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Women art students in America: An historical study of academic art instruction during the nineteenth century

Green, Marcia Hyland, Ph.D.

The American University, 1990

Copyright ©1990 by Green, Marcia Hyland. All rights reserved.

UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Aibor, MI 48106

P...... Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WOMEN ART STUDENTS IN AMERICA: AN HISTORICAL

STUDY OF ACADEMIC ART INSTRUCTION DURING

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

by

Marcia Hyland Green

submitted to the

Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences

of The American University

in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree

of Doctor of Philosophy

in

Educational Administration

Signatupqs of Committee: ^ A

Chair:

/ % , / ujlU. Dean of (the College â'jo Date

1990

The American University

Washington, D.C. 20016

t e e AMÉBICM DlîIv'EnSîTY LIBRARY

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. @ COPYRIGHT

BY

MARCIA H. GREEN 1990

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION

To B. S. G.,III, with my love

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. WOMEN ART STUDENTS IN AMERICA: AN HISTORICAL

STUDY OF ACADEMIC ART INSTRUCTION DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY BY

Marcia Hyland Green

ABSTRACT

Art historians have suggested that one reason for the

small number of women artists prior to the twentieth cen­

tury was limited access to appropriate artistic instruc­

tion. Current art historical texts on nineteenth-century

American art have given very little attention to women

artists of the period. It was the researcher's goal in the

present study to determine if a lack of appropriate edu­

cational opportunities was one explanation for the obscur­

ity of nineteenth-century American women artists. There­

fore, the purpose of the research was to analyze academic

art training for American women during the past century.

The study examined four nineteenth-century art

schools: the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the

National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, and

the Corcoran School of Art. All four schools employed the

French academic model for art instruction. The "academic"

approach to art training emphasized drawing instruction in

ii

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. which elementary students copied plaster casts of antique Greek and Roman statues; advanced students drew from live,

usually nude, models. The research focused on the curri­

culum, faculty, student competitions, and the educational

environment of each program as it pertained to women's art

education. The research findings indicated that American

academic art schools during the nineteenth century provided

women students with thorough and rigorous academic art

instruction and that there were only minor differences in

the curricular course of study for men and for women. The

researcher did uncover specific instances of racism, sexual harassment, gender stereotyping, and restrictive social

attitudes. However, even with these occurrences, the four

schools under study provided women art students with com­ prehensive training, professional opportunities, and per­

sonal support. There was relative equality in the educa­

tional environment for male and female students. Although

the study did not cover nineteenth-century European art

schools, the surprising implication was that the American

schools were far more progressive and offered greater

opportunities than their European counterparts. Therefore,

the conclusion of the study was that a lack of appropriate

education cannot be adduced as the reason for the obscurity

of nineteenth-century American women artists.

iii

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Deep thanks and appreciation go to Ruby Weinbrecht of

the Corcoran Gallery of Art, David Dellinger of the

National Academy of Design, and Lawrence Campbell of the

Art Students League. They provided invaluable archival

assistance. Without their help this research could not

have been conducted. I also want to express my gratitude and appreciation

to Margaret Meyers of the Archives of American Art,

Washington, D.C. She displayed enormous patience with a

very tempermental copier. I owe especial thanks to the faculty and staff of the

Art Department of The American University. They were, at

all times, gracious and professional to me, a student from

another discipline. Rebecca Army of the School of

Education guided me through the maze of administrative

paperwork surrounding the production of a dissertation. I

am most appreciative of her assistance. I want to thank my dissertation committee. Dr.

Bernard Hodinko, Dr. Mary D. Garrard, and Dr. Renee

Sandell. Dr. Hodinko furnished essential technical advice

and moral support. The scholarly writings of Dr. Garrard

iv

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Dr. Sandell were particularly insightful and provided

the impetus for this research. I am most indebted to them.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...... viii

Chapter

1. Introduction: Women as Artists ...... 1 Methodology ...... 9 Definition of T e r m s ...... 13

2. THE ACADEMIC TRADITION: THE EUROPEAN MODEL FOR TRAINING IN THE VISUAL A R T S ...... 15 The Academy in F r a n c e ...... 20 The Royal Academy of Lo n d o n ...... 26 Curriculum in Nineteenth-Century France . . 28 European Art Training for Nineteenth- Century W o m e n ...... 35 Academic Art Education in the United S t a t e s ...... 38

3. THE SOCIAL MILIEU: AMERICA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH ART, ARTISTS AND WOMEN ...... 44 American Women During the Nineteenth C e n t u r y ...... 53 America's Relationship with Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century...... 59

4. TRAINING IN THE VISUAL ARTS FOR AMERICAN WOMEN ...... 70 Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts . . . 72 National Academy of Design ...... 126 Art Students L e a g u e ...... 165 Corcoran School of A r t ...... 203

5. EDUCATIONAL ANALYSIS: FINDINGS, CONSIDERATIONS IMPLICATIONS ...... 243 Gender Considerations in the Nineteenth- Century School Curriculum ...... 246 Cultural Considerations Regarding Nineteenth-Century Women Art Students. . 250 Conclusion and Implications ...... 254

vi

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. POSTSCRIPT ...... 258

APPENDIX A ...... 261

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 264

vil

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AAA Archives of American Art

PAFA Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

NAD National Academy of Design

ASL Art Students League

CGA Corcoran Gallery of Art

Vlll

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION: WOMEN AS ARTISTS

"Submit yourself to the direction of a master of

instruction as early as you can; and do not leave until you

have to.This admonition was directed toward young

artists by the medieval painter, Cennino Cennini. Cennini

was referring to the guild system of indenturing neophyte

artisans to a master's workshop. The practice of studying

under master craftsmen became the basis of art education.

It would evolve into the "Academy" of the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries and eventually develop into twentieth

century art schools and college art departments.

Currently, there is a tendency to overlook the

critical value of artistic instruction in the development

of artists. We adhere to the Romantic stereotype of the

artist: someone who is born with immense talent and,

therefore, untutored can create great masterpieces. This

misguided notion can be devastating to art education and is

simply not accurate.

The current popularity of Impressionism, Post-

Icennino Cennini, "The Craftsman's Handbook," in & Documentary History of Art. ed. Elizabeth Gilmore Holt (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1981), 139.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Impressionism, and Modernism has tended to downgrade the

value of artistic training. The perceived closeness of the

nineteenth-century Ecole des Beaux-Arts with stodgy,

unimaginative artworks has prejudiced modern thinking. For

these reasons, it is easy to ignore how important the

education of artists is. There are varying levels of

artistic ability; but, individuals benefit greatly from

instruction and guidance.

As an example, one can point to the early paintings

of Benjamin West and Gilbert Stuart. Both men received

minimal instruction in Colonial America. The lack of

education can be seen in the stiff poses, the anatomical

errors, and the limited use of shading/modeling which

characterize their early works. After West and Stuart received training in Europe, both men showed dramatic

improvement in their painting and compositional skills.

Although there are a few exceptions, great artists

have studied, practiced, and experimented under the

tutelage of others. Michelangelo studied with Ghirlandaio;

Poussin was instructed by Georges Lallemand; Jacques-Louis

David trained under Vien. Even the idealized renegades of

the academic system, Edouard Manet and Claude Monet,

studied within very conventional circumstances, under

Couture and Gleyre respectively. The student may greatly

surpass the techniques of the teacher; however, there is

little doubt that artistic instruction is a crucial element

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 in the growth and maturity of an artist.

The term "education" has a broader context than simply the physical entity of a school and a teacher. It

also encompasses cultural stereotypes and imagery. Society

"educates" its citizenry in regards to its expectations.

Illustrations in children's books which show boys actively

engaged in a baseball game while girls sit demurely on the sidelines provide a subtle education of a society's view of

gender roles.

Therefore, when one considers the education of an artist, one must also consider the cultural environment.

Nikolaus Pevsner, author of Academies of Art Past and

Present. realized the link between artistic instruction and

society. In his preface, Pevsner wrote: "Gradually I

began to see that a history of art could be concerned not

so much in terms of changing styles as of changing rela­

tions between the artist and the world surrounding him. The two facets of education, the actual instruction

and the cultural environment, are particularly pertinent in

the study of women's art history. In a 1971 article for

ArtNews magazine, Linda Nochlin asked the now famous

question, "Why have there been no great women artists?"

Professor Nochlin suggested that the dearth of female

artists was due to Western cultural attitudes regarding

^Nikolaus Pevsner, Academies of Art (London: Cambridge University Press, 1940), vii.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 "greatness", "genius", and "the artist". She also indi­

cated that social institutions — education, in particular

— may be responsible for the limited number of well-known

women artists.^

Historically, the "education" of women as artists has been hampered by limited access to professional instruction

and by cultural restrictions regarding the image of woman­

hood. Charlotte Yeldham in her published dissertation

examined art education for nineteenth-century French and

British women. She reported that the Ecole des Beaux-Arts

did not admit women until 1897. Therefore, women who

desired advanced training in France attended private

schools such as the Académie Julian or studied in ateliers

willing to accept women such as Charles Chaplin's.

However, Yeldham considered that even these options removed

women from the mainstream of nineteenth-century French art which was rooted in the academic system of the Ecole.*

Early in the nineteenth century, the Ecole des Beaux-

Arts reached the height of its prestige and influence. By

the end of the century, however, its power had declined with the anti-academic movement of Impressionism and the

growing popularity of the Avant-Garde. Not so

^Linda Nochlin, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?," ArtNews 69 (January 1971):22 - 39, 67 - 71 passim.

^Charlotte Yeldham, Women Artists in Nineteenth- Century France and England (New York: Garland Publishing, 1984), vol. 1 passim.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5

coincidentally, the Ecole began to admit female students at

a time when the school's impact on the European art world

was minimal.

In contrast, the progress of art and art education

was quite different in America during the nineteenth century. Unlike France which was setting artistic stand­

ards, America was dutifully following European art trends,

such as the Hudson River School — an adaptation of the

Northern Romantic Landscape tradition. However, the United

States unwittingly did establish an innovation in art

education. Formal academic art instruction did not exist in this

country until the nineteenth century. The first institu­

tion was the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts founded

in 1805.5 Throughout the century a variety of formal art schools and vocational training schools emerged based on

the European model of instruction. But, the innovation

that the United States established was in the admission of

female students to its most prestigious art schools. The

best known institutions, the Pennsylvania Academy and the

National Academy of Design, began admitting women on a

regular basis in 1844 and 1846 respectively. Other schools

such as the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students

League, established in the last quarter of the nineteenth

^Edward J. Nygren, "The First Art Schools at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 95 (April 1971): 223,

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 6 century, were founded as co-educational institutions.&

Although not intended to be a single-sex school, the

Corcoran School of Art was almost exclusively made up of

women. During the school's 14th Gold Medal competition in 1898, the three jurors were all women.?

The United States, therefore, was relatively

progressive in its artistic training of women. Large

numbers of young women received academic instruction in the

visual arts. In addition many traveled to Europe for more

extensive training at the Académie Colarossi, Académie

Julian, or in artists' ateliers.

However, with this relatively enlightened attitude

toward women's art education, exists a paradox: there are

virtually no famous American women artists during the

nineteenth century.® The one exception is Mary Cassatt.

She spent the bulk of her career in Paris and is more

^Charlotte Streiffer Rubinstein, American Women (Boston: G. K. Hall and Co.,1982), chap. 4 - 5 passim.

?Corcoran School of Art, "Awards 1885 - 1943," Corcoran Archives, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Jurists were well-respected artists such as William Merritt Chase, who had been a juror in 1894.

®"Fame" has a variety of connotations and is difficult to quantify. However, the researcher considered the reproduction of an artist's work in an art historical text to be one form of recognition. A sampling of books dealing with nineteenth-century American art history revealed that out of 1639 illustrations, eight reproductions were of works by women artists of the previous century. There­ fore, nineteenth-century American women accounted for 0.5% of the illustrated works of art." See Appendix A.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 7

closely associated with French Impressionism than with

American art. So, Mary Cassatt cannot really be considered

representative of American women artists.

One has to question why nineteenth-century American women artists have received so little attention by twen­

tieth century art historians. One possible explanation

might be that these women received inferior art instruction

and as a result produced art works which did not warrant

the attention of modern art historians. Therefore, the

purpose of the study was to examine thoroughly art instruc­

tion for women during the nineteenth century. The

researcher considered the question: what is the difference

between training an individual to be a serious professional

artist versus training him/her to be an accomplished

amateur? In addition, the researcher addressed the

following questions:

1. Were there differences in the curriculum for male

and female students at nineteenth century American art

schopls?

2. How did the nineteenth century female art

students see themselves — as amateurs or as professionals?

How did the faculty view them?

3. What were the cultural attitudes in nineteenth-

century America regarding women art students? Did the ambient society encourage women in their artistic

endeavors?

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8 Research focused on the curriculum, instructors, and the educational environment surrounding female art

students. For example, one area of controversy for women

was life drawing of a male nude model. American cultural

attitudes often prevented women from this type of study. Another point of conflict was anatomy classes. At some

academies women were not permitted to study from cadavers. At other schools males studied the bodies first and by the

time women were allowed to work with them their educational value was minimal.

The study looked at the quality of art education for

women during the nineteenth century. It has been asserted

that women historically have received an inferior education

in the visual arts.® This statement is certainly accurate

for European women; but, is it a correct assumption for

nineteenth-century America? Or was the real impediment,

one of image — the image of the "artist" in conflict with

the image of "womanhood"? It is the researcher's belief

that image is an important element to understanding the

conundrum between amateur and professional for nineteenth- century women art students in America.

Nineteenth-century British art critic John Ruskin in

®Elsa Honig Fine, Women and Art (Montclair, N.J.: Allanheld and Schram, 1978); Germaine Greer, The Obstacle Race (New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979); Ann Sutherland Harris and Linda Nochlin, Women Artists: 1550 - 1950. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1984).

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 9

his book, Sesame and Lilies, characterized men and women in

the following manner; Now their separate characters are briefly these. The man's power is active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, the creator, the discoverer . . . But, the woman's power is for rule, not for battle, — and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet ordering, arrangement, and decision

Ruskin's opinions had a profound impact on art education

and attitudes in the United States.If Americans agreed

with Ruskin's tenet that a woman's intellect was for "sweet

ordering" and "arrangement", then her artistic skills could

never be seen as masterful. Her talent could only be

labeled as a "lovely accomplishment".

Because of the complexity of the task, it was not

feasible to examine all visual arts instruction throughout

the United States during the nineteenth century. The researcher focused on four academies situated in the

eastern United States; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine

Arts (Philadelphia), the National Academy of Design (New

York City), the Art Students League (New York City), and

the Corcoran School of Art (Washington, D.C.).

Methodology

In nineteenth-century America, art education was

lOjohn Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies (London: George Allen and Sons, 1911), 107.

l^Mary Ann Stankiewicz, "The Eye Is a Nobler Organ: Ruskin and American Art Education," Journal of Aesthetic Education 18 (Summer 1984): 51 - 64.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 10

available in a variety of forms such as vocational schools,

secondary schools, female seminaries, and art clubs.

However, this study was concerned only with post-secondary

schools which followed the French academic model and whose

goals were to train students to be painters and sculptors

in the fine arts. The phrase "academic model" designated a

three stage curriculum; copying engravings, copying plaster

casts of antique statuary, and copying from live models. The four selected schools (the Pennsylvania Academy

of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, the Art

Students League, and the Corcoran School of Art) all

employed the academic curriculum model. They were chosen

because of their prominence in American art instruction.

The Pennsylvania Academy and the National Academy were the

oldest and most prestigious art schools during the nine­

teenth century. The Art Students League, although founded

in the last quarter of the past century, had a dramatic

impact on the education of American artists. The Corcoran

School was well-respected; but, it did not have a level of

prestige equivalent to the other institutions. It was

included in the study because it represented a school

slightly removed from the cultural centers of New York and

Philadelphia. The researcher believed that the inclusion

of the Corcoran School of Art would give a broader and more

accurate picture of academic art instruction during the

nineteenth century.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 11 All four schools shared a common geographic location,

the middle Atlantic region of the United States, and a common cultural environment. Therefore, schools such as

the San Francisco Art Institute, the Art Academy of

Cincinnati, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

were excluded because they were situated in the western and

mid-western United States. Limited archival material for

the nineteenth century was another factor which excluded

certain schools of note such as the Maryland Institute,

College of Art.

Although an analysis of four schools does not constitute a comprehensive examination of academic art

training, the schools under study represent the dominant

instructional institutions. They provide a glimpse of the

educational and social environment for nineteenth-century

women art students. It is important to note that research

in this area has been very limited. The present study does

provide an historical overview of academic art training in

the United States and its relationship with nineteenth- century women.

