, and the feeble-minded. In cla.s.s 19 women showed basket work, raffia work, modeling in clay, hammock weaving, crocheting, embroidery, printing by means of Braille writing machines, and cla.s.s work; in cla.s.s 20, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, painting, drawing, modeling, and cla.s.s work, and in cla.s.s 21, basket making, sewing, embroidery, crocheting, and cla.s.s work.

There was but one foreign woman who made an exhibit. This was Mademoiselle Mulot, a French woman, who had invented a writing machine for blind children. She had brought a little blind French boy with her, who was not installed as an exhibit, but whom she brought before the jury to show the working of her machine. This machine consisted of a small frame blocked off into squares, in which the child was taught to write the letters of the English alphabet. Mademoiselle Mulot's claim for award was that with the machine generally in use it was necessary to teach the child a language of dots and dashes which was not legible by people in general. Although ingenious, Mademoiselle Mulot's machine was not considered striking or new enough to warrant an award.

There was no display within the jurisdiction of group 7 which would seem to indicate any great advancement in the work of women since the Chicago Exposition, though the methods of instruction--many of them through the painstaking application of women--have undergone marked improvement. The work of women as shown by the exhibits in the education of defectives at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, placed on equal terms of comparison with that of men, was very creditable. There was nothing particularly helpful or suggestive in the school work being shown on equal terms of comparison with that of men, for in this field women have always kept well abreast of men, and their work has been appreciated equally with that of men.

Department B, art, Prof. Halsey C. Ives, chief, comprised six groups and eighteen cla.s.ses, the board of lady managers being represented in four of the groups.

GROUP 9. MISS MARY SOLARI, MEMPHIS, TENN., JUROR.

Under the group heading "Paintings and Drawings," the two cla.s.ses into which it was divided represented. Paintings on canvas, wood, metal, enamel, porcelain, faence, and on various preparations, by all direct methods, in oil, wax, tempera, and other media; mural paintings; fresco painting on walls; drawings and cartoons in water color, pastel, chalk, charcoal, pencil, and other media, on any material; miniatures on ivory.

Miss Solari reports as follows:

WOMEN IN THE WORLD OF ART AT THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION.

The first feeling of a woman who looks back to the history of art during the last ten years is one of pride, for she recognizes that the exhibit made by women in the Fine Art Department of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition is the best, most complete, and important that has ever been made by women at any previous exposition; that it is superior to that made at the Chicago World's Fair in point of quality and character, and by competent judges said to be better than that made in Paris in 1900.

As regards the St. Louis Exposition, that influence is conspicuous which has brought about a development rather than new foundations or new schools. In seeking subjects for the "new thought" the "old masters" have not been lost sight of. "There is nothing new under the sun," and as the musician draws from the old masters his soul-inspiring theme, so the aspiring painter studies the canvases of the past ages for his correct guidance. And to the dispa.s.sionate observer these things prove much with regard to the actual work being done by women artists, and the new influences, if such they be, that have made themselves felt during the last decade. Should we regard a work of art as an independent ent.i.ty, the result of what is called "a separate creative act" on the part of the artist, with no relation to its environment, we must perforce conclude prenatal conditions in the painter which we are loath to admit. Hence we have no reason to be ashamed of the old masters. Critics there are who know how to judge of a picture, and critics who const.i.tutionally can not draw from a canvas a simple salient good feature; they have not the knowledge of the difference between bad and beautiful design and color, or the meaning of harmony.

If we may apply to art what Goethe said of poetry we find that among its votaries there are two kinds of self-half-informed people, "dilettanti," he calls them, "he who neglects the indispensable mechanical part, and he thinks he has done enough if he shows spirituality and feeling, and he who seeks to arrive at poetry merely by mechanism in which he can acquire an artisan's readiness, and is without soul and matter."

This exposition has no doubt been the means of discouraging a number of men and women from continuing in a profession for which they are not qualified by the possession of any rare gift.

It is to be hoped, however, that the work accepted and shown at the St. Louis Exposition will prove that a cla.s.s of women artists has been produced in the decade just past who have at least learned the grammar of their chosen art work--the value of simple lines and pure tones.

The work of the women was placed side by side with that of the men artists and where the pictures would show to the best advantage and harmonize with the surrounding ones.

