Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D Part 44

SHRIMPTON, ADA M. Has exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Inst.i.tute of Water-Colors, British Artists, and princ.i.p.al provincial galleries in England and in Australia; also at the Paris Salon. Member of Society of Women Artists, London. Born in Old Alresford, Hampshire. Pupil of John Sparkes at South Kensington, and of Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant in Paris.

This artist has painted princ.i.p.ally figure subjects, among which are "Cedric's Daughter," "Thoughts of Youth are Long Thoughts," "Dream of the Past," "Pippa Pa.s.ses," "Dorothy's Bridesmaid's Dress," etc., etc.

Recently she has devoted herself to portraits of ladies and children, in both oil and water-colors.

SIRANI, ELISABETTA. Has been praised as a woman and as an artist by Lanzi, Malvasia, Picinardi, and other writers until one must believe that in spite of the exaggeration of her personal qualities and her artistic genius, she was a singularly admirable woman and a gifted artist.

She was born in Bologna about 1640, and, like Artemisia Gentileschi, was the daughter of a painter of the school of Guido Reni, whose follower Elisabetta also became. From the study of her master she seems to have acquired the power to perceive and reproduce the greatest possible beauty with which her subjects could be invested.

She worked with such rapidity that she was accused of profiting by her father's a.s.sistance, and in order to refute this accusation it was arranged that the d.u.c.h.ess of Brunswick, the d.u.c.h.ess of Mirandola, Duke Cosimo, and others should meet in her studio, on which occasion Elisabetta charmed and astonished her guests by the ease and perfection with which she sketched in and shaded drawings of the subjects which one person after another suggested to her.

Her large picture of the "Baptism of Christ" was completed when the artist was but twenty years old. Malvasia gives a list of one hundred and twenty pictures executed by Elisabetta, and yet she was but twenty-five when her mysterious death occurred.

In the Pinacoteca of Bologna is the "St. Anthony Adoring the Virgin and Infant Jesus," by the Sirani, which is much admired; several other works of hers are in her native city. "The Death of Abel" is in the Gallery of Turin; the "Charity," in the Sciarra Palace in Rome; "Cupids" and a picture of "Martha and Mary," in the Vienna Gallery; an "Infant Jesus"

and a picture called "A Subject after Guido" are in the Hermitage at Petersburg.

Her composition was graceful and refined, her drawing good, her color fresh and sweet, with a resemblance to Guido Reni in the half tones. She was especially happy in the heads of the Madonna and the Magdalene, imparting to them an expression of exalted tenderness.

Her paintings on copper and her etchings were most attractive; indeed, all her works revealed the innate grace and refinement of her nature.

Aside from her art the Sirani was a most interesting woman. She was very beautiful in person, and the sweetness of her temper made her a favorite with her friends, while her charming voice and fine musical talent added to her many attractions. Her admirers have also commended her taste in dress, which was very simple, and have even praised her moderation in eating! She was skilled in domestic matters and accustomed to rise at dawn to attend to her household affairs, not permitting her art to interfere with the more homely duties of her life. One writer says that "her devoted filial affection, her feminine grace, and the artless benignity of her manners rounded out a character regarded as an ideal of perfection by her friends."

It may be that her tragic fate caused an exaggerated estimate to be made of her both as a woman and an artist. The actual cause of her death is unknown. There have been many theories concerning it. It was very generally believed that she was poisoned, although neither the reason for the crime nor the name of its perpetrator was known.

By some she was believed to have been sacrificed to the same professional jealousy that destroyed Domenichino; others accepted the theory that a princely lover who had made unworthy proposals to her, which she had scorned, had revenged himself by her murder. At length a servant, Lucia Tolomelli, who had been a long time in the Sirani family, was suspected of having poisoned her young mistress, was arrested, tried, and banished.

But after a time the father of Elisabetta, finding no convincing reason to believe her guilty, obtained her pardon.

Whatever may have been the cause of the artist's death, the effect upon her native city was overwhelming and the day of her burial was one of general mourning, the ceremony being attended with great pomp. She was buried beside Guido Reni, in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary, in the magnificent Church of the Dominicans.

Poets and orators vied with each other in sounding her praises, and a book called "Il Penello Lagrimato," published at Bologna soon after her death, is a collection of orations, sonnets, odes, epitaphs, and anagrams, in Latin and Italian, setting forth the love which her native city bore to this beautiful woman, and rehearsing again and again her charms and her virtues.

In the Ercolani Gallery there is a picture of Elisabetta painting a portrait of her father. It is said that she also painted a portrait of herself looking up with a spiritual expression, which is in a private collection and seen by few people.

SMITH, JESSIE WILLc.o.x. Mary Smith prize, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1903. Member of the Plastic Club and a fellow of the Academy, Philadelphia. Born in Philadelphia, where she was a pupil of the Academy; also studied under Thomas Eakins, Thomas P. Anschutz, and Howard Pyle.

Miss Smith is essentially an ill.u.s.trator and her work is seen in all the leading American magazines. "The Child's Calendar" is the work of this artist.

SONREL, MLLE. E. Honorable mention, Paris, 1893; third-cla.s.s medal, 1895; bronze medal, Paris Exposition, 1900. At the Salon des Artistes Francais, 1902, she exhibited "Sybille" and "Monica"; in 1903, "The Dance of Terpsich.o.r.e" and "Princesse Lointaine."