The researcher examined the curriculum, admission requirements, faculty, student art competitions, and the

social climate as they pertained to nineteenth-century

women art students. Recorded minutes from school admini­

stration meetings were the primary source on information. Student publications, correspondence, and school catalogues

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 12

also were used. The private papers of instructors such as

Cecilia Beaux and James Henry Moser provided additional

material. At the outset, the researcher hoped that diaries

and letters of women art students at the institutions under

study might yield information regarding students' atti­

tudes. Material in this area was extremely limited.

Instead, school correspondence and student publications

were used as the primary source in order to develop an

understanding of student self-perceptions.

In an analysis of students and their attitudes, it

must be stressed that women attending the four art schools

represented the middle and upper socio-economic classes of

nineteenth-century America. Visual arts training was

available to women of the lower stratum at schools such as

the Cooper Union and the Philadelphia School of Design for

Women.

To conduct the historical study, the researcher

utilized the facilities of the Archives of American Art

(Washington, B.C.), the archives of the National Academy

School of Fine Art (New York), the archives of the Art Students League (New York), and the archives of the

Corcoran School of Art (Washington, B.C.). Research also

was conducted at the following libraries: the National

Gallery of Art (Washington, B.C.), the National Museum of American Art (Washington, B.C.), the New York Public

Library, the Library of Congress (Washington, B.C.),

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 13

Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), the George

Washington University (Washington, D.C.), the American

University (Washington, D.C.), the University of Califor­

nia, Los Angeles, and the University of California, San

Diego.

Definition of Terms

Academy is an organization having a tripartite

function: 1) representing its member-artists; 2) providing educational facilities for the training of young artists;

3) organizing art exhibitions for its members and other

interested artists. The term academic art refers to a style of art

during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries which

emphasized the nude human figure, linear contours, and

formal rules regarding the application of color. Academic model is a three-step curriculum for drawing

and painting instruction; it involves copying engravings,

drawing from plaster statues, and drawing from live,

usually nude, models. Design refers to the organizational framework

regarding a work of art; it includes the compositional

arrangement of color, form, etc. Antique drawing refers to the use of plaster copies

of ancient Greek and Roman statues as models for drawing.

Life drawing is the use of nude models for drawing.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 14 Cast is a term for plaster copies of ancient Greek and Roman statues.

Sketch is a rapid drawing technique; it tends to

emphasize movement and form rather than contour outlines.

The term mixed life refers to classes in painting,

drawing, or sculpture where both male and female students

work together studying with a nude model.

Costume class is a painting class where models wear exotic colorful clothing.

Modeling is a term which has two meanings; 1) use of

clay for sculpture; 2) use of shadows in a drawing to imply

three-dimensionality.

Ecole des Beaux Arts is the name of the school asso­

ciated with Royal Academy of Paris; it was the paradigm of

nineteenth-century art schools in Europe and the United States.

Visual arts are works of art which are intended to be

experienced retinally; usually includes painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, assemblage, performance art, etc.

A professional artist is an individual whose primary

means of financial support is derived from the sale of

his/her art work.

An amateur artist is an individual who works with the

visual arts as a hobby or as a source of personal

enrichment.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 2

THE ACADEMIC TRADITION: THE EUROPEAN MODEL

FOR TRAINING IN THE VISUAL ARTS

In modern usage "academy" often is a synonym for the

word "school". However, historically, the term has a much

broader meaning. In the visual arts, it denotes a three­

fold function. First, it signifies an association of

professional artists. Usually individual members have to

meet certain standards. Second, in order to maintain high

levels of performance, an academy frequently trains

novices. The third traditional function of an academy is

to provide an organized system of exhibiting art works.

The word first appeared in ancient Greece. It

referred to the site in northwest Athens where Plato and his followers met, known as the "grove of the Academe".

Athenians simply referred to Plato's group as the

"Academy".^ However, in the Greek world the term did not apply to the visual arts. The word "art" ("ars" in Latin

and "techne" in Greek) meant skill in manual labor. Art

had a pejorative connotation. Working with one's hands was

^Nikolaus Pevsner, Academies of Art (London: Cambridge University Press, 1940), 1.

15

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 16 considered the lowest form of human endeavor; while in

contrast, working with one's intellect was the highest.

Therefore, Greek artists were seen as common laborers. In

the Republic. Plato commented on the baseness of sculpture and the visual arts.2 Plato considered the visual arts to

be a potential corruptor of young minds. With such an

attitude toward the fine arts, it is puzzling that Athenian

sculpture and architecture could so excel and, yet, the

activity of creating these works be held in such low

esteem. Although art schools as such did not exist, there

was training for neophytes. Students of painting and

sculpture paid fees to study under master artists such as

Polyclitus, Phidias, Zuexippus, and Pamphilos. Like the

athletes, competitions for drawing were held at Teos and Magnesia.3

During the Middle Ages, art instruction was dominated

by the guild system. The Medieval craft guilds established

a model that would become the foundation of the academy.

They began the practice of associations for individuals in

similar professions. Although held in somewhat higher

esteem than in ancient Greece, visual arts training was

essentially a craft apprenticeship. Under this system.

Zpiato, Republic, III.401, in &rJL-afld I-tg Signifi­ cance; An Antholoov of Aesthetic Theory, ed. Stephen David Ross (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York, 1987).

^Stuart MacDonald, The History and Philosophy of Art Education (New York; American Elsevier Publishing), 18 - 19.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 17 students began as bound apprentices at age thirteen or

fourteen. They worked for a period of five to seven years.

If the student demonstrated sufficient diligence and tech­ nique, he was given a certificate. The award permitted

students to work as journeymen. At this level, an indivi­

dual could continue to work for his master or work on his

own commissions. After three to four years, a journeyman

was eligible to submit an example of his own work to the

guild. If the piece was deemed worthy, the craftsman was

allowed to call himself a "master" and establish his own

shop.4 Guilds continued not only throughout the Middle Ages but also through the Renaissance as well. However,

their power and control diminished substantially with time.

It is during the Renaissance that the term "academy" re­

appeared with the emergence of Neo-Platonism. Key in this

development was Marsilio Ficino, founder of the Platonic

Academy.5 Ficino's academy was solely concerned with

philosophy and humanist thought. The word "academy" still

had no connection to art.

The forerunner of the art academy occurred in 1488

when Lorenzo de Medici established a school for painting

and sculpture in Florence. The school, directed by

Bertoldo di Giovanni, encouraged theoretical knowledge

rather than the practical training of the Medieval guild

*Ibid., 22 - 23.

^Pevsner, 1-4.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 18

workshops. Giorgio Vasari reported that Michelangelo

attended this school.®

Giorgio Vasari, the Renaissance art enthusiast and raconteur, is most famous for his literary work. Lives of

the Most Eminent Painters. Sculptors, and Architects.

However, Vasari also played a crucial role in the develop­

ment of art education. He encouraged Cosimo de Medici to

found an association that would free artists from the

guilds. Two, in particular, controlled the professional

activities of artists: the Arte dei Fabbricanti guild for

sculptors and the Arte dei Medici, Speciali e Mercai guild

for painters. These organizations were not specifically

composed of artists. For example, the Arte dei Medici

included gold-beaters, illuminators, engravers, casket makers et al. Vasari was anxious to elevate the artist

above the level of mere craftsman. Therefore, in 1563 he

garnered the support of Grand Duke Cosimo and of various

artists to establish the Academia del Disegno in Florence.

Nickolaus Pevsner stated, "Vasari's Academia del Disegno

stands at the beginning of the evolution of modern aca­

demies of art.Vasari's primary intention was to

develop an association that would raise aesthetic standards

and cultural attitudes regarding painters, sculptors, and

architects. He wanted a site where the concept of

®MacDonald, 23 - 24.

^Pevsner, 42.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 19 "disegno"® could be explored and promoted. He was not

interested in creating an alternative guild or in emphasiz­

ing the didactic qualities of the academy. However, when

artists were freed from membership in the Arte dei Medici

Speziali e Mercai and the Arte dei Fabbricanti by a 1571

decree, the Academia del Disegno began to take on the

characteristics of a guild. As a result, Vasari removed his support of the academy and was no longer associated

with it.9

Another critic of the Academia del Disegno was the

frescoe painter Federigo Zuccari. Zuccari's goals for the

academy were vastly different than Vasari's. He felt that

the institution did not sufficiently emphasize its teaching

and training aspects. Federigo Zuccari was one of a number

of artists such as Lodovio Carraci, Giovan Battista

Armenini, Vincenzo Danti, etc. who stressed an educational program of aesthetic theory and practical training.

Zuccari believed that the role of the academy should be

instructional. He recommended that students have a weekly

studio for life drawing; enroll in courses such as anatomy,

mathematics, and physics; and have drawing competitions

®"Disegno" can be defined as the underlying conceptual design within a work of art.

^Pevsner, 51.

l^Giuseppe Scavizzi, "Education and Art Training," in Encvclopedia of World Art (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963), 564.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 20 with prizes.11 When this educational focus did not

transpire Zuccari, too, disassociated himself from the

Florentine academy. He became involved with another

academy that was developing in Rome, the Academia di San

Luca. The Rome academy founded in 1588 was the product of

a collaboration between Federigo Zuccari and Cardinal

Federigo Borromeo. Its emphasis was on artistic instruc­

tion following Zuccari's tenets for art education. An

important element of the Rome academy was not only a

specific curriculum rooted in art theory but also an

emphasis on drawing from plaster casts and from life.l^

The development of Italian academies occurred during

the Mannerist period (late 16th century). However, in the

next century during the Baroque period a new type of art

academy would emerge in France. The Italian academic

system was the product of Renaissance Humanism — an

emphasis on things scholarly and theoretical. The French

academy, however, would be a reflection of a new historical

direction, absolutism.

The Academy in France

As in Italy the establishment of the French academy

began as an attempt by artists to break away from the

guilds and to elevate their profession. The institution

llpevsner, 51.

IZlbid., 60 - 61.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 21

was formally known as the Académie Royale de Peintre et

Sculpture. It was controlled by the painter Charles Lebrun

and had the backing of Louis X I V s minister, Jean Baptiste

Colbert. Although Louis XIV was only ten when the academy

was founded in 1648, Colbert saw the formation of academies in music, architecture, language and literature as a means

of securing control over vital elements of French culture.

The Royal Academy was composed of three levels of

members : "academicians" (members entitled to vote),

"agrees" (approved members), and "eleves" (students).

Purportedly, there was no limit to the number of academi­

cians. Between 1648 and 1728 only fifteen women were

elected to membership.In 1770 the number of women who

could become members was set at four. The situation

declined even further during Napoleon's reign.

The academy offered artists a number of advantages.

Obviously, it provided association with other artists. It

also provided a system of exhibiting w o r k . ^4 This charac­

teristic would be especially important to artists as the

power of the monarchy declined. When mercantilism took

over, the middle class did not provide consistent patronage

rather citizens indulged in individual purchases.

l^Elsa Honig Fine, Women and Art (Montclair, N.J.: Allanheld and Schram, 1978), 43.

H. Stranahan, A History of French Painting (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1888), 25.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 22

Exhibitions were initiated in 1667.^® Another advantage was that success in the academy was based on merit and

ability not family position and influence.1® The academy

provided systematic instruction which included artistic

training and theory.

The academy's administration was made up of a

Protector, a Vice-Protector, a Director, four Rectors

(responsible for general management), twelve Professors

(responsible for instruction), and six to eight Counci­

lors.1? In 1683 students were not required to pay tuition.

However, by the following year, great overcrowding

occurred. As a result monthly drawing examinations began

in order to cull less capable students. A student could

not move into a more advanced class unless he had passed

the exam.l® It must be stressed that the academy did not function

to train neophyte art students. The Royal Academy was

geared toward the training of advanced students. Beginning

pupils were expected to study in private studios with an

academy approved "master" artist — a direct throw-back to

the guild system of the Middle Ages. To gain acceptance to

the Royal Academy, an applicant had to have a certificate

Pevsner, 98.

l®Stranahan, 30.

17pevsner, 90.

l®Ibid., 97.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 23 from the training artist indicating that the student met

the entrance level proficiency.^® The private art schools were divided into two sections: Antique (using plaster

casts) and Life (using live models).2®

From the seventeenth century to the end of the

nineteenth century, the emphasis of instruction was on

drawing skills. Painting instruction was not offered

until a student had thoroughly mastered his drawing

technique. Drawing instruction followed a three stage

program: copying drawings, drawing from plaster casts, and

drawing from live models. The academic system of "copying"

was central to the curriculum. 21 The emphasis was on

replication rather than on compositional innovation.

Instruction was limited to two hour daily instruction in

drawing techniques. Nickolaus Pevsver reported that the

life class was offered from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. in the

summer and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the winter.

Lectures on perspective and anatomy were given on Wednesday and Saturday.22

Skill in life drawing was the ultimate goal for

students in the French academic system. Albert Boime

l®Ibid., 91 - 92.

2®Albert Boime, "American Culture and Revival of the French Academic Tradition," Arts Magazine 56 (May 1982): 97. 2libid., 96.

22pevsner, 96.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 24 called life drawing "the keystone of the curriculum"22 The

reason for the emphasis on the human figure was rooted in Renaissance humanism — man as the central object of the

universe. The nude, not the clothed figure, was the

important subject in life drawing. It represented man in

"nature" and provided a connection with antique art forms. The nude male figure was seen as the ne plus ultra.

A prominent aspect of French Academic instruction was

the competitions. To be eligible for admission to the

Academy school, students took the "concours des places".

Three to four hundred students competed by drawing the nude

figure. Out of this number approximately 130 were select­ ed. Advanced students competed in the "concours d'

emulation"; winners were awarded medals and the right to

compete for the Prix de R o m e . 24 The Prix de Rome was the

ultimate goal for French art students. Winning this

competition permitted students to study at the "Académie de

France" in Rome for a three to four year period. Many of

France's most important artists from the seventeenth to

nineteenth centuries were winners of this prize such as

Jacques Louis David and Jean Augustus Dominique Ingres.

C. H. Stranahan, a nineteenth century art historian, called

the Prix de Rome: "one great source of the eminence of the

2®Boime, "American Culture," 96

24ibid., 98.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 25 French School of art."25 However, Stranahan felt that the

prize had some negative effects. She wrote: "Its influence

has not been wholly salutary perhaps. Study at Rome has

led young artists to content themselves with a superficial effect ending in mere imitation."26 Nonetheless, the Prix

de Rome was the most prestigious award for a French art

student. It permitted students to view and stylistically

explore works of the Italian Renaissance.

The French Revolution in 1789 brought about dramatic changes for the Academy. The term "academy" was no longer

acceptable because of its association with the monarchy.

In 1795 the Institut was established. The Institut was

composed of three classes (each class was made up of

various sections). The fine arts were designated part of

the Third Class. In 1803 the fine arts section became a

separate entity, the Class of Fine Arts. And in 1816 it was

renamed the "Academy". Although the new academy was

officially separate from the art school, it still retained

control of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and of the Prix de

Rome.27 Therefore, the academy continued to direct

pedagogy and govern the style of French art. However,

during the 1863 reforms, the government under Napoleon III

2^stranahan, 29.

26ibid.

27Albert Boime, The Academv and French Painting in the Nineteenth Centurv (New York: Phaidon, 1971), 5.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 26 took control of the Ecole. The government wanted to use the Ecole as a tool for industry.28

Besides the formal curriculum and the competitions,

an important component of an artist's training in the

French academic system was the social and cultural environ­ ment of the city of Paris. The exhibitions, the cafe life,

and the comraderie of other artists provided a fertile,

artistic climate for the young male art student. The

Parisian environment was a vital element in the education

of an artist during the eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries. The city was an intensely enriching experience

and, consequently, it must be considered as an aspect of the academic curriculum.

The Royal Academy of London

Britain's answer to the French art institution was

the founding of its own Royal Academy. It, too, had the

backing of the monarchy. The British academy was

officially established in 1768 — about a hundred years

after its predecessor. However, the significant difference

between the two associations is that the London Royal

Academy was founded and managed by artists. On November

28, 1768 twenty-two artists petitioned George III for

permission to organize an art academy. This letter of

request stated:

2®Boime, "American Culture," 98.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 27

The two principal objects we have in view are, the establishing [of] a well-regulated School or Academy of Design, for the use of students in the Arts, and an Annual Exhibition, open to all artists of distinguished merit.29

One of the central figures involved in the founding

of the new academy was Benjamin West, an American-born

artist. Additionally, two women, Angelica Kauffman and

Mary Moser, were charter members. Sir Joshua Reynolds had

to be forcibly encouraged to join. He was, however,

elected the Royal Academy's first president.