In examining for awards the merit of the work was discussed and considered regardless of the name the canvas bore; but that this was the better plan for exhibiting women's work leaves room for doubt, because as a whole women's work could not be viewed, thereby leaving the exhibition incomprehensive to the average visitor who could not grasp the importance of woman's contribution to the world of art by the scattered pictures as arranged in the various galleries of the Art Building. I do not hesitate to say that women in general by their representation at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition derived little or no benefit by having their work placed side by side with that of men, chiefly because it was reduced to insignificance by the small proportion of works exhibited. Secondly, the visiting public was not attracted by the fact that women had a picture here and there hanging on some one of the walls in the Palace of Art.

Had their work been collected in one gallery the display would have been more comprehensive and better appreciated. But, nevertheless, this exposition has emphasized the fact that woman fills an important place in the field of art. She wields her brush deftly, conscientiously, and her canvases fit well side by side with those of her brother artists.

Women at the exposition excelled most in figure paintings in oils, and in this line of work have made greater progress since the Chicago Exposition than in any other branch of the fine arts. The execution is bold, free, and shows a greater familiarity with the subject portrayed, though they have reached a very high standard in watercolor landscapes and are notably strong in miniature painting. The innate refinement and delicate sense of detail and color which characterizes women are prominent for the features for the production of the high finish required in a miniature. Mural painting is beginning to attract women, and with their love for beautiful homes they must soon excel in this branch and bring decorative art to a fuller perfection.

One of the crowning glories of this exposition is that it has brought to the few American artists living at home the opportunity to study the salient characteristics of the schools of the various countries exhibiting at the St. Louis Exposition.

Twenty-four countries exhibited in the Fine Arts Department and contributed to Groups IX and X 5,468 pictures from nearly 1,500 professional artists, of which number not more than 300 were women (289) and fully half this number were represented by their work in the United States section. The number of awards bestowed in the United States section was 41 to women exhibitors against 239 to men. The total number given in the foreign sections, collectively, was 17 to women against 398 to men. No work executed prior to the Chicago Exposition was in compet.i.tion for award.

EXHIBITS BY WOMEN IN THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF GROUPS IX AND X.

United States: Oil paintings, 64; water colors, 41; mural paintings, 6; miniatures, 42. Argentina: Oil painting (by Julia Wernicke), 1. Belgium: Oil paintings, 21; water colors, 6.

Ceylon: Oil paintings, 2. Italy: Oil paintings, 9; water colors, 2. Nicaragua: Oil painting (Miss Andrea Garcia), 1. Portugal: Oil paintings, 4. Sweden: Oil paintings, 6. England: Oil paintings, 16; water colors, 13; drawings, 10. Austria: Oil paintings, 3. Canada: Oil paintings, 10; water colors, 2.

Holland: Oil paintings, 21. j.a.pan: Oil paintings, 5. Peru: Oil painting (Miss Amalia Franco), 1. Russia: Oil paintings, 15; water colors, 15. France: Oil paintings, 19; water colors, 17.

The two last-named countries (France and England) did not exhibit in any department for awards.

List of honors conferred by the international jury of awards upon women artists exhibiting in the Department of Fine Arts of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition:

United States section.--Group IX, gold medal: Cecelia Beaux, Lucia Fairchild Fuller, Laura C. Hills, Theodora W. Thayer.

Silver medal: Adelaide Cole Chase, Louise c.o.x, Helen Emmet, Lidia F. Emmet, Rosina E. Sherwood, Janet Wheeler, Mary S.

Green, Elizabeth Nourse, Violet Oakley, Sara C. Sears, Susan Watkins. Bronze medal: Ellen Witherald Ahrens, Martha S. Baker, Alice Beckington, Emma Lampert Cooper, Mary C. d.i.c.kson, Elinor Earle, Adele Herter, Emma Kipling Hess, Margaret Kendall, Anna E. Klumpke, Clara T. MacChesney, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, Mabel Packard, Pauline Palmer, Lilla Cabot Perry, Alice T. Searle, Amanda Brewster Sewell, Mariana Sloan, Letta C. Smith, Mary Van der Veer, A.B. Wing, Louise Wood. Group X, silver medal: Charlotte Harding, Jessie Willc.o.x Smith. Bronze medal: Maud Alice Cowles, Elizabeth Shippen Green.

Belgium.--Group IX, paintings and drawings, silver medal: Louise De Hem, Henriette Calias, Marie De Bievre, Juliette Witsman.