ART AND ARTISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 85

ART AND ARTISTS.

8000dol for her "Horse Fair." the earliest! of ho- works, and she left a fortune of several million francs. . The five women who are decoiated with the legion of Honour to-day are Madame Madeline Lemaire, who is described as the Pos ( Ror.hour of Flowers; Madame LouiseAbbema; Madame Yirginie Demont-Breton, pciiptCi ot marine pieces; Cas-p-.-t nn Amer'oan girl <lomicilod in Iranoe, who i> famous for her pictures of AiUi hie- a»d Mdlle. Dutau, painter of scenes and incidents in the Basque pun inces. I Theie are se\ernl studios specially reserved for the instruction of girls. Ihe

— Air Fiink Cadogan Cow per. who has just been elected to an A«<ocian ship of the Rojal Aeadeinv. has not had to wait lon« for the recognition of his aniline. it i* , oi.lv eight years ago since ho commence,! ' oxhibitin? and 10-day. at 30 year,, of age he finds himself already within the charmed fu-le of Burlington Hou-e. There are *cry fow .\ earned. cians who hnie been honovncl l t so ,onn S an age as Mr Cow per. The last was Sir Hubert wn Heikomer. Mr Cow per wa« born at Wieken. in Northant-., in 1877. H>. father i, Mr Frank Cowper MV. an author of repute. As a boy it w«i« c'asv to note in what direction hi= inclination, lay. The pencil was %, ever in his hand. But he did not apply himseli o serious stu.l% until hi- nineteenth year. Then he went to the St. John * Wood l Ait School, an msiitution which has been reinarkablv successful in its training of vounff allies. "His pro-re^ was rapid, and in a ,ear he w.^ suftkiontlv advanced to migrate to the spools of the R<«al Academr, whore .he reman.cd from 1897 . until 1902. One 1o f {he MSit.ntr Academicians Mr K. A. Al-bev grew i.noie-ted in the brilliant student, and offoied him an opportuniJ.v of working in his studio as an assistant. This «a« tiie turninir-point in Mr Cow per c career. A<= a colourist and master of decorative paint. n X Mr Abbey « unequalled, conseor.cnlly the lime spent under the aeg. of such a painter was laid out to the bo*t advantage. Under the guidance of the groat American, Mr Cowper made remoikable progress in his technique, and after mx well-spent months the young artist turned his face towards the painter s Mecca. Italy. WOMEN" PAINTERS OF PATHS. One oi the feature* of the autumn Salon in Paris wa«> the exhibition in a room by Ihemsche-, of 100 pictures by Mme. Bcrthe Morizot, sister- in law of Edouaid Manet. The display consisted of corners of Norman coast, and" portraits of women and girls done in pearly ffieys lit up with famt tj 'ir S w-a1 trt" t.»e that a ™an,l,ad held the honour of a -retroWeciive m Pari* It was resided as phowing the place 'tT,at women ha^ o achieved an a little more than a century in the h.-lorv of art. Thi"? year it is just a century since the death' of Angelica KauiFmann, the first woman painter to achie\e gicat reputaAi the time of her death Madaffle VigeoLebrun was paintiajj the portraits that have made her known all over the world. Theft tame a long interval until the rise of Rosa Bonheur in. the sixties. But the latter half of th(- nineteenth century saw a great change. . . Rosa Bonheur was d : stinctly not feminine, but her success rtirtrulated the movement of women towards artistic work. She received

jgirl-, wc.Tiujt Mother Hubbards over their Street dress, sketch and paint industriously Ifrorn the living model. The supreme authority of the studio is iithe mas«iere, or mace-bearer a« she is called in students' slang. She is one of .the girls elected by her comrades. She iruns the finances, deals with the models, Settles disputes, and exercises such discipline as may be necessary — generally as little as possible. It was in the Acidemie Julian that Marie BJasbkirtspff painted her humorous piece '"Le Meeting-," which won her a medal of fconour. Youno- women are now admitted to th< % Regular classes of the Ecole dcs Beaux Arts. They are placed exactly o n the same piano Jpith the male students. They paint toVether from the same mode's, and aio in liompetition for the great prizes, including ■jhe Prix de Rome, but no woman has vPt fcaptured any of the honours of the school. HThere are al^o special couises for ".omen In other public institutions. Every roar more than 2CO women have fcictuv^s hung in the Salon exhibitions — Sfew York Sun. A HYPNOTIC ARTIST. Several medical experts from different "•ountries have been invited by a doctor at "feeneva to make a special study of a Swi--? Siaiden, Fraulein Smitch, who although Jtotally uneducated ia art matteis produces toil paintings while in a hypnotic sfato, blending the tints in a wonderful manner. iThe girl lias never received drawing lesJjons; sh^> has never seen any real paintSngs, except the few that adorn the walls tof her village church ; and. moreover, she je colour blind, being unable in her- -normal >tate to distinguish clearly between blue. i.nd green, and voilet, or any of the shades tof red , As an experiment, the doctor, finding she "Was an excellent hypnotic subject, put her ■Under the influence and commanded her a. picture, cne of those in her vjl__ge church. Quickly and almost perfectly }he drew a head of the Madonna. The Jloctor provided her with some colours, and Ordered her to colour the drawing. This ihe did correctly. Under the hypnotic inSuence, Fraulein Smitch on another occaiion was ordered to paint a large picture Vhich included many figures, in the prp Sence of a number of artists brought together sp<v '«.l'y to v-'uch her Phe handled

the paletto and mixed <he coiours a-> if to the manner born. Fir?t ""lie sketched m on the canvas tho skeletons of the figures, and then applied her brushes. She worked with marvellouo rapidity for a couple of hours. The next day she continued where she had left off ; and in less than a week the painting was finished. It excellent in detail, colouring, and technique. Fraulein Smitch has tried in her normal condition to draw and paint, and although offered large pecuniary rewards, cannot do anything at all.