The educational program of the academy was composed

of two sections: an Antique School and a Life School. Nine

academicians were chosen to function as instructors. Offi­

cially, they were known as "visitors" and were involved in

the Life School only. Each visitor attended classes for a

one month period. It was the instructor's duty to pose the models and evaluate students' work. Lectures were

provided by other academicians, known as "professors." The

professors presented discourses on painting, architecture,

anatomy, and perspective.®®

The admission process was a three-part procedure.

First, a student submitted a drawing or piece of sculpture

29Benjamin West et al. to George III, 28 November 1768, Archives of the Royal Academy, Royal Academy of Art, London, quoted in Sidney C. Hutchinson, The History of the Roval Academv 1768 to 1968 (New York: Taplinger, 1968), 43.

®®MacDonald, 28.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 28 to the school's Keeper.Second, if the Keeper was

satisfied with the student's draftsmanship, the applicant

was requested to produce an another drawing or sculpture. However for this segment, the work had to be a copy of one

of the academy's plaster casts. The second piece would be

evaluated by both the Keeper and resident Visitor. In the

final step of the admission's process, the prospective

student would receive a letter of admission.®2

No tuition was charged to attend the art school. The

Royal Academy also offered students the use of the organi­

zation's library. It included books on architecture,

painting, sculpture and science.®® Although the academic

structure of the Royal Academy seemed to be well-organized,

it was not. The visitors had only a minimal interest in

the schools' activities. Students were generally left to

their own devices. As a result many British art students

opted to study at the French academy which had a stronger,

more fully developed program.

Curriculum in Nineteenth-Centurv France

Albert Boime in his book. The Academy and French

Painting in the Nineteenth Centurv. wrote: "The Academic

®®-The keeper was the academician responsible for the school's equipment and, marginally, in charge of the Antique School.

®2Hutchinson, 48. ®®Ibid., 212.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 29 contribution to the education of the artist was its

organization of the curriculum. "®4 The French system of

training artists became the epitome for art instruction

throughout Europe and the United States during the nine­

teenth century.

Two seminal influences on the academic curriculum

were Jacques Louis David and J. J. Winckelmann. Both

strongly espoused "classical" motifs. Albert Boime wrote: "It was essentially Winckelmann's ideal and David's

rigorous training that provided the basis for instruction

in the 19th century."®®

The crux of nineteenth-century art training was

acquiring a facility for drawing. Students first studied

engravings. When they showed sufficient skill, students

drew from plaster casts. The practice of drawing from

engravings was done at the private studios only — not at

the Ecole. Students practiced copying line by line. The

academic system emphasized skill in draftsmanship. The

validity of this approach was not questioned until late in

the nineteenth century. Another aspect of elementary

education was drawing individual body parts and progressing

toward the whole figure. Students began with engraved

®4Boime, The Academv. 20.

®®Albert Boime, "Curriculum Vitae: The Course of Life in the Nineteenth Century," in Strictlv Academic: Life Drawing in the Nineteenth Centurv. (Binghampton, N.Y.: State University of New York, 1974), 8.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 30 pictures of eyes, noses, lips etc. Once, they gained

mastery in their ability to replicate these parts, students

moved on to the profile and, then, on to the whole head.

This technique emphasized contour lines and modeled shadows (using cross-hatching).®®

Although this method was quite tedious, students of

the academic system developed enormous confidence in their

drawing techniques. In the second stage of instruction,

students drew from plaster casts. These were copies of

ancient Greek and Roman statues. Therefore, they served to

introduce students to Classical art. In addition, learning to draw the human figure from a cast was easier than from a

live model. Plaster casts do not move and shadows remain

constant. Albert Boime also reported that the casts intro­ duced students to the concept of "effect" which he defined

as the "unified relations of planes of light and dark

values."®? Students were expected to be able define the

areas where light fell on the cast (highlights) and the areas of dark shadow. In addition they had to learn to use

"demi-teintes" (half-tones).®®

®®Boime, The Academy. 24 - 26. Cross hatching is a series of criss-crossed lines used to indicate shadows in a drawing.

®?Boime, Th9 Academy, 2 7 . ®®Per Ralph Mayer a halftone is "a shade of gray or a chromatic color whose value is intermediate between the darkest and lightest tone of that color." Ralph Mayer, h Dictionary of Art and Techniques (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1969), 181.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 31 Skill in the subtle graduations of demi-teintes was

a characteristic of an academic education. French indepen­

dent artists who were not part of the academy often choose

to omit demi-teintes and thereby produce a more dramatic

effect. An example of the omission of half tones is the

painter Edouard Manet.

When the student had mastered casts and the use of

demi-teintes, he moved on to the third stage of art

instruction, drawing from live models. Working with live

human beings presented a variety of challenges for the art

student. Models moved; their surface lighting varied.

Because of previous training students sometimes created

figures with fragmented features (ie. a nose on a face

inappropriate for the angle of the pose). To simplify the

process, teachers tried to make students create quick

sketches with just a few lines.®®

Using the quick sketch technique, students estab­

lished horizontal and vertical guidelines for the human figure. Next, the figure's line of axis was located.

Students would define the flow of action and then produce a

light sketch with shadows. Finally, full contour lines

were added. When learning the techniques of life drawing,

the key elements were: anatomy, proportion, the model's

pose, and the application of light and s h a d e . 4®

®®Boime, The Academv. 30 - 31.

4®Boime, "Curriculum Vitae," 11.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 32 Traditionally, the live model would pose using the gestures of antique statues. Students were expected to

idealize (or improve) the nude figure in order to emulate

the classical i d e a l . 4i Boime indicated that a major shift

in academic thought occurred when students were no longer encouraged to correct the model's figure.

Another characteristic of academic life drawing was the study of anatomy. The rationale for this course was

the belief that the more an artist knew about anatomy, the

more clearly he would be able to articulate the features of

the human body. Professor Boime wrote; "Since the

Renaissance, artists have studied the skeletal frame and

musculature of the human figure as a prelude or adjunct to

drawing from l i f e . "42 Anatomy was an essential element of

the academic curriculum. The study of anatomy played a

controversial role in the history of women's art instruc­

tion. In the United States, teachers such as Thomas Eakins

at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts were ardent

supporters of anatomic instruction for art students.

However, not all Americans agreed with this curricular

emphasis.

In the private studios, painting was taught only

after drawing techniques had been thoroughly mastered.

Passing the "concours des place" for admission to the Ecole

41ibid., 10.

42ibid., 11.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 33 often signaled that a student had reached such an advanced state.43

Typically, instruction in painting followed these

steps. First, the student was given a brief introduction on the care and use of the tools utilized. Next, the

student would paint a copy of a head by old Master or one

by the studio master. Finally, the student was assigned to paint the head of a live model. As in drawing instruction,

students started with figurai parts and proceeded toward

the whole body. The use of color followed fairly rigid

strictures in the academic system. Contour outlines were

always considered to be of greater importance than the

application of color to the work of art. For the twentieth

century individual who has been inundated with the paint­

ings and the theories of modern art, the academic ambi­ valence toward color can be puzzling. Nineteenth-century

students were taught to utilize only a few colors in a

painting.

Key in painting instruction was the "ebauche" (under­

painting) — the first layers of paint used for mapping out

the composition. Although the ebauche was a preliminary

stage in the work of art, it had definite goals for the

artist. Students were trained to divide their palette into

three sections: one for the light areas in the painting,

one for the shadow areas, and the third area for the

4®Boime, The Academv. 36.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 34 halftones (the intermediate values between the lightest

and darkest tone of a color). The mastery of halftones

required a specific technique. Instructors stressed to

students that they should not mix the halftones directly

because it could create a muddy appearance. Rather, they

were encouraged to "juxtapose" the halftones. Albert Boime

wrote; "Great stress was placed on working the ebauche as

'if you were working on a m o s a i c '."44 The ultimate goal of

color application was to enhance the linear contours of

the composition.

The visual arts training described in the preceding

pages portrays a very strict and programed regimen. It was intended to be so. The purpose of the instruction was not

to emphasize individual creativity and innovation. It was

designed to provide a stable and efficient means of training young artists. Men like Eugene Delacroix and

Edgar Degas are noted for their novel compositions and

painting technique. Although they defied some aspects of

the academic approach, their skills as artists became

highly developed from this training. The academic method

produced painters and sculptors of great technical

virtuosity. The trap of this system was that — except for

a few truly exceptional individuals — it encouraged a

numbing reliance on an artistic formula. However, even

with its limitations, the academic model was effective and

44%bid., 37 -38.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 35

traces of its systematic curriculum are still in use today.

European Art Training for Nineteenth Centurv Women

Academic art instruction for women can be summed

simply: it was negligible. Male students, particularly in

France, enjoyed rich and varied opportunities for study

during the nineteenth century. Clive Holland in his

article, "Student Life in the Quartier Latin, Paris"

related stories of a charmed, youthful existence steeped in

bohemian pleasures. He described visiting another art

student on the Left Bank only to find him still asleep,

"but that is to be looked for in the Quarter where one often forgets to get up till the afternoon."45 in the

evenings Holland and his friends frequented "little

restaurants." He said, "The talk was mostly of art, the

schools, the studios, the models, and the latest gossip of the Quarter."46 Elsewhere he commented:

[T]he discussions which take place when the light has grown dim, and the day's work is over in the studios or later on in the evening, over the tops of little white tables in the favourite 'cafes', are worth hours of debate of a more academic sort, are more suggestive than mere teaching, more inspiring than the perusal of biographies of successful artists.4?

It was in the cafes and restaurants where the first seeds

4®ciive Holland, "Student Life in the Quartier Latin, Paris," International Studio 18 (November 1902): 34.

46%bid., 37.

4?ibid., 39.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 36

of the modern art movement took place. Renoir, Degas,

Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec all portrayed the lively, sexually-

suggestive, and artistically fertile environment of Paris'

cafe scene. Paintings were created in the studios; but, the

ideas and concepts of the late nineteenth century arose

from the night life in Paris. What was life like for the female art student?

Holland admitted it was very different. He wrote:

[S]he lives a solitary existence, varied only by the daily visit to the school or the atelier to which she has attached herself, the incursions of artist friends . . .; the occasional visit to a place of amusement, when an escort is available; or the equally occasional dinner at a restaurant.*®

It was a jejune existence. Not only were women removed

from the cafe environment of the French art world but they

also faced enormous restrictions educationally.

Women were barred from the Ecole des Beaux Arts until

1897. When they finally were admitted, they were unable to

study from the nude figure until 1903. Most female art

students studied at the Académie Colarossi or at the

Académie Julian.*® The instruction at the alternative

schools followed the academic curriculum. Clive Holland

reported that these schools offered painting and drawing

from life, sculpture, a costume and watercolor class.

*®Clive Holland, "Lady Art Students' Life in Paris," International Studio 21 (January 1904): 226.

*®Ibid., 227.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 37 sketching, and decorative composition.50 However, women

were charged twice the tuition rate as the male students. At the Académie Julian both men and women worked in the

same class with a nude model.51 News of this arrangement

was the cause of great consternation in the United

States.52 Although the instruction was similar to the

Ecole, the caliber of students was significantly lower.

Cecilia Beaux, an American art student at the Académie

Julian, expressed her disappointment with the other students. She wrote :

I . . . fully believed that, in Paris, I should be among brilliant and advanced students, far ahead of a practically untaught American. I was to learn that the Académie Julian was a business enterprise, and could not be maintained for gifted students o n l y . 53

Paula Modersohn-Becker, a German student at the Académie

Colarossi, gave a similar assessment of her fellow

students' performance. In a letter to her parents written

50jbid., 230.

51Jo Ann Wein, "The Parisian Training of American Women Artists," Woman's Art Journal 2 (Spring/Summer 1981); 42.

52por example, see "Art and Nudity: Clergymen and Painters Alike Oppose Mixed Classes, French Impurity Growing", New York Journal July 6 1890. This article was located in Art Students League Papers, Archives of American Art, "Newspaper Clippings," roll NY 59-24A.

53cecilia Beaux, Background with Figures (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1930), 117.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 38 in 1900, she said, "On the whole, the artwork here is rather poor."54

The situation for women's art instruction was not much better in England. There were a few advantages. The

London Royal Academy did begin enrolling women in 1860.

The regulations of the British academy had never specifi­

cally forbade women to study there. However, due to

social convention, no women ever applied until Laura

Herford submitted drawings labeled L. Herford. Charlotte

Yeldham reported that a letter of acceptance was mailed to

"L. Herford, E s g . " . 5 5 Having made this gaff and with no

rule exempting women, the Royal Academy was forced to

enroll Miss Herford on a probationary basis. However, the

major drawback for female art students was that they were

not permitted to study from nude models until 1900.

Academic Art Education in the United States

Art academies in France, England, and elsewhere in

Europe maintained their three-fold function. This same

system was imported to the newly formed United States in

the early nineteenth century. America's first academy, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, appeared in 1805.

54paula Modersohn-Becker, Paula Modersohn-Becker: The Letters and Journals, ed. Gunter Busch and Liselotte von Reinken, trans. Arthur S. Wensinger and Carole Clew Hoey (New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1983), 160.

55charlotte Yeldham, Women Artists in Nineteenth Centurv France and England (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1984), 28.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 39 However, academies in the United States had a fourth

function: educating the American public about the visual

arts. Because America had so few resources for art

training, the academies assumed a crucial role for the

promotion of the arts. The use of artists' studios for

elementary instruction was extremely limited. Often

American art academies had to provide beginning training

for students as well as "educate" the public. Therefore,

art education was an essential element of the American academic system.

At the start of the nineteenth century, the focus was

on drawing from the antique. Institutions such as the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the National

Academy of Design ordered plaster casts of Greek/Roman

statuary from Europe in the early 1800's. Students used

the casts as models for their drawing studies. The local

citizens were given access to visit the academies' collec­

tion of casts. The public's viewing of the casts served a

strictly didactic function. Often it was the only avail­

able means for Americans to see European sculpture.

By mid-century art schools offered classes in drawing from the antique and life drawing. Antique classes

frequently had two sections: an elementary level where

students practiced drawing hands, feet, etc. and an

advanced level for those students who could draw the whole

cast. Life studies followed the French methodology.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 40

However, a major problem for art students was cultural

restrictions regarding nude figures. Americans were very

puritanical and the use of naked models was a source of

friction between art schools and the public. Often the

models were partially covered. Another area of controversy was the use of cadavers

for anatomy classes. Similar to their attitudes regarding

nude bodies, Americans were very opposed to the dissection

of dead bodies for study. Gradually, by mid-century

cadavers became a more accepted element of the academic

curriculum. 56 Two types of anatomical classes were used in

art schools: scientific anatomy and artistic anatomy.

Scientific anatomy emphasized dissection and usually was taught by a medical doctor. Artistic anatomy was taught by

an artist and employed skeletons and drawings for illustra­

tive p u r p o s e s . 57 Depending on the attitudes of the

school's administration and the availability of instruc­

tors, an academy would select one of these two approaches

for their anatomical studies. Historically, the Pennsyl­

vania Academy offered scientific anatomy in their art

school; whereas, the Art Students League chose to provide

artistic anatomy.

5^Donald Thayer, "Early Anatomy Instruction at the National Academy: The Tradition Behind It," American Art Journal 8/9 (May 1976): 42. 57ooreen Bolger, "The Education of the American Artist," in In This Academv: The Pennsylvania Academv of the Fine Arts. 1976): 59.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 41 During the last quarter of the nineteenth century,

American art academies began to broaden their curriculum

beyond life, antique, and anatomy studies. Instruction in

painting was available in most academies by the 1880's.

Beginning students often started their painting program

with classes in still-life; while the more advanced stu­

dents took portraiture. A facility with portrait painting

was crucial for anyone who wanted to earn a living as an artist. It was the primary means of support for most.58

Academies also offered classes in sketching and

composition. Another course available in the late nine­

teenth century was known as the "costume class." It featured models dressed in exotic clothing. Circa 1870,

the portrayal of vivid, foreign figures and far-away places

was a very popular theme in painting. Although sculpture

was offered in American art schools, it was very limited.

The class would appear for a year or two on a school's

program of study and then be dropped due to lack of student

interest. The study of sculpture often was called a

"modeling class" because clay was used as the medium.

Therefore, students, who wanted to seriously study

sculpture and in particular learn to work in stone, had to

work with a professional sculptor — rather like the

medieval apprentice. 59 Not only was the curriculum

58ibid., 64 - 67.

