CHALLENGE OF FAIR SEX IN ART

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 9, 2 March 1925, Page 53

CHALLENGE OF FAIR SEX IN ART

TO-DAY AS NEVER BEFORE, THE WOMEN ARTIST IS MAKING A PLACE FOR HERSELF IN EVERY ART CENTRE IN THE WORLD

'"pHE extraordinary prominence attained in recent years by women in the practice of art, and more particularly of painting, is one of the most significant features in the movement of emancipation which has led to the admission of women into the political life of the nation. Not further back than the middle of the nineteenth century a woman painter was apt to be regarded rather as an eccentric, if not a freak; and art was considered so much the prerogative of the strong sex that Rosa Bonheur, as an acknowledgment of her successful competition with men in the field of animal painting, was accorded the privilege of being permitted to adopt male attire. Women of lasting ffiime npO-DAY, when at the Royal Academy and kindred exhibitions there are almost as many works by women as there are by men; when at the art schools there are more girl students than boy students; and when the majority of prizes and scholarships are carried off by the more serious and hardworking women competitors, this prejudice cannot be said to exist any longer. But still the opinion is very largely held that great creative art is beyond the power of women, who at best are but skilful imitators. And any contrary expression of opinion is met by the superficially convincing argument that no women have ever risen to real eminence in their profession. But the argument is entirely fallacious. Indeed, considering the extremely restricted number of women who adopted art as a profession before 1 comparatively recent years, it is surprising how many of them have achieved lasting fame Throughout the Italian Renaissance and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, art was almost considered a profession reserved for men. But whereas thousands of men who earned their living with their brush are now completly for-

gotten, the few women painters of the past occupy an honourable position in the pages of history. There is first of all Sophonisba Anguisciola, daughter of a noble Cremonese family, whose art was held in high esteem by Philip 11. of Spain and his Court. And Rosalba Carriera, who, after a childhood of lace-making and snuffbox painting, became the most famous pastel portraitist of her time, travelling from capital to capital all over Europe and painting the notabilities of every Court. Then there was Artemisia Gentileschi, a realistic painter of great power, and Lavinia Fontana, a member of the Academy of Arts in Rome, and Elisabetta Sirami, as distinguished an etcher as she was a painter. In France, during the 17th and 18th centuries, quite a score of women artists rose to local fame, though only Vigee Le Brun acquired a universal reputation tor her graceful accomplishment. formidable T{hals to <^hCen TN the Netherlands, Judith Leyster's art bids fair to rival that of Frans Hals, and Rachel Ruyseh remains to this day a favourite among collectors of flower paintings. And England can boast of Mary Beale and Angelica Kauffmann, and of that highly gifted amateur, Lady Water ford. The only justification that can be pleaded for those who refuse to admit women to any position in art is that so far women painters have not shown very much individuality. But the women painters of to-day prove themselves formidable rivals of their male contemporaries. They have acquired boldness of handling and freshness of vision. No commanding genius has yet arisen. But genius is of rare occurrence among men. The efforts of the young generation is full of promise and is beginning to clinur flachoc n( incnirntint!