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SPAN, MARIA. Silver medal, Naples, 1859, for a picture of a "Contadina of Sorrento." Born in Naples, 1843. Pupil of her father, Raffaele Span, under whose direction she made a thorough study of figure painting, the results of which are evident in her excellent portraits and historical subjects. She has also been greatly interested in landscape painting, in which she has been successful. "A Confidence" was bought by the Gallery at Capodimonte, and two of her pictures were acquired by the Provincial Council of Naples--a "Contadina," life size, and a "Country Farmyard." One of her best pictures is "Bice at the Castle of Rosate."

SPILIMBERG, IRENE DI. Born in Udina, 1540. Her family was of German origin and exalted position. She was educated in Venice with great care and all the advantages that wealth could command. She was much in the society of learned men, which she preferred before that of the world of fashion.

t.i.tian was her roaster in painting. Lanzi and Rudolfi praised her as an artist, and her fame now rests on the testimony of those who saw her works rather than on the pictures themselves, some of which are said to be in private collections in Italy. t.i.tian painted her portrait as a tribute to her beauty; Ta.s.so celebrated her intellectual charm in a sonnet, and yet she was but nineteen years old when she died.

Twenty years later a collection of orations and poems was published, all of which set forth her attractions and acquirements, and emphasized the sadness of her early death and the loss that the world had suffered thereby. When one remembers how soon after death those who have done a life work are forgotten, such a memorial to one so young is worthy of note.

SPURR, GERTRUDE E. a.s.sociate member of Royal Canadian Academy and member of the Ontario Society of Arts. Born in Scarborough, England.

Pupil of the Lambeth Art School in drawing, of E. H. Holder in painting, in England; also of George B. Bridgman in New York. This artist usually paints small pictures of rural scenery in England and Wales--little stone cottages, bridges, river and mountain scenes. "Castle Rock, North Devon,"

was exhibited at Buffalo, and is owned by Herbert Mason, Esq., of Toronto. "A Peep at Snowdon" and "Dutch Farm Door, Ontario," are in Montreal collections. Her works have been exhibited in London at the Royal Society of British Artists and the Society of Lady Artists, and have been sold from these exhibitions.

I quote from the _Queen_, in reference to one of Miss Spurr's London exhibitions: "We know of no more favorite sketching-ground in N. Wales for the artist than Bettws-y-coed. Every yard of that most picturesque district has been painted and sketched over and over again. The artist in this instance reproduces some of the very primitive cottages in which the natives of the princ.i.p.ality sojourn. The play of light on the modest dwelling-places is an effective element in the cleverly rendered drawing now in the Society of Artists' Exhibition. Miss Spurr, the daughter of a Scarboro lawyer, commenced her art studies with Mr. E. H. Holder, in the winter painting dead birds, fruit, and other natural objects, and in summer spending her time on the coast or in the woods or about Rievaulx Abbey. Any remaining time to be filled up was occupied by attending the Scarboro School of Art under the instruction of Mr. Strange. In a local sketching club Miss Spurr distinguished herself and gained several prizes, and she has at length taken up her abode in the metropolis, where she has attended the Lambeth Schools, studying diligently both from casts and life."

STACEY, ANNA L. Honorable mention at Exhibition of Chicago Artists, 1900; Young Fortnightly Club prize, 1902; Martin B. Cahn prize, Exhibition at Art Inst.i.tute, Chicago, 1902. Member of Chicago Society of Artists. Born in Glasgow, Missouri.

Pupil of Art Inst.i.tute in Chicago. Paints portraits, figure subjects, and landscapes. The Cahn prize was awarded to the "Village at Twilight."

"Florence" is owned by the Klio Club; "Trophies of the Fields," by the Union League Club, Chicago.

Recently Miss Stacey has painted a number of successful portraits.

STADING, EVELINA. Born in Stockholm. 1803-1829. She was a pupil of Fahlcrantz for a time in her native city, and then went to Dresden, where she made a thorough study and some excellent copies of the works of Ruisdael. In 1827 she went to Rome, making studies in Volzburg and the Tyrol _en route_. She painted views in Switzerland and Italy, and two of her landscapes are in the gallery in Christiania.

STANLEY, LADY DOROTHY. Member of the Ladies' Athenaeum Club. Born in London. Pupil of Sir Edward Poynter--then Mr. Poynter--and of M. Legros, at Slade School, University College, London; also of Carolus Duran and Henner in Paris.

Lady Stanley has exhibited at the Royal Academy, the new Gallery, at the English provincial exhibitions, and at the Salon, Paris.

Her picture, "His First Offence," is in the Tate National Gallery; "Leap Frog," in the National Gallery of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. Other pictures of hers are "A Water Nymph," "The Bathers," etc., which are in private galleries. "Leap Frog" was in the Academy exhibition, 1903.

STEBBINS, EMMA. 1815-1882. Born in New York. As an amateur artist Miss Stebbins made a mark by her work in black and white and her pictures in oils. After a time she decided to devote herself to sculpture. In Rome she studied this art and made her first success with a statuette of "Joseph." This was followed by "Columbus" and "Satan Descending to tempt Mankind." For Central Park, New York, she executed a large fountain, the subject being "The Angel of the Waters."

STEPHENS, MRS. ALICE BARBER. Mary Smith prize, 1890. Pupil of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and of the Julian Academy, Paris. An ill.u.s.trator whose favorite subjects are those of every-day home life--the baby, the little child, the grandmother in cap and spectacles, etc.

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