59ibid., 67 - 69.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 42 expanding in the last quarter of the century, the instruc­

tors were changing as well. Virtually all the men who

taught in the art academies had studied in Europe. When

they returned, they brought with them the seeds of Realism,

Impressionism, and the latest trends in French art. They

transmitted these ideas to their students and into their

own work. The result was a reduced interest in antique

drawing, anatomy, and competitions with a greater emphasis

on painting, sketching, and developing a personal style.

The demise of the American art academy occurred at

the beginning of the new century. The emergence of art

departments at colleges and universities rivaled the pedagogic function of the academy. Without the didactic

focus which had been so fundamental to the American

academic system, the institutions gradually became irrele­ vant within the art community.

Robert Henri and "The Eight" mounted the anti­

academic movement in this country. However, when modern

European art arrived in the United States, their supposedly

"avant-garde" paintings paled in comparison. The works of

Cezanne, VanGogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Duchamp et al. posi­

tively overwhelmed the meek and muddy paintings of the

American Ash Can School.

These two occurrences, the growth of college art

departments and the demise of formal figurative painting,

brought about the end of the academic system in the United

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States. Academies continued to exist — many are still in

operation today. However, their influence and prestige

dramatically waned. They would no longer be the dominant

force that they had been in nineteenth-century America.

They were a valuable resource and should be credited for

the function they served in the development of American art.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 3

THE SOCIAL MILIEU: AMERICA'S RELATIONSHIP

WITH ART, ARTISTS, AND WOMEN

Italy's self-image is rooted in its past: the

architecture of ancient Rome and the paintings of the Italian Renaissance. Similarly, modern France has a strong

and deep connection to the Baroque and Neo-Classic periods.

These countries' artistic heritage is a crucial element of

their respective cultural personalities. Therefore, in

order to examine the world of the nineteenth century female

art student, it is important to consider the artistic and

cultural background of the United States.

The social history of the United States, although

related to that of Europe, has its own distinct character­

istics. One such trait is a national ambivalence towards

the fine arts. This characteristic has been evident since

the country's founding and continues to exist into the late

twentieth century. For example, John Singleton Copley was

an American-born artist who had received his training in

Europe. In a letter to Captain R. G. Bruce dated 1767,

Copley wrote that if he returned to America he would have

to "bury all my improvements among people entirely

44

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destitute of all just Ideas of the Arts."^ Elsewhere he

lamented, "The people generally regard it [painting] no

more than any other useful trade, as they sometimes term

it, like that of a Carpenter tailor or shoemaker, not as

one of the most noble Arts in the World. Which is not a

little mortifying to me."^ James Jackson Jarves, writing in

the mid-nineteenth century, commented, "In my own country

there are few who give Art any serious thought."3 And

finally, Kenyon Cox, at the beginning of the twentieth

century, made this simple reflection: "The majority of

Americans still feel that they can be 'fairly comfortable' without art."4

The attitudes which John Singleton Copley, James

Jackson Jarves, and Kenyon Cox have expressed are very typical of the American personality. This indifference —

and, at times antipathy — towards the visual arts has its

origin in a variety of sources. First, the colonists who

arrived during 1600's came from an England that viewed

Ijohn Singleton Copley to R. G. Bruce 1767, in American Art 1700 - I960 Sources and Documents, ed. John W. McCoubrey (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965), 17.

2ibid., 18. 3James Jackson Jarves, Art Thoughts: The Experiences and Observations of an American Amateur in Europe (New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1869; reprint. New York: Garland Publishing, 1976), 1. 4speech by Kenyon Cox, c. 1910; quoted in Will H. Low, A Painter's Progress (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910), 58.

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artists as c r a f t s m e n . 5 Great Britain at this time was

still functioning under the guild system. It had developed no art schools or academies. Therefore, seventeenth

century England was itself an artistic bog and was not a

country steeped in a rich appreciation of the visual arts.

All this would change in the following century; but, it was this provincial attitude that went with the English

settlers.

A second factor was religion. With the arrival of

Puritanism and other protestant sects in the new world,

ecclesiastical support for the arts did not materialize.

In fact, these religious bodies were positively philistine

in their views. Imagery and decoration were vehemently

eschewed. As the Reverend Samuel Willard warned: "It is

folly to pretend to afford us the Portraiture of an Angel,

but it is madness and wickedness to offer . . . any Image

or Representation of God."® Mr. Willard went on to be Vice-President of Harvard University until his death in 1707.

America at the time of the Revolution lacked the

institutions that normally support the visual arts such the monarchy, aristocracy, or a national church. The newly

^Neil Harris, The Artist in American Society: the Formative Years 1760 - i860 (New York: George Brazil1er, 1966), 6.

®Samuel Willard, "Enquiry in to the Divine Attributes" 1689, in McCoubrey, 3.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 47 established federal government also did not have the

financial resources to commission works of art. The only

art form which did prevail was portraiture.? But, even

this medium was limited and utilitarian. There was no

desire to achieve the "Grand Style"; rather, figures tended to be rendered in a flat unadorned manner. Americans were

more interested in furniture, silver, and the decorative

arts; they simply did not attach a high value to the visual arts.

As the nation moved into the nineteenth century, the

United States became more cosmopolitan and developed a

stronger financial base. Concomitant with these

occurrences, Americans wanted to cultivate their own

artistic resources. The art of the 1800's can be divided

into distinct periods: the time preceding the Civil War and

the post-civil War era.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, America had no

art schools, no museums, and no group of wealthy patrons to

support the arts. Individuals who wanted to study art had

to travel to Europe for instruction or study with a local

artist. However, obviously indigenous artists did not

provide the same caliber of training. But, the situation

did improve as the nation matured. Visual arts organiza­

tions such as the American Academy of the Arts, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the National

?Harris, 7.

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Academy of Design were founded during the first quarter of

the nineteenth century. They would provide artists with

vital support and a measure of artistic training.

Throughout the nineteenth century American art closely paralleled European developments. However, even in

the early decades, Americans adapted their works to match

the nation's temperament. Two representative artists of

this early period are Washington Allston and Thomas Cole.

They were deeply influenced by the Northern Romantic

tradition, a German art movement, which emphasized the

mystical and awe-inspiring qualities of "nature." Given

the American penchant for the "religious" and the immense

geographic terrain of the nation, this European style was

especially suited to the United States. Both men were fond

of portraying landscapes of distant vistas bathed with

luminous rays of light. The purpose of these scenes was to

invoke in the viewer a sense of God's ineffable majesty.

The work of Cole and Allston would evolve into America's first art movement, the Hudson River School.

Until the Civil War, landscape painting would be the

dominant motif in American art. The subject matter was

easily understood and appreciated by the public. In

contrast, history painting was the principal theme in

European art. Although historical subjects were attempted

in this country, they were not popular with the buying

public.

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Pre-Civil War landscape painting can be divided into

three general movements: the Hudson River School, Luminism,

and the "Epic Landscape."® The Hudson River School

emphasized the mystical and fantastic qualities of land­

scapes. Its best known practitioners were Asher B. Durand

and Thomas Cole. Luminism displayed a more subtle stylis­

tic approach; it accentuated illumination and shadows within the landscape. Thomas Worthington Whittredge, John

F. Kensett, and Fitz Hugh Lane were the most famous

American painters of this style. The final stage was the

"Epic Landscape" which reached its heyday in the years

just prior to the Civil War. Its major participants were

Frederic E. Church and Albert Bierstadt. These men desired

to show the grandeur and magnificence of the landscape.

All three styles shared basic attributes such as a

horizontal composition, great attention to detail, linear

contours, and an implied connection between art and

morality. The idea was that the landscape was a manifesta­

tion of God's majesty. Therefore, the portrayal of the

American landscape was intended to be an uplifting experi­

ence. These painters wanted to capture the numinous quality of the deity in their works. Throughout ante-

bellem America, religious movements such as transcen­

dentalism, mesmerism, and spiritualism enjoyed a popular

®Milton W. Brown et al., American Art (New York; Harry N. Abrams, 1979), 193 - 200 passim.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 50 following with the public. American artists utilized

landscape painting as a vehicle to express these religious theories.®

However, when the Civil War took place between 1861

and 1865, a radical shift in American perception took

place. The enormous carnage of the war ended the naive and

simplistic attitudes of the national character. Americans

became more sophisticated and, in a sense, more jaded. It

became obvious that the United States was not the arcadian

existence that it was believed to be. Following the war

Americans began to travel extensively. Samuel Clemens in

his novel. Innocents Abroad, wrote:

Everybody was going to Europe — I, too, was going to Europe. Everybody was going to the famous Paris Exposition — I, too, was going to the Paris Exposi­ tion. The steamship lines were carrying Americans out of the various ports of the country at the rate of four or five thousand a week, in the aggregate.

Although many people had traveled to Europe before

1860, touring became a national obsession in the years

after the Civil War. These expeditions abroad had a

tremendous impact on American art. The visiting public was

exposed to the paintings, sculpture, and architecture of

France, Germany, and England. As a consequence, they

developed a taste and a familiarity for "academic art."

^Barbara Novak, American Painting of the Nineteenth Century, 2d ed. (New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 147.

lOgamuel Clemens, Innocents Abroad vol l (1869; reprint. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1911), 11.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 51 American art students also traveled to Europe in record

numbers. They attached themselves to the various ateliers.

When they returned, these men and women applied the

European techniques and concepts.

Two events seemed to be a watershed for post-Civil War art. First, as mentioned above, large numbers of

Americans visited Europe. One of their travel destinations

was the Paris Universal Exposition. James Jackson Jarves

described the effect of this event:

The Great Exposition of 1867, at Paris, taught us a salutary lesson by placing the average American sculpture and painting in direct comparison with the European, thereby proving our actual mediocrity.

The second event took place in the United States. It was

the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition held in

Philadelphia. At this convention, Americans who had not

ventured abroad were presented with the latest developments

in European art. These two gatherings jolted Americans out of their rigid parochialism.

As a result, American art in the last quarter of the

nineteenth century became more painterly with less atten­

tion to detail.12 Landscape painting lost its popularity; while, figure painting and genre scenes became the dominant

themes. Americans became more sophisticated in their taste

for art. This new worldliness was most readily apparent in

lljarves, 298.

l^Novak, 193.

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the acceptance of nudes as a subject for painting and

sculpture.

The portrayal of nudity was particularly offensive to

Americans during the ante-bellum period. Occasionally, nudes were displayed in painting or sculpture such as John

Vanderlyn's Ariadne Asleep on the Island of Naxos (1812) or

Hiram Powers' The Greek Slave (1847). In general, naked

bodies were not considered appropriate subjects for the visual arts. American prudery successfully prevented the

pictorial representation of nudity. Only art that was

"morally uplifting" was suitable for public consumption —

and that attitude resulted in the preponderance of land­

scape paintings.

However, after the harsh realities of the Civil War,

travel to Europe, and public exposure to broader themes,

Americans relaxed their stand on the subject of nudity. It

was not always appreciated; but, it was tolerated. This

more liberal attitude was especially important for American

art education. Since European art training was rooted in

the representation of the nude, it was essential that

American artists develop the technical skills to render the

human figure. Without this ability, American art could

never compete with European.

With the more relaxed social attitudes, artists

believed that a new era was about to begin in the history

of American Art. William Merritt Chase expressed the

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growing optimism and enthusiasm felt by the art community;

Never in the history of art in this country has the outlook been more encouraging that at the present moment — that is to say, for painters producing pictures of real worth . . . Perhaps the first and best reason for this satisfactory condition of affairs lies in the fact that the artists of today are, with rare exception, men who have received liberal educa­ tions in the best art schools in Europe.

Chase highlighted an important aspect of the late nine­

teenth century; the European training of American artists.

Virtually all well known artists of this period studied in

Paris or Munich. They trained in the ateliers of men such

as Alexandre Cabanel, Jean-Leon Gerome, Leon Joseph

Florentin Bonnat, William Adolphe Bouguereau, e t c . 14 it

was this exposure and relationship with the high technical

standards of European art that permitted the painting and

sculpture of the United States to reach a level of maturity

and authority. It was a critical stage in the history of

American art.

American Women in the Nineteenth Centurv Mary D. Garrard made the observation, "that the

status of art in our society closely parallels the status

of women. Like women, the arts are simultaneously

l^William Merritt Chase, "The Art Outlook," New York World 24 November 1889; located in Art Students League Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" NY59-24A:46 - 138, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

14h . Barbara Weinberg, "Nineteenth-Century American Painters at the Ecole des Beaux Arts," American Art Journal 13 (Autumn 1981): 71.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 54 cherished for their purifying, uplifting value even as they

are regarded as frivolous and a luxury in the larger social

s c h e m e . "15 women and art are related entities in American

social history; this is especially true in the nineteenth

century.

Neither were held in particularly high esteem; but, the cultural disdain was masked by a rhetoric dripping with

disingenuous praise and admiration. "True" art was inspir­

ing and virtuous; the "ideal" woman was pious, chaste, and

undemanding. As an example of the edifying qualities of

art and women consider Thomas Cole's comment that "painting

sublime[s] and purif[ies] tbought"1® and C. W. Elliott's

enthusiastic statement that "woman is but little lower than

the angels."1? This imagery was typical of the Victorian

picture of society; but, lying just beneath the surface of

this gilded view was a world riddled with bigotry, sexism,

and derision. Barbara Welter called the image of the nineteenth

century American woman, the "Cult of True Womanhood."1® It

3^5Mary D. Garrard, "Of Men, Women, and Art," in Feminist Collage, ed. Judy Loeb (New York: Teachers College Press, 1979), 139.

l®Thomas Cole, "Essay on American Scenery 1835," in McCoubrey, 98.

1?C. W. Elliott, "A Few Thoughts on Women," Arcturus 1 (May 1841): 350.

l®Barbara Welter, Dimitv Convictions: The American Woman in the Nineteenth Centurv (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University, 1976), 21.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 55 emphasized domesticity, submission, and moral virtue.

Women were stereotypically portrayed as intellectually

inferior to men; but ironically they were deemed as

innately more religious. Consequently, they were more pure

and incorruptible. Religion was used as the basis for man's supremacy. The pervasive attitude of the period was

that the inferiority of women was ordained by God. If men

were victimizing and subjugating women; it was God's plan

for them. The Reverend Samuel W. Fisher in Godey's Lady's

Book remarked;

I speak thus in the spirit of devout thanksgiving to our Father in heaven, who, in the crowning work of his creation, gave woman to man, made her weakness her strength, modesty her citadel, grace and gentleness her attributes, affection her dower, and the heart of man her throne.19

Fisher in this brief statement managed to capture the

essential stereotype of the nineteenth century American

woman. She purportedly was meek, gentle, modest, dull-

witted but with a loving heart. The Reverend Dr. Brainerd

in a lecture before the Literary Institute of Pittsfield,

Massachusetts provided a similar picture for woman's place in society:

Woman, by her keen sensibility; her ready response to the claims of duty and charity; her quick and solemn realization of her immortal relations and destiny; her deep enthusiasm, and patient endurance; her assiduity, gentleness, and placability in the little world of

l^Rev. Samuel W. Fisher, "Female Education," Godey's Lady Book (June 1850): 279.

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home, is the natural guardian of those virtues and graces which conserve and adorn society at l a r g e . 2 0

And as if this stupefyingly bland image were not

pernicious enough, woman was also the little automaton who

ceaselessly managed the minor details of society, while men

attended to larger, more important issues. If nineteenth century women rebelled against these

stereotypes, they were villianized and c o n d e m n e d . 21 The

Reverend Dr. Brainerd strongly reminded the readers of

Godey's Lady's Book, exclusively female, that a rebellious

woman was an unmarriageable woman. No one could miss his

intended threat that an unmarried female faced severe

economic deprivation. The Reverend Dr. Brainerd believed

that education was the means by which women could be

inculcated toward their "natural" role. He recommended

that young women receive training in the "science of

domestic management and economy." As he stressed, "No wife

ever sunk in her husband's estimation by developing a

thorough knowledge of tidy housekeeping, culinary skill,

and a saving economy in her house arrangements."22

There were some dissenting voices to this image of

woman and her ideal education. As early as 1841, a writer

for The Dial proclaimed, "Woman is educated with the tacit

2®speech by the Reverend Dr. Brainerd, quoted in "Editor's Table," Godey's Ladv Book (June 1850): 416.

21welter, 40.

22Brainerd, in "Editor's Table," 417.

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understanding that she is only half a being, and an

a p p e n d a g e . "23 other women fervently spoke out as well,

such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, and Mary

A . Livermore. Even men were able to see the insidious affects of

gender stereotyping. Thomas Higginson, writing in 1859,

attacked the gilded image of the nineteenth century female.

While other men were debating whether women should be

educated, Higginson wrote;

The obstacle to the woman's sharing the alphabet [education] or indeed any other privilege, has thought by some to be the fear of impairing her delicacy, or destroying her domesticity, or of confounding the distinction between the sexes . . . But, the whole thing, I take it, had always one simple, intelligible basis, — sheer contempt for the supposed intellectual inferiority of woman. She was not to be taught, because she was not worth teaching.24

Higginson cut through the veneer of purported respect and

admiration for women. He identified the real motive in the

"cult of true womanhood": contempt.

It is crucial to accept this concept because it

explains the difference between the relationship of women

and art in Europe and the United States. The visual arts

throughout Europe were prized and valued. They were

considered an integral part of the "glory of France" and

23"Woman," The Dial 1 (January 1841; reprint. New York: Russell and Russell, Inc., 1961): 364.

24Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Woman and the Alphabet: A Series of Essays (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1900; reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1972), 9 -10.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 58

the "history of ancient Rome." Women could not partake in

the artistic training of these countries because the arts

were too important. However, in this nation, the arts

were held in contempt — just like women. There was no

problem in allowing women to study the fine arts because

the arts were impractical and trivial. The two seemed to

be perfectly suited to each other — both utterly useless.

Higginson identified another problem for women and

their education. He wrote; "We deny woman her fair share

of training, of encouragement, of remuneration, and then talk fine nonsense about her instincts and intuitions."25

The United States did permit women to train at its best art

academies. However, just allowing women access to these

art schools did not constitute a "fair share of training."

The essential element that was lacking was encouragement

and support for women as artists. Women were not

"encouraged" to be artists; only a rare few were ever paid for their work. Yet, ironically they were encouraged to be "artistic."2®

Artistic training was considered to be an essential

component of a women's education. It was a field of study that would be an enhancement and not detract from her

idealized femininity. This attitude can be seen in C. W.

25Higginson, 15. 2®Josephine Withers, "Artistic Women and Women Artists," Art Journal 35 (Summer 1976): 330.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 59 Elliot's recommendation for female education:

I would that she might interest herself in other than novels and needlework; that she might be induced to cultivate rather the arts; pursuits and studies which elevate, refine, and furnish forth the fireside or the table with that conversation of which St. Paul speaks 'that is with grace, seasoned with s a l t ' . " 2 7

The arts, therefore, became a "spice" that would enliven a woman's conversation. They also would be an

uplifting and moralizing influence on this weak, vulnerable

creature. Again one can see that the nineteenth century

considered the relationship between women and art to be a

symbiotic one. Both supposedly elevating the banal

existence of "man"; in reality, both having no real power.

America's Relationship with Women Artists in the Nineteenth Centurv Although current art history texts provide only

limited information regarding women artists, a number of

female painters and sculptors did exist during the nine­

teenth century. The most famous artist to modern audiences

was Mary Cassatt. Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania

Academy of the Fine Arts. She then moved to Europe where

she remained until her death. She was closely associated

with Edgar Degas and the Impressionists. Technically,

neither she nor Degas were Impressionists. However, she

was highly innovative in her unsentimental depiction of

mothers and their children. Cassatt was especially

27Elliott, 353.

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influenced by Japanese prints. The impact of which can be seen in the flattened forms, use of color, and unusual

vantage points in her paintings. In addition to Cassatt, a

large number of American sculptors resided in Italy. The

writer Henry James termed these women "the White Marmorean

Flock." He was not an enthusiastic supporter of this group

composed of Harriet Hosmer, Edmonia Lewis, Charlotte

Cushman, and others. Hosmer was known for her monumental

sculpture and brash behavior. Edmonia Lewis was unique as

one of the few African-American artists of the period.

Although these women were familiar to nineteenth century

patrons, their unconventional attitudes often made them the object of ridicule.28

There were also a sizeable number of female artists

living in the United States. One of the earliest pro­

fessional painters was Lily Martin Spencer. She began working during the antebellum period and was famous for her

genre scenes of family life. Through her painting Martin

was able to support her husband and seven children. Her

work continued after the Civil War; but, during the 1880's

and 1890's she was plagued by increasing financial

pressures as Americans turned away from her romantically

2®Karen Petersen and J. J. Wilson, Women Artists; Recognition and Reappraisal From the Earlv Middle Aces to the Twentieth Centurv (New York: New York University Press, 1976), 79 - 82.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 61

sentimental depictions toward more sophisticated European themes.29

In the last quarter of the century, an explosion of

interest in the visual arts occurred among American women.

E. O. Somerville called the situation a period of "artistic

mania."30 Great numbers of women studied drawing and

painting in the United States and abroad. The reasons for this occurrence are twofold. First,

working in the fine arts had become an acceptable occupa­

tion. Candace Wheeler, in an article written in 1897,

reported;

It has been less than twenty years since American women began the study of art as a profession. Before that time it was a fixed idea in the general mind that it was the duty of a "lady" to live in self denying poverty, rather than to practice an industry or occupation for profit.31

As noted previously noted, "art" was seen as an activity

that did not compromise a woman's "femininity" or "domesti­

city"; therefore, work in this area did not threaten the

"natural order" of separate gender roles. Additionally,

there were financial factors underlying the acceptance of

art for women. The Civil War had decimated the male

population during the I860's. Entire generations of men

29ibid., 87.

3°E. O. Somerville, "An Atelier des Dames," Magazine of Art 9 (1886): 152.

31candace Wheeler, "Art Education for Women," The Outlook 55 (January 2, 1897): 81.

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had been removed and there were large numbers of unmarried

or widowed women to be supported. The economic base of the

United States was changing as well. The nation was

shifting from an agrarian to an industrial economy. As

factories produced consumer goods, a new type of worker was

needed: industrial designers. These employees produced

items such as Christmas cards, wall-paper patterns, fabric

designs, book and magazine illustrations, etc. It was in

this capacity that numerous women entered the work force.

Candace Wheeler commented, "There are hundreds of good

women designers to-day, where even ten years ago there was scarcely one."32

The second reason for the popularity of art with

American women is less obvious, but it was equally

compelling as the occupational aspect. Art provided women

with one of the few forms of youthful rebellion. The world

of the nineteenth-century woman was rigid and structured;

art education offered a chance for an alternative and freer

lifestyle. E. O. Somerville writing for the Magazine of

Art. a nineteenth-century art journal described the world

of the young female art student: It certainly is a very fascinating existence. There is a mixture of freedom and restraint about it, of independence of all rule and serf-like obedience to your particular master, of monotony of routine and variety of detail. You ignore society, yet take the most unreasonable interest in all the sayings and doings of your fifteen or twenty fellows. The great

32lbid., 86.

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question of dress resolves itself into what is the best material for painting-blouses and how to get painting- rags; and a dance or a party of any kind is only regarded by the genuine enthusiast as an unpleasant occasion for which you must ransack your trunk for an evening-dress, and give up an anatomy lecture or "aquarelle seance" at the studio. In fact, it is a life "the world forgetting, by the world forgot;" and no one who has not tried it can realize its peculiar charm.33 The New York World in 1889 reported "The girl student . . .

is easily singled out on the street, the more so because of

her far away look and contempt for things earthly, and from

the fact that she is seldom without a portfolio or a roll

of d r a w i n g s . "34 similarly, the New York Sun for an article

entitled, "The Girl Art Student," wrote: "There is a faint

atmosphere of dainty but defiant Bohemianism about her

proceedings. "35 No doubt these comments present a patron­

izing view of female art students and that, in comparison,

male art students' lives were much more diverse. But, the

important point is that involvement in the arts for the

young American woman offered a world of camaraderie,

purpose, and expectation. It was a far more exciting

lifestyle than her eventual fate of tending to "the little

world of home" and managing a myriad of little details.

33somerville, 153. 34"New York Art Schools: How Women Art Students Work and Live," New York World 17 November 1889; located in Art Students League Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" NY59-24A:46 - 138, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

35"Girl Art Student," New York Sun 9 February 1890; located in Art Students League Papers, Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 64 Studying art afforded women a possible career as well as an

opportunity to enjoy some measure of personal freedom.

Throughout the last decades of the nineteenth

century, numerous articles appeared advising women how to succeed in art.36 Apparently not all achieved their

intended goals; perhaps these occurrences prompted Cecilia

Beaux to write "Why the Girl Art Student Fails." Beaux

felt that many women art students lacked the talent and the

drive to be successful artists. She was not denigrating

the female art student. This accusation could be directed

to art students in the late twentieth century as well.

However, Beaux stressed that women had to take their

careers very seriously. She commented, "Almost never do we

find the 'gifted amateur' among the great of the past."3?

Although current American art history texts virtually

ignore women artists of this period, there were many, many women working on a professional basis. Newspapers and art

journals frequently described exhibitions in which women

participated. For example, an 1880 article entitled "Some

Lady Artists of New York" reported that there were five

hundred women artists in that city alone and that 63 of the

36see Lila Graham Alliger, "For the Girl With Aspira­ tions Towards Art," The Outlook 54 (September 5, 1896); 432; Susan N. Carter, "Women in the Field of Art-Work," North American Review 155 (September 1872): 381 - 384; Candace Wheeler, "Art Education for Women," The Outlook 55 (January 2, 1897): 81 -87.

3"^Cecilia Beaux, "Why the Girl Art Student Fails," Harper's Bazar 47 (May 1913): 221.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 65

National Academy of Design exhibitors were w o m e n . 36 it

named and described the works of some thirty-three women

artists of note in New York City. This same article also

asserted that "in the principal art schools of New York the

ladies are in the majority, and their work is equal in every respect to that of the male students."39 An 1890

article for the New York Press listed the works of 54

successful women artists in New York City.40 Women

frequently cited in the various newspaper accounts were

Rhoda Holmes Nichols, Charlotte Coman, Eliza Greatorex,

Rosina Emmett Sherwood, Jennie Brownscombe, Helena De Kay

Gilder, Maria Oakey Dewing, Cecilia Beaux, Mary Nimmo

Moran, and Ella Condie Lamb. Few names would be familiar

to most modern readers of an art historical text.

One problem that plagued these nineteenth century

artists was the insistence by critics that a "feminine

point of view" be identified. The art critics, predomin­

antly male, asserted that the work of a particular artist

demonstrated her feminine perception of the world. Women

artists were attributed with the skill of depicting feminine consciousness and intuition. Giles Edgerton, (nom

3S"Some Lady Artists of New York," Art Amateur 3 (July 1880): 27.

39Ibid. 49"Women Who Paint," New York Press 26 January 1890; located in Art Student League Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" NY59-24A:46 -138, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 66

de plume of Mary Fanton Roberts) in her 1908 article

entitled "Is There a Sex Distinction in Art?: The Attitude

of the Critic Toward Women's Exhibits," examined the behavior and biases of male art critics. Edgerton acknow­

ledged that male critics often treated women artists and

especially women's art exhibitions differently. In

response to an all-female exhibit at the Knoedler Galleries

in New York, Edgerton reported that male reviewers

"apparently entered the galleries with a point of view at

once tolerant and sentimental; as if to say, 'The poor dears; why shouldn't they play around with their little

feminine a r t ? "41 she accused the critics of "dripping

their pens in treacle." Edgerton felt that much of the art

work at this particular exhibit lacked quality and that the

minimal technical skills of the participants should be

identified. Additionally, she stated:

Now this Chesterfield-Bayard-Raleigh attitude toward accomplishment in art is honestly about the last thing in the world that the genuine hard-working women artists — who are striving just as men are for the best that they can express about the truth of things — want. On the contrary, they are humiliated by it. They resent a sex distinction in art . . . and they honestly prefer just discriminating criticism to this attitude of tender-hearted masculine protection. 42

Edgerton addressed key problems that women artists con­

fronted in the nineteenth century. Although large numbers

4lGiles Edgerton, "Is There a Sex Distinction in Art? The Attitude of the Critic Towards Women's Exhibits," The Craftsman 14 (June 1908): 239.

42ibid., 239 - 240.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 67

of women were working as professional artists, their art

was often seen as an amusing hobby. For example, one news­

paper account proclaimed the following title and subhead­

ing: "Gotham's Fair Artists: Some Women Who Wield the Brush

in New York Studios, They Have Beauty As Well As G e n i u s . "43

It was nearly impossible for women to receive a fair but

critical assessment of their work. The public and parti­

cularly male art critics could not separate the cultural

stereotype of the nineteenth-century women from the reality

of the artist. Even Giles Edgerton who perceptively under­

stood the importance of criticism in the development of an

artist insisted that gender differences existed between the

works of men and women. She wrote: [T]here must forever be a wide differentiation between the painting that men do and that women do, because in all the civilized world there is such a tremendous variation in the outlook on life of men and women . . . [G]rant, as a rule, a compulsory sex difference in art. Look for it; admire it; classify all art by it.44

Believing in an identifiable women's point of view,

Edgerton appeared surprised that Cecilia Beaux and

Charlotte Coman had managed to "subvert" their feminine

nature and produce works of universal appeal "as that of

the greatest men often i s . "45 Edgerton seemed to have

43"Gotham's Fair Artists," New York Mail Express 13 December 1890; located in Art Students League Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" NY59-24A:46 - 138, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

44Edgerton, 240 - 241.

45lbid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 68 subscribed to the cultural dictum: men's art is universal

and articulates great truths; women's art is parochial and limited in its scope.

The idea that women's art articulates a "feminine

point of view" has been the subject of intense debate

within the disciplines of art history and women's studies.

Currently, there are two strains of thought on this issue.

One theory known as "essentialism" promotes the idea that

women possess a discernable female nature or essence. The

alternative view, "nominalism," is related to the tenets of

French post-structuralism. The proponents of this attitude

do not subscribe to the concept of a feminine nature.

Rather, they believe that human behavior is a cultural

construct. It is their contention that a feminine point

of view does not really exist but is dictated by society.45

Based on these two theories, it would appear that Giles

Edgerton is an "essentialist." In contrast, nineteenth-

century portraitist Cecilia Beaux would most likely be

classified as a "nominalist" with her statement, "I do not believe much in the question of sex in art."46

The acceptance of one theory or the other in women's

art has had important implications. On the one hand, the

belief in a gender-based art style often assigned works

4^Linda Alcoff, "Cultural Feminism Versus Post- Structuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory," Signs 13, no. 3 (1988): 405-421.

46Beaux, "Why the Girl Art Student Fails," 221.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 69 created by women to the realm of amateur or decorative art.

However, on the other hand, to disavow gender qualities was

to ignore the emotional and experiential elements of

women's lives. Nineteenth-century America firmly supported

the belief that essential feminine characteristics existed

and could be identified in the visual arts. Because of the

prevalence of this belief in nineteenth-century America,

the "essentialist" attitude no doubt influenced women

artists of the previous century and, in turn, affected

their development as art students. But, it was not an

attitude that all women of the period assumed.

The debate between "essentialism" and "nominalism" is a

theoretical question that still exists today. The effect

of gender on an artist's work has psychological, cultural,

and artistic implications. It is a philosophical problem that has no easy resolution.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 4

TRAINING IN THE VISUAL ARTS FOR AMERICAN WOMEN

This chapter analyzes four art schools: the Pennsyl­

vania Academy of the Fine Arts, the National Academy of

Design, the Art Students League and the Corcoran School of

Art. The schools share a common educational philosophy and

are located in the same geographic region. They represent

America's contribution to the French academic system of

training in the visual arts.

By necessity, this research is narrowly focused and

the findings are applicable only to similar institutions.

The study examined women art students' involvement in these

schools from a historical perspective. In addition, it

reviewed the curriculum, drawing/painting competitions, and

faculty at each of the four schools. A number of students

are highlighted in regards to their professional activities

as artists. The purpose of the study was to view the

educational environment of female art students during the

nineteenth century.

The schools under study served as post-secondary

institutions. Art education on the high school level was

very limited in nineteenth century America. It developed

70

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 71

under the influence of various concerned citizens such as

Rembrandt Peale, Elizabeth Peabody, and Amos Bronson

Alcott. Rembrandt Peale was the son of Charles Willson Peale.

Both Rembrandt and his father had been instrumental in the

founding of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In

addition, Rembrandt was involved in secondary school art

education with his book, Graphics. A Manual of Drawing and

Writing for the Use of Schools and Families (1834). The

book eventually was adopted for use in Philadelphia high schools. 3-

Elizabeth Peabody and Amos Bronson Alcott established

the Temple School in New England. Bronson was a follower

of Transcendentalism; its religious theories greatly

influenced his educational philosophy. The Temple School

stressed using art as a means for unlocking a child's

potential.2

The most famous art educator of the nineteenth

century was Walter Smith. Smith was an Englishman who had

been enlisted to develop art education courses and teacher

training programs. He emphasized drawing and design as

important skills for industry. His ideas were current

1Foster Wygant, Art in American Schools in the Nineteenth Centurv (Cincinnati, Ohio: interwood Press, 1983), 18 - 25 passim.

2Raren A. Hamblen, "An Art Education Chronology," Studies in Art Education 26 (Winter 1985): 118.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 72 during the 1870's and 1880's. Smith was State Art Director

of Massachusetts and Director of Drawing for the Boston Public Schools.3

In keeping with nineteenth century attitudes, the

study of art was seen either as a vocational activity or as a means for developing a moral outlook. The philosophies

of Alcott and Smith were representative of America's

insistence that all activities must have a purpose. John

Van Dyke and John Ruskin, two influential writers and

thinkers of the nineteenth century, attempted to persuade

others that the study of art could be important in itself.

It did not have to have a purpose. But, these theories

were never fully accepted by Americans.

The young women who attended the art academies under

examination might have studied art in secondary school.

However, most likely, they received private instruction

from local art teachers. For example, Cecilia Beaux was instructed by her older cousin, Catherine Drinker. Beaux

went on to study at the Pennsylvania Academy where Drinker

also had trained several years earlier. The students,

therefore, would have had varying forms of instruction

before their entrance to these American art schools.

Pennsvlvania Academv of theFine Arts

The Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, the

3wygant, 55.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 73

oldest art institution in the United States, was founded in

1805 and modeled on the Royal Academy of London. It was

established by a group of Philadelphia businessmen and

amateur artists.* These men had been inculcated with an

eighteenth century vision of art and aesthetics. It was their desire to see that the traditions and philosophies of

English Neo-Classicism be continued in this country.5

Their intent was articulated in the Pennsylvania Academy's

charter. It read:

The object of this association is to promote the cultivation of the FINE ARTS in the United States of America, by introducing correct and elegant copies from works of the first masters in sculpture and painting and thus facilitating the access to such standards . . .® The founders clearly wanted an institution which

would emphasize antique Greek sculpture and Renaissance

painting. However, perhaps more importantly and more

critical to the success of indigenous art, they wanted to

"educate" Americans in the visual arts. This goal demon­

strated the significant difference between the European

academic system and the American. There was no need to

educate Europeans about the importance of art. Art was

*Doreen Bolger, "The Education of the American Artist," in In This Academv; The Pennsvlvania Acadettv of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1976), 52.

^Richard J. Boyle, "The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Its Founding and Early Years," Antiques (March 1982): 672.

Gibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 74

part of their history and national identity. This was not

true of the United States. In order to raise the status of

the artist, a cultural appreciation of fine art had to be

developed within the American public. Therefore, the

Pennsylvania Academy, in addition to being the first art

academy, functioned as one of the earliest art museums.

The men who were the initiators of the Academy were

made up of seventy-one businessmen and just three artists,

Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, and William Rush.

The charter for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

was signed in Independence Hall. During its first meeting,

the expatriate American-born artist Benjamin West was

elected as an Honorary Member. The decision to purchase

antique plaster casts was also made during the meeting.?

Ostensibly the Pennsylvania Academy was patterned

after the London Royal Academy; yet, the attitudes and

goals of the controlling members were significantly differ­

ent. Artists controlled the British academy; businessmen

were in charge at the Philadelphia institution. Local

artists erroneously believed that the business community

happily would relinquish control of the academy to practic­

ing artists. They were mistaken; the businessmen were not

about to turn over the running of the academy to a group of

artists who had invested no money in the establishment of

Ibid., 672 - 674.

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the academy.® The involvement of the community was a

characteristic that helped and sometimes hindered the

Pennsylvania Academy during the nineteenth century.

Although women were not direct participants in the founding

of the Pennsylvania Academy, they were allowed to utilize

its facilities at an early date. In 1807 "Ladies Day" was

initiated.9 American decorum did not permit men and women

to view nude statuary together. Therefore, on Ladies Day,

women viewed nude statues in their own company. Frances

Trollope, a British women visiting the Pennsylvania Academy in the early 1800's, described her experiences at the

antique statue gallery:

[A]n old woman who appeared to officiate as guardian of the gallery, bustled up, and addressing me with an air of much mystery, said, "Now, ma'am, now: this is just the time for you — nobody can see you — make haste." I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disen­ gaging my arm, which she had taken apparently to hasten my movements, I very gravely asked her meaning. "Only, ma'am, that ladies like to go into that room by themselves, when there be no gentlemen watching them." On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I remarked, was a written paper, deprecating the disgusting depravity which had led some of the visitors to mark and deface the casts in a most indecent and shameless manner. This abomination has unquestionably been occasioned by the coarse-minded custom which sends alternate groups of males and females into the room. Were the antique gallery thrown open to mixed parties

®Edward J. Nygren, "The First Art Schools at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts," Pennsvlvania Magazine of History and Biography 95 (April 1971): 227.

^Christine Jones Huber, The Pennsylvania Academy and Its Women: 1850 - 1920 (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1973), 12.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 76

of ladies and gentlemen, it would soon cease. Till America has reached the degree of refinement which permits of this, the antique casts should not be exhibited to ladies at all. I never felt my delicacy shocked at the Louvre, but I was strongly tempted to resent as an affront the hint I received, that I might steal a glance at what was deemed indecent.

By 1844 the Board of Directors felt women were suffi­

ciently worldly that they were granted permission to use

the Pennsylvania Academy gallery as copyists and, as a

result, women artists could use the antique casts for

sketching and drawing purposes. Unfortunately, the time

allowed was very limited: one hour three days a week.On

a more positive note, it was an acknowledgement of the

existence and needs of women artists in Philadelphia.

On April 14, 1856 Ladies Day was abolished. In

keeping with American modesty, the Board of Directors

recommended "that a close fitting, but, inconspicuous fig-

leaf be attached to the Apollo Belvedere [sic], Laocoon,

Fighting Gladiator, and other figures similarly in need of

it."12 The purpose of this action was to officially enroll

women as students of the Pennsylvania Academy. It was now

lOprances Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1894), 85 - 86.

llfiphraim Weinberg, "The Art School of the Pennsyl­ vania Academy," Antiques (reprint, March 1982): 692.

12pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Papers, "History of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts," P50: 511, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institu­ tion , Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 77 possible for women to work from plaster casts in mixed company.

Thus by mid-century, women became a permanent part of

the Pennsylvania Academy. This occurrence was nearly a

decade before the first woman enrolled at the British Royal

Academy and fifty years before a women could be admitted to

the Ecole des Beaux Arts. It was a significant advance and

highlights the progressive stance of American art training

for women.

Organization

The Pennsylvania Academy was managed by its Board of

Directors. Directors were usually not professional

artists; most often, they were local businessmen or civic

leaders. The number of men who served on this body varied.

However, a typical number of members was twelve or

thirteen. The Directors were in charge of the entire

operation of the academy which included exhibitions,

finances, and the maintenance of the art school.

The day-to-day administration of the art school was

overseen by the Committee on Instruction. This group was

comprised of three or four men who were all members of the

Board. The Committee was responsible for managing the

faculty, curriculum, and the student body.

Women Art Students at the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts

The 1856 student register for the Antique class

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 78 showed that 22 women and 144 men were enrolled in the study

of drawing from plaster casts.Therefore, female

students made up 13% of the lower division student body.

Admission to this course also included lectures in

anatomy.14 The Life class was open only to male students

at this time. Fifty-nine students were enrolled for the advanced drawing instruction.15

The Antique class was apparently very popular with

women art students in Philadelphia. The minutes of the

Committee on Instruction reported in 1859, "we have been

favoured with an increased attendance of Ladies during the day, which has had a refining tendency at the same time

encouraging order & giving a tone not here to fore

possessed."16 This quotation provides an example of the

Victorian attitude that women had a "civilizing" influence

on men and society. Although the comment seems somewhat

patronizing, women fully participated in this stereotype.

For example, the committee's minutes also stated,

"Encouragement should be given to this portion of the Class

[the women art students in the Antique class] as it will

llpAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 1856 Ticket Register, P47:607, AAA. Number of women students determined by counting names. l*Ibid.

ISlbid., P47; 609.

16pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 31 March 1859, P47:632, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 79

eventually do away with the false delicacy that some of our

Philadelphia Ladies have to visiting this beautiful portion

of our collection."!? The committee was addressing the hyper-modesty and extreme prudery that many women displayed

toward viewing nude statuary. Even when strict social

codes were relaxed, some women clung to the image of frail

but highly moral female. Therefore, the women of the nine­

teenth century did not always take advantage of opportuni­

ties presented to them. Another example of Victorian

decorum occurred during the fall of 1860, the Committee on

Instruction acknowledged the growing enrollment of female

students; but, they were perplexed by the women's reticence

to attend anatomy lectures. The minutes of the committee noted:

[T]hese lectures have been illustrated by actual dissections of the entire subject, but as there are now many ladies earnestly engaged in the study of the human figure at the Academy who are debarred by a natural repugnance to that mode of illustration from availing themselves of that important branch of instruction. It has been thought that the substitution of a manikin in place of the dead body might be advisable. The chief objection to the change is on the score of expense.!®

There is no doubt that the administration of the

Pennsylvania Academy was making sincere attempts to meet the needs of its students. The Committee on Instruction

was aware of the critical importance of anatomical studies

!?Ibid.

!®PAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Directors" dated 12 November 1860, P47:639, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 80

in the academic art school curriculum. It was willing to

accommodate the cultural attitudes of its female students to provide this crucial subject. Conversely, the Academy

should be credited for the fact that the school did not

prevent women from viewing and studying cadavers. The

administration encouraged women to learn human anatomy and

allowed the women students to attend the same lectures as

the male students.

This attitude of reticent femininity was not evident

among all the female art students. One group of women in

1860 decided to organize a draped life class for themselves

since they were not permitted to enroll in the academy's

life class. Eliza Haldeman in a letter to her father

described to him the women's plans: We young ladies of the Academy are getting up a life class. Although not from the nude. The arrangement is this. We are going to take an hour four days a week, and one of us take turns to sit while the others draw. We will have the modeling room for our life class and have it so fixed that no one shall disturb us during our working hour. I think it will be of great advantage to us.!®

Eight years later a women's life class was established. It

was, perhaps, organized on a tentative basis. The minutes

of the Committee on Instruction for October 11, 1869

reported that the school had a surplus of $13 available and

that Professor Christian Schussele, the instructor, had urged the continuation of the Ladies Life class. Because

!®Quoted in Huber, 15.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 81 of these two factors, the committee decided to offer the

class for a second year if there was sufficient student

enrollment. Thirteen women registered for the class and it

became a permanent fixture of the academy's curriculum.

Emily Sartain and Catherine Drinker were two of the

original members of this c l a s s . 20

The life classes at the Pennsylvania Academy were

segregated. Records for March 1870 show that the average

attendance in the life classes was 31 students; of that

group, ten were women. Therefore, women made up 30% of the

students studying from human m o d e l s . 2 1 However, these

women had only female models available to them at this

time. Male models were not utilized in the ladies life

class until 1877.22

The Academy was closed in 1871 while a new building

for the Academy was being constructed. Classes resumed in

1876. The minutes of the Committee on Instruction for

January 12, 1877 show that for the 1876/1877 school season

women accounted for 24% (14 out of 58) of the Life students.23 So, there appeared to be a slight drop in

2®p a p a Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 11 October 1869, P47:664, AAA.

21pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 14 March 1870, P47:667, AAA.

22Huber, 21.

23pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 12 January 1877, P47;670, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 82 percentage for women's attendance following the art

school's re-opening.

The March 20, 1878 minutes of the Committee on

Instruction indicated that the Committee recommended the hiring of Thomas Eakins as an assistant to Christian

S c h u s s e l e . 24 Schussele had been suffering from ill-health

for a number of years. However, more recently, he was

having difficulty fulfilling his teaching duties because of

his illness. Thomas Eakins was to have a profound effect

on the history of the Pennsylvania Academy and especially

on the education of women art students. During his time he

was seen as a gifted, well-trained artist; but, he was not

a highly successful or appreciated artist.

The next month, April 1878, another milestone

occurred. The Pennsylvania Academy authorized a women

instructor:

[P]ermission has been given to Miss C. A. Drinker to use the Life Class room when not occupied by regular classes for a brief series of lectures on perspective designed to be of immediate practical assistance to the Students in their work. The lectures were now in progress, being given on Thursday Evenings.25

Catherine Drinker was a local Philadelphia artist. She was

one of the students in the first Women's Life Class,

initiated in 1869. Miss Drinker was not paid for her

24pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 20 March 1878, P47:684, AAA.

25pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 17 April 1878, P47:685, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 83 teaching. The important point in this event is that a

women was considered having the advanced skills and

technique to provide needed training to students. It is

not clear whether Miss Drinker's students were all female

or a mixture of both sexes. However, because the Committee

does not specify, it was probably open to either sex. The

event also showed that the Committee on Instruction's

primary concern was the proper training of its students.

The members of the Committee felt the students were

deficient in their ability to depict visual space and they

took steps to rectify that situation.

On October 22, 1878 a very curious event occurred.

Miss E. B. Justice, a student in the first antique section,

inadvertently left her drawing of the torso of Venus de

Milo pinned to her drawing board. When she returned to the

classroom to retrieve it, the drawing had vanished. Inex­

plicably, Carl Gaertner, another first antique student,

was seen working on the beginning stages of a drawing that

exactly matched Miss Justice's drawing. Justice's original

work was recovered later that day; however, the charcoal

drawing was severely smudged because someone had traced

over it. Carl Gaertner was confronted with the accusation

that he copied Justice's work and he retorted "it's a damn

liei" The incident was brought up at the November 9, 1878

meeting of the Committee on Instruction. The Committee

members met with Mr. Gaertner and examined both drawings.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 84

After a lengthy analysis, they expelled Carl Gaertner from

the Pennsylvania A c a d e m y . 26 Following this incident,

Gaertner's mother wrote the academy requesting that her

son be re-admitted. The Committee refused the request.2?

Obviously, the Committee on Instruction considered Carl

Gaertner's act reprehensible and a serious threat to

artistic integrity. One must ask why would Gaertner copy

another student's work? The most likely explanation is

that Carl was an art student of limited abilities and that

E. B. Justice displayed greater technical skills. Perhaps,

Gaertner thought that if he traced another student's work

he might be advanced to the more prestigious second antique

class. He may have thought he was less likely to be caught

copying a female student's work. However, the Committee on

Instruction and the Board of Directors never questioned the

veracity of Miss Justice's accusation. They obviously saw

her as a very competent student and they were horrified

that one would copy another artist's work — without

concern for gender. The administration did not back down

on the issue of Gaertner's readmission; they did not take a

"boys will be boys" attitude. Gaertner had compromised

ethical and aesthetic practices and as a result he was not

wanted at Pennsylvania Academy.

26pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 9 November, P47:687 - 689, AAA.

2?p a f a Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" P47: 697 - 698, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 85 Although administrators had supported women in the

previous incident, they did not always display unquestioned

backing on all issues. For example, in fall of 1878 some

of the women's life class students petitioned the Committee

on Instruction to initiate a modeling from life class for

w o m e n . 28 The Committee's response was,"It was considered

impracticable [sic] to grant the request at present in

consequence of lack of r o o m . " 2 ® The following month

Catherine Drinker Janvier (married in 1878 and still a

student at the Academy) wrote a personal letter on behalf

of the women students. She indicated that the women

students would be willing to use another room than the one

they had requested; she also reported that the women were

"content to model in wax". The Committee hedged the issue

complaining this time of the expense of such a class and referring the matter to the Board of Directors.30 it is

important to note that at this time the Pennsylvania

Academy did not charge tuition. Money for the art school

was generated by the academy itself. Therefore, the

academy felt that a modeling class for women was not the

best use of their limited resources. It is also interest­

ing to note that the response to student input varies with

28pAFA Papers, "The Minutes of the Committee on Instruction" dated 4 December 1878, P47;690, AAA. 2®lbid. 30ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 86 the character of the art academy. The women at the

Pennsylvania Academy were in an environment where they felt

free to express their opinions and wishes.

During the summer of 1879, Christian Schussele died.

At their September 3, 1879 meeting, the Committee on

Instruction discussed how best to fill the vacancy. The

men of the Committee "decided to recommend to the Board of

Directors that Thomas Eakins be appointed Professor of

Drawing and Painting, . . . to take charge of the Antique

and Life Classes, and to give lectures on perspective."31

The death of Professor Schussele and the hiring of Thomas Eakins would signal a major shift in the philosophy of the

art school. Schussele represented the older, more tradi­

tional academic approach to art education which was firmly

rooted in the use of drawing from casts and later from the live human model.

Thomas Eakins' philosophy was radical and at times

overly restrictive in its focus. In contrast to Schussele,

Eakins emphasized anatomy and life drawing for beginning

students as well as for the advanced. His students did

work from casts; but, he moved them more quickly into the

life classes than most instructors. He stressed painting

skills and reduced the traditional academic emphasis on

drawing. Fairman Rogers writing about the Pennsylvania

3^PAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 3 September 1879, P47:695, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 87

Academy's art school in 1881 stated:

One peculiarity of the school which has been somewhat unfavorably criticized is that in one sense there is little variety in the instruction; that is, the student works first from casts which are almost universally of the nude human figure; he then enters into the life class and continues to work from the nude human, usually in simple poses, and he works in the dissecting room also from the human figure. He does some work in the sketch class from a draped figure, and in the portrait class from the head and face; but the main strength is put upon the nude human figure.32 Eakins' rigid focus on the nude human figure was not always

popular with the Philadelphia citizenry. Eakins also

promoted serious professional training for women; he

flaunted nineteenth century conventional standards by

insisting that female students in life classes work from

completely nude male models. He was one of few instructors

to permit this occurrence and as a result Eakins frequently

scandalized the community. Fairman Rogers remarked, "the

system pursued is not that best adapted to the teaching of

drawing as an accomplishment, or to cultivating artistic

taste among amateurs."33 Eakins was intently serious in

his training of young artists and showed no sex discrimina­

tion. He expected his male and female students to behave

as artists not as amateurs. He had no patience with Victorian morality or modesty.

William Brownell writing in the September 1879

32pairman Rogers, "The Schools of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts," The Penn Monthly (June 1881): 457.

33ibid., 453.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 88

edition of Scribner's Magazine reported that the first

antique class was composed of 41 men and 18 women (31%),

second antique had 27 men and 16 women (37%), and the life

class was made up of 81 men and 47 women (37%). In all,

women comprised approximately 35% of the art students at

this time.34 Although women were now a significant part of the

school's enrollment, their presence was not always readily

accepted. Twenty years earlier some women had been

unwilling to be involved in anatomical studies; by 1880, most women art students were now keenly interested in this

subject. However, the male students maintained complete

control of the dissecting room. They often monopolized the

anatomy facilities and would even mutilate the cadavers.

The subject would be so defaced that the women were unable

to use i t in their studies.35 The action by the male

students was sophomoric and inexcusable; but a second

problem was related to the actions of the women two decades

earlier. They had had the opportunity to become involved

in anatomical studies; but, due to their upbringing, they

appeared to be incapable of letting go of the image of the "delicate female." The anatomy class of 1860 was composed

of lectures and dissections conducted by a medical doctor;

34[wiiiiam Brownell], "The Art Schools of Philadel­ phia," Scribner's Illustrated Monthly 18 (September 1879) 739.

35nuber, 22 - 23.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 89

in the ensuing years male students had taken control of

the anatomical studies. Perhaps, if women had been more

assertive and actively involved in the anatomy classes when they first were given the opportunity this situation

might have been avoided. Since 1876, advanced male students had been routinely

selected to assist as anatomy demonstrators in the dissect­

ing room. The January 6, 1881 minutes of the Committee on

Instruction indicated that eight men had been chosen to fill this position. For the first time, two women. Miss

Siter and Miss Trotter, were also selected to assist at a

separate women's t a b l e . 35 The addition of women as demon­

strators was attributable directly to Thomas Eakins. He

had insisted on the female demonstrators because he believed he was training serious artists and the study was

vital to their careers.3?

In 1882 the administration of the Pennsylvania

Academy decided to charge tuition in the art s c h o o l . 38

Prior to this time, classes had been free. The practice of

gratis art instruction had been instituted by the Royal

35pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 6 January 1881, P47;712, AAA.

3"^Louise Lippincott, "Thomas Eakins and the Academy," in In This Academv; The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1976), 170.

38pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 8 February 1882, P47:723, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 90 Academies in Paris and London. Many American academies attempted to follow the tradition; but, the cost of

providing models, instructors, and facilities was often

beyond the means of the institutions. The rates at the

Pennsylvania Academy were $8 a month or $48 for the eight month school year.3^

There were 91 women and 117 men enrolled in the

antique and life sections at this time. Women constituted

44% of the students in these two sections.40

In March of 1882, the academy promoted Thomas Eakins

to the position of Director of Schools. Formerly, his

designation had been Professor of Drawing and Painting.

Thomas Anshutz was named Assistant Professor of Painting

and Drawing. These appointments were part of a larger restructuring of the academy's art school.41

During this same period an anonymous women wrote a

letter to the James L. Claghorn, president of the Pennsyl­

vania Academy of the Fine Arts. The letter, signed R. S.,

has become infamous for its Victorian attitudes regarding

art, morality, and nudity. The note began with the

author's definition of art — it was consistent with the

beliefs of many Americans of the nineteenth century. R. S.

3*Lloyd Goodrich, Thomas Eakins (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982), 188.

48pAFA Papers, "Annual Reports" dated 76th Annual Report 1881 - 1882, P71:1102, AAA.

^^Goodrich, 187.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 91

wrote: "By true art I mean, the Art that ennobles and

purifies the mind, elevates the whole intellect, increases

the love of the beautiful . . ."42 The writer fervently

believed art should be moral and uplifting. Yet, she did

not feel that the Pennsylvania Academy was promoting her

vision of fine art; rather, in her opinion, the sensual and

the obscene were being thrust upon innocent young women. R. S. continued:

Would you be willing to take a young daughter of your own into the Academy Life Class, to the study of the nude figure of a woman, whom you would shudder to have sit in your parlor and converse with your daughter? Would you be willing to sit there with your daughter, or know she was sitting there with a dozen others, studying a nude figure, while the professor walked around criticizing that nudity, as to her roundness in this part, and swell of the muscles in another? That daughter at home had been shielded from every thought that might lead her young mind from the most rigid chastity. Her mother had never allowed her to see her young naked brothers, hardly her sisters after their babyhood and yet at the age of eighteen or nineteen, for the culture of high Art, she entered a class where both male and female figures stood before her in their horrid nakedness.43

R. S. is describing the critiques of student work by Thomas Eakins. He had a reputation for very precise

attention to detail in his teaching and in his own work.

Near the end of her letter, the author lamented, "The

stifling heat of the room, adds to the excitement, & what

might be a cool unimpassioned study in a room at 35

^2pAFA Papers, "History of the PAFA" letter dated 11 April 1882, P50:607, AAA.

43lbid., P50:607 - 608.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 92

degrees, at 85 degrees or even higher is d r e a d f u l . "44 Qne

is tempted to laugh at the extreme hyperbole of this woman.

A three hour drawing class in a hot, stuffy room is not a

titillating activity. But, on a more serious level, the

letter demonstrated the attitudes with which American

academies had to deal. Prudery and morality were potent

forces that often threatened the artistic curriculum in

this country. The most interesting aspect of this letter

is the response by the Pennsylvania Academy's administra­

tion. They did nothing. Records show that the Committee

on Instruction acknowledged receipt of the letter and

simply filed it a w a y . 4 5 The Board of Directors took no

action; the letter was not even discussed at their next

meeting.45 The academy had absolutely no intention of

changing its academic focus. It strongly supported the

women art students and their critical need to have this

course.

One of the reasons for the academy's commitment to

women's art education, and specifically to life classes,

was Thomas Eakins; but, backing him completely was Fairman

Rogers. Rogers was the Chairman of the Committee on

Instruction and a member of the Board of Directors. In

44ibid., P50;609.

^^PAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 26 April 1882, P47;724, AAA.

45pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Directors" dated 8 May 1882, P45:049, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 93

November 1883 Fairman Rogers resigned his post at the

Pennsylvania Academy. He was succeeded by Edward Hornor

Coates, a man considerably less progressive than Rogers.

Rogers had been instrumental in maintaining support for

Eakins' program of study. When he left, there was no one

who so completely believed in Eakins' ideas.

On March 24, 1884 the Committee on Instruction

received a letter from Diana Franklin. Franklin was upset

with the occasional practice of using male students as

models in the women's life c l a s s . 48 obtaining models for

the art students was often quite difficult. Because of

American attitudes regarding the impropriety of nudity,

modeling for the art school was not a job many people

wanted. Consequently, Thomas Eakins at times allowed his

students to model for classes. The Committee on Instruc­

tion agreed with Miss Franklin's letter of protest and

made a resolution that nc student would be employed in the

women's classes. Miss Franklin's distress with the use of

male students was probably not a sign of her Victorian

modesty; but more likely she considered it to be an

unprofessional practice. It was perhaps awkward to personally know the model and to have him as a colleague.

The use of nude models was a constant problem for the

4?Goodrich, 281 - 283. 48pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 24 March 1884, P47;737, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 94 academy; it often inflamed the community as R. S.'s letter

testifies. Academy administrators decided in 1884 to enact

the provision that no minor would be permitted to study in

the life classes without written permission from his/her parent or guardian.49

Another group of models at the Pennsylvania Academy

has received a great deal of attention from modern authors.

The models were barnyard animals such as horses and cows.

Linda Nochlin's article, "Why Have There Been No Great

Women Artists?," featured a photograph of a class of female

art students posing with their model, a cow. The caption

for the photograph read "At Thomas Eakins' life-class at

the Pennsylvania Academy around 1885, a cow served as a

model for the women students.Karen Petersen and J. J.

Wilson utilized the same photograph in their book. Women

Artists. Their caption reported, "Ladies Modeling Class at

the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (photograph) c.

1883. Forbidden access to nude human models, they are

doing their best to learn the mysteries of anatomy from

this unlikely model . . ."51 The authors imply that the

49pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 4 June 1884, P47:738, AAA.

S^Linda Nochlin, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" ArtNews 69 (January 1971): 29.

5lRaren Petersen and J. J. Wilson, Women Artists: Recognition and Reappraisal From the Earlv Middle Aaes to the Twentieth Century (New York: New York University Press, 1976), 85.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 95 Pennsylvania Academy used farm animals in lieu of nude male

models for the women's class. The photograph is amusing and seems to support the modern attitude that nineteenth

century America was quaint and prim. But, the inference is

patently wrong. The use of the animals was expressly for

the benefit of the students. Fairman Rogers, writing in

1881, explained the rationale for using animals as models;

During the past season, for the first time, a horse was used as the model for a six weeks' pose, the men's and women's classes working together for this purpose . . . The horse enters so largely into the composition of pictures and statuary, especially works of the higher order, such as historical subjects, and is generally so badly drawn, even by those who profess to have made some study of the animal, the work seems to be of value.52

The use of animals was not a slight against women;

the practice was quite the opposite. Women art students

had the most to gain by the study. Academic art since the

seventeenth century had had a hierarchy of subjects in

painting. The portrayal of historical themes was held in

highest esteem; while, still-life and genre scenes were at

the bottom in prestige. A frequent component of historical

representation is the horse since he was an integral part

of pre-twentieth century warfare. Few women artists ever attempted historical subjects and they often displayed

extreme difficulty portraying large animals. The Pennsyl­

vania Academy offered co-educational classes in drawing,

painting, and sculpting of animals. Animal dissections

52Rogers, 459 - 460.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 96 were also included in the anatomy classes. It is easy for

someone from the twentieth century to overlook the

essential role of animals in everyday life. Therefore,

women art students were developing skills in a very

important area.

The 78th Annual Report for the Pennsylvania Academy

indicated that by May 31, 1884 there were 214 students

enrolled in the art school. Of this figure, 109 were men

and 105 were w o m e n . 5 3 Therefore, women now comprised

nearly fifty percent of the student body. The following

year showed a slight drop in the percentage of female

students. There were 224 students in 1885, 120 male

students (54%) and 104 female students (46%).54 The

academy seemed to be on relatively firm footing. It had a

solid enrollment base and adequate financing. However, midway in the 1885/1886 school term, the academy became

embroiled in a very bitter and contentious controversy.

The February 8, 1886 minutes of the Board of

Directors recorded the following decision: "The Committee

on Instruction also reported having had under serious

consideration for some time a change in management of the

school, and had finally concluded that it would be well to

53pAFA Papers, "Annual Reports" dated 78th Annual Report February 1884 to February 1885, P71:1120, AAA.

54pAFA Papers, "Annual Reports" dated report Feb 1885 to Feb 1886, P71:1128, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 97

ask for the resignation of the present d i r e c t o r . "55 The

Board approved the Committee's request and made a formal

resolution authorizing the Committee to dismiss Thomas

Eakins. That same day, Edward Hornor Coates sent Eakins a tersely worded note requesting his resignation.56 The

following day, February 9, 1886, Eakins responded with an

equally curt reply: "In accordance with your request just

received, I tender you my resignation as director of the

schools of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts."5?

And that act ended Thomas Eakins connection with the

academy. His students were very upset; one group composed

of both male and female students sent a letter of protest to the Board of Directors.58

Eakins' assistant, Thomas Anshutz, and one of the

advanced students, James Kelly, were appointed to take over

Eakins' classes and administrative responsibilities for the

remainder of the term.59 At the next meeting of the Board,

the March 8, 1886 minutes proclaimed that "the schools were

55pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Directors" dated 8 February 1886, P45:139, AAA.

56pAFA Papers, "Correspondence of Thomas Eakins" letter dated 8 February 1886, P50:952, AAA. 5^PAFA Papers, "History of the PAFA" letter dated 9 February 1886, P50:953, AAA. 58pAFA Papers, "Correspondence of Thomas Eakins" letter undated c. 1886, P50:954, AAA. 59pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 24 February 1886, P47:748, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 98 working smoothly"; the minutes also acknowledged the

students' letter of protest. The Board reaffirmed its

position that "with a view to the present and future

interest of the schools, [the Board] is unable to recon­

sider or change its a c t i o n . "^0

However, things were not moving as smoothly as the

Board's statement indicated. Eakins' firing was discussed

and analyzed in newspapers and art journals. The Philadel­

phia Press on February 15, 1886 proclaimed, "PROF. EAKINS

RESIGNS: Trouble in the Life Class of the Academy of the

Fine Arts." The article suggested that "he had a number of

enemies who made trouble for him.Five colleagues and

former students had been instrumental in Eakins' demise;

they were Thomas Anshutz, James P. Kelly, Colin Campbell

Cooper, Jr., Charles H. Stevens, and George Frank Stephens.

These men had informed the Board of Eakins's impropriety

and unsuitability as Director of the academy art school.

On March 12,1886 they wrote the Board complaining of its

lack of support for their actions; to confirm this accusa­

tion they included the Philadelphia Press newspaper

article, noted above. The five men lamented:

In the absence of any official statement as to the cause of Mr. Eakins resignation from the Academy

GOpAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Directors" dated 8 March 1886, P45:141 - 143, AAA. 61 "Professor Eakins Resigns" Philadelphia Press 15 February 1886, located in PAFA Papers, "History of the PAFA," P50;962, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 99 rumors have spread, of which the enclosed clipping is a specimen, resulting in the general belief that he has suffered without cause. This is unjust to those who have brought Mr. Eakins offenses to the notice of your Board . . . [We] appeal most earnestly for an official statement from your Board to the effect that Mr. Eakins' dismissal was due to the abuse of this authority and not to the malice of his personal or professional enemies.

The Board of Directors never made a direct statement regarding the precise reasons for firing Eakins. Although

Anshutz et al. professed that there was no "malice,"

Eakins, in fact, did have enemies. The five men harbored a

very strong personal dislike of Thomas Eakins and their

animosity was ironic because all had studied under h i m . 53

The causes for Thomas Eakins' dismissal are numerous. His curricular focus was very narrow. It emphasized

scientific anatomy and life studies. His frequent and

seemingly flagrant stress on nudity often inflamed the

public. He, sometimes, used students as nude models. All

these activities seemed to laymen to be licentious and depraved. His liberal attitudes in the women's life class

were particularly galling to some. Female students

comprised half of the school and, therefore, half of the

tuition. Consequently, the Board of Directors was fright­

ened that the situation in the life classes might offend

this constituency. Louise Lippincott commented:

52pAFA Papers, "History of the PAFA" letter dated 12 March 1886, P50:966 - 967, AAA.

53Goodrich, 284.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 100

[T]he directors feared that they [women students] might leave the Academy if their respectability was threatened by attendance at a life class. On the other hand, the professionalism of the women's program was one of the school's strong points, and too much consideration of feminine sensibilities would destroy that reputation.54

Ultimately, financial and social concerns prevailed. Thomas Hovenden was appointed Director for the 1886/1887 school year.55

Thomas Eakins had worked at the Pennsylvania Academy

for ten years. He had had a crucial impact on the art

school. It is particularly sad that his tenure ended in

such an ignoble manner. He had expected the very highest

standards from his students; but, he was genuinely

interested in their artistic development. For the female

students he had shown uncompromising support for their

education. He would not succumb to the stereotype of

Victorian womanhood. And it was this attitude, in parti­ cular, that most likely led to his dismissal.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the art school at

the Philadelphia Academy had been considered to be one of the dominant programs. However, after the Civil War many

new art schools were founded to meet a growing interest in

visual arts training. The Pennsylvania Academy began to be

affected by these rival organizations. By 1890 the Board

54Lippincott, 177.

55pAFA Papers, "Annual Reports" dated 80th Annual Report February 1886 to February 1887, P71;1137, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 101

of Directors contemplated making changes within the school

to make it "more attractive to students, in view of the

serious competition now f e l t . " 5 5 The Board does not seem

to have made any dramatic changes in its curriculum or

administration. One program that was added to the school at this time

was a special scholarship for study abroad. The minutes of

the Board of Directors' meeting for December 8, 1890

reported:

The President announced that a member of the Board had generously offered to furnish the means to enable the Academy to offer a traveling scholarship for one year to one of its students, choosing from one of the men's classes. The arrangement of details was left to the Academy, except that the donor desired the elected student to reside in Europe for one year, beginning in 1891, and would give $800 (payable in quarterly installments) to defray his expenses.5'

This scholarship is one of the few instances of

blatant gender bias at the Pennsylvania Academy. There

seemed to be no discussion about allowing women to compete

for the award. One might assume that the reason for this

bias was the knowledge that a woman would not be able to

study at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. On February 25, 1891

John R. Conner was unanimously selected as the recipient

55pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of the Directors" dated 13 October 1890, P45;247, AAA.

5^PAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Directors" dated 8 December 1890, P45:253, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 102

for the European scholarship. 58 on October 5, 1891 he

wrote Edward H. Coates from Paris. Conner reported that he

was enrolled at the Académie Julian under the direction of

Benjamin Constant.59 The Académie Julian accepted women

students. Therefore, the reason for exempting women from

the scholarship award cannot have been due to rules barring

the women at the Ecole. The most likely reason is that the

Board of Directors believed male students considered art to

be their career. The scholarship would be a great benefit

for their future vocation. Whereas, the directors probably

assumed women were studying art as a hobby and that travel

would not enhance their ultimate careers.

Another area in which the Pennsylvania Academy showed

great gender bias was faculty employment. During the entire nineteenth century, the academy employed only one

women as a paid instructor. That woman was Cecilia Beaux;

she was hired in 1895 to teach portraiture. Beaux was on

the staff until 1916. She was one of the most successful

portrait painters of nineteenth century America. She

appeared to have been a very popular instructor. One of

her students wrote to Beaux. The student stated: I want to thank you for all the vigor and vitality you bring in to your class at the academy. Your criticisms are always such a lift over hard places;

58pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 25 February 1891, P47:782, AAA.

59pAFA Papers, "Correspondence, etc." letter dated 5 October 1891, P71:005, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 103 you go directly to the heart of the matter and clear away all the muddle. It must be wonderful to live — with a mind like that — I often think yours is like an arrow, only you don't wound people with it which is all the nicer. Perhaps we appear rather dull and uncomprehending or unresponsive sometimes, but oh we do appreciate — fresh air and rejoice in a sense of humor. It is impossible to repay anything to the people who give the inestimable things but I like to thank them for existing. The note was signed "one of your class." Obviously, at

least one student felt the need and appreciated the

opportunity to have a woman instructor. Beaux brought to

her class clarity and humor as a teacher. It is unfortun­

ate that no other women was given the chance to use her

special skills as a faculty member. Since nearly half of

the student body were women, it seems likely that many art

students might have benefited from the input of successful

woman artists. However, the academy was too entrenched in

the French academic system to have seriously considered a woman as a viable instructor. It appears that the academy

was capable only of seeing men as professional artists.

Competitions and Prizes

Competitions were a primary component of the French

academic system. However, they did not have the same power

and impact on American academies. The Pennsylvania Academy

offered some prizes; but, with reservations. Advancement

70cecilia Beaux Papers, letter dated February 26 (year not provided), 426:1408 - 1409, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 104 from the antique section to life studies was considered to

be a suitable "award." Fairman Rogers commented, "the

Professor of Painting [Eakins] . . . considers that working

for any other prize is apt to distract the student from the

steady course of study, and to take the attention off the

regular w o r k . "^3.

Although Eakins did not approve of prizes, the Board

did establish several awards. For students the primary

competition was the Charles Toppan Prize. It was initiated

in 1881. The competition was open to male and female

students who had studied at the academy for at least two

years. It was to be juried by the Committee on Instruction

or, if necessary, by a special committee appointed by the

Board. There were two prizes offered in the competition.

The first place winner was to receive $200 and the second

place recipient was offered $100. The award was for

painting only; it did not apply to sculpture. Paintings

could be in oil or watercolor and acceptable subjects

included figurai pieces, landscapes, marine scenes, and

animals. The Committee on Instruction retained the right

to withhold the prize if the student work submitted did not display sufficient quality.?2

The first Toppan competition was held in November of

^^Rogers, 457.

^2pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 28 December 1881, P47:721, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 105

1882. The Committee on Instruction selected T. R. Trego as

the first place winner for his painting. Battery en route.

Second place went to Susan H. MacDowell for her work. The

Old Clock on the Stairs.?3

Eakins' women students did quite well in the Toppan

competitions. In 1883, the following year, the committee

decided to forego a first place award; however, the second award went to Gabielle De Veaux Clements.?4 Another female

student, Ellen W. Ahrens, took second place again in

1884.75 Finally, Elizabeth Bonsall received a first place in 1885 for her painting. Rejected.76 By 1889 both first

and second place were awarded to women, Jennie D. Wheeler and Louise Wood, respectively.77

In 1891 the Pennsylvania Academy decided to present

awards for outstanding work in individual classes such as

the morning antique, women's night life, etc. Each

recipient was awarded a $10 prize. The composition class

73pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 13 November 1882, P47;727, AAA.

74pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 7 November 1883, P47:733, AAA.

75pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 4 October 1884, P47:739, AAA.

76pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 28 October 1885, P47:744, AAA.

77pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 24 January 1889, P47:769, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 106

offered two awards, one for $15 and the other for $10.78

One can see that the competitions and prizes at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts did not in any way

compare with the ones at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.

Although a Toppan prize was an honor, it did not dramati­

cally affect one's career. The more prestigious awards at

the academy were geared for professional artists not

students. These were the Mary Smith Prize, the Temple

Gold Medal, and the Gold Medal of Honor. The Mary Smith Prize was initiated by Russell Smith,

in memory of his daughter. The prize was unique because it

was for women artists only. Smith had felt that women

artists were not receiving appropriate encouragement. The award was intended to ameliorate that situation.79 The

first recipient of the Mary Smith Prize was Susan MacDowell

in 1879. Other winners were Emily Sartain and Cecilia

B e a u x . 80 The Temple Gold Medal was also for professional

artists. Only two female artists received this award prior

to the twentieth century. They were Anna Klumpke in 1889

and Cecilia Beaux in 1900. The most prestigious award

offered by the academy was the Gold Medal of Honor. Only

78pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 3 December 1891, P47:787, AAA.

79uuber, 23.

OOLippincott, 170.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 107

one woman was honored with this prize: Cecelia Beaux in

1898.81

Although women were not overwhelmed with kudos and

prizes, they still had made significant advances in

comparison to the women in France and England. The

Pennsylvania Academy was sufficiently progressive to

acknowledge outstanding work by female artists.

Curriculum

During the middle of the nineteenth century, the

Pennsylvania Academy offered the traditional academic

coursework. It consisted of drawing from antique casts and

from live models. Lectures in anatomy were also available.

In addition to drawing instruction, the administration of

the academy sought to provide educational and intellectual

enrichment. Records show that the Committee on Instruction

routinely authorized the purchase of library materials for

students' use. For example, the June 23, 1859 minutes

indicated that the committee had acquired books such as

Leslie's Handbook for Young Painters. Ruskin's Modern

Painters. Howard's Lectures on Painting. Wilson's Light, Shade and Color, etc.82 These works represented the

current and most respected writings on the visual arts

during the mid-nineteenth century.

81nuber, 23.

82pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 23 June 1859, P47:633, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 108 The academy also regularly added to its collection of

casts. When one of its life students, Henry H. Key, went

to Europe in 1859, he was asked to purchase a plaster cast

of the Torso of Hercules and to inquire regarding the cost of the Dvina Gladiator.83 The academy opted to purchase

the Dying Gladiator; but, regrettably, it arrived in the United States with a broken toe.84

The study of anatomy during the mid-century was

composed of lectures. The instructor. Dr. A. R. Thomas,

discussed such topics as "Tissues of the Body", the

"Skeleton in Detail", "Joints, with Their Movements", etc.

Thomas utilized illustrations, plaster casts, manikins, and dissected cadavers as visual aids for his instruction.85

In 1869, the Pennsylvania Academy initiated painting

instruction as an adjunct to drawing instruction. This was

an important development because it demonstrates the

sensitivity of the Pennsylvania Academy to innovations in

European instruction. This change occurred only six years after the Ecole des Beaux-Arts had instituted the study of

painting with its 1863 R e f o r m s . 86 Therefore, American

83pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 11 November 1859, P47:634, AAA.

84 PAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 12 November 1860, P47: 639, AAA.

85pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 1868/1869 Programme of Anatomical Studies, P47:662, AAA.

86Bolger, 83.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 109

women in Philadelphia could study from live models and

develop skills in painting. The greatest influence on the curriculum of the Pennsylvania Academy was without question Thomas Eakins.

His impact began with the death of Christian Schussele in

1879. Schussele had been a moderating element between the

relatively conservative Board of Directors and his assist­

ant professor Thomas Eakins. However, Eakins with the

backing of Fairman Rogers was able to institute fairly

radical changes in the curriculum.

The 1879/1880 Circular clearly stated that admission

was open to "either sex". To be accepted as a student,

each applicant had to provide a reference, abide by the

rules of the academy, and submit an example of her work.

This example could be the whole or part of the human body.

For admission to the life class, the work sample had to portray the whole human figure.®7

Once a student was admitted, she was assigned to one

of three levels; first antique class, second antique class,

or the life class. Students in first antique drew portions

of the human body from plaster casts. Second antique

students worked from casts of the whole body and life

students drew from living models. The Circular stated that

"the use of colors" or painting could be initiated at any

87pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1879/1880 Circular, P71;871 - 872, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 110

time at the instructor's discretion.88

Fairman Rogers reported that a number of students

were never promoted beyond the second antique l e v e l . 8 9

Entrance to the life classes was stringent. In order to

advance to a higher level of instruction, a student had

submit to the Committee on Instruction a sample of her work

from her current class.

Only students enrolled in the life class could work

in the dissecting room; but, all students could attend the

anatomy lectures given by Dr. William W. Keen. The feature

which strongly identified the Pennsylvania Academy was its

emphasis on anatomical studies. No other nineteenth cen­

tury art school placed as great a focus on this area. This

was especially true in the 1870's and 1880's . T h e 1879/

1880 circular described anatomical studies at the academy:

The course will consist of about thirty-five lectures to be given on Wednesday and Saturday even­ ings, at half past seven o'clock. The lectures will be illustrated by diagrams, casts, anatomical models and preparations, skeletons of man and the lower animals, dissections, and the living model.

In addition to anatomy the Academy offered classes in

sketching and in sculpture (referred to as "modeling") .82

88ibid., P71:872.

8 9 R o g e r s , 455.

SOsolger, 59.

8^PAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1879/1880 Circular, P71:874, AAA.

82ibid., P71:873.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Ill

The life and sculpture classes lasted about three hours;

the sketch class and anatomy lectures were usually an hour in length; antique classes ran from two and a half hours to

four and a half hours depending on whether one was a day or

evening student. Classes were available Monday through

Saturday from mid-September to the end of J u n e . 83

William Brownell described the various classes in

some detail and provides a glimpse into the world of the

nineteenth century art student. He described the antique

class thusly:

As one enters from Broad Street, he soon finds himself in the hall of antiques, lighted by a large skylight. To the left is the "Dying Gladiator," before which two or three young people have erected their easels and are working in crayon.84 The right wing of the hall is lined with casts from the "Venus of Milo" and Myron's "Discobolus," past the Roman emperors and down to very late work, and including, of course, the usual casts for beginners. The students are taking their choice, and are scattered in every direction, getting each his or her favorite view of some cast.85

In describing the sketch class, Brownell wrote;

Down what may be called the nave of this spacious interior, the first door on the right opens into a room in which the sketch classes only, work . . . On a raised turntable is a young woman, say in a black dress with a red shawl thrown over her head and shoulders and reclining in a picturesque attitude in a chair, — posing in her turn for the co-operative sketch class.86

83ibid., P71:872 - 873. 84The word "crayon" refers to charcoal or conte.

85Bownell, 739.

86ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 112 The journalist also described the life class. He

stressed that "the men's and women's life classes work at

different hours."9? All drawings created by the students

were submitted to the Committee on Instruction. At bi­

monthly meetings, the Committee and the Professor of

Painting and Drawing reviewed the works. Brownell describ­

ed only the nude male model in the men's life class. Most likely, he was aware that any description of a male model

for women might offend the magazine's general readership.

Male models had been used for female art students since

1 8 7 7 ;98 but, the public was not always supportive of this

curricular innovation. A 1879 painting by academy student,

Alice Barber Stephens, showed the women's life class. The model portrayed in the work is a nude woman. One interest­

ing aspect of Stephen's painting is that most of the women

are working with brushes, palettes, and oil paint. William

Brownell wrote, "Almost without exception they use the

brush — which would excite wonder and possibly reprehen­

sion from the pupils of the National Academy."99 Thomas

Eakins particularly stressed the use of brush and paint

It represented a shift in art education that was occurring

in Europe as well as the United States. Painting was not

the approach advocated by the older, main-stream academic

9?ibid., 740.

98nuber, 21.

99Brownell, 740.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 113 instructor, Christian Schussele. William Brownell wrote:

Professor Schussele, who is conservative, prefers a long apprenticeship in drawing with the point or stump. He insists on a long preliminary study of the antique. Mr. Eakins, who is radical, prefers that the pupil should paint at once, and he thinks a long study of the antique detrimental.

This article was published in September 1979, just at the time Christian Schussele died.

Eakins was known to rapidly move students from the antique into life classes. He had very high standards;

but, if a student showed sufficient aptitude, he quickly

advanced him/her. Charles Bregler, a former student,

reported the following after his initial enrollment:

Not many weeks later we were informed by the assistant professor that Mr. Eakins wanted us to work in the life classes. This was quite a surprise. However, a pleasant one, having thought we would have to spend several years drawing from the antique until we could make a fairly good academic drawing . . .101

Charles Bregler also described Eakins' approach to art

education. He wrote, "Mr. Eakins' theory and practice

were to work from the living model, that the brush was a

better and more powerful instrument to draw with — if you

are going to be a painter to work with p a i n t . "102 This

attitude is confirmed by William Brownell's interview of

Thomas Eakins. Brownell asked Eakins, "Don't you think a

lOOibid.

lOlcharles Bregler, "Thomas Eakins as a Teacher," The Arts 17 (March 1931): 380.

102%bid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 114

student should learn how to draw before beginning to color?"103 Eakins response was:

I think he should learn to draw with color . . . The brush is a more powerful and rapid tool that the point or stump. Very often, practically, before the student has had time to get his broadest masses of light and shade with either of these he has forgotten what he is after. Charcoal would do better, but it is clumsy and rubs too easily for students' work. Still the main thing that the brush secures is the instant grasp of the grand construction of a figure. There are no lines in nature . . . The student drawing the outline of that model with a point is confused and lost if the model moves a hair's breath . . .104

Besides his emphasis on oil painting, Eakins also

encouraged his advanced students to study sculpture. He believed that three dimensional facility was an important

skill for painters. Fairman Rogers commented that "oil

paint and clay are the real tools of the s c h o o l . "105 This

attitude was a major shift from the tedious, methodical

study that was so typical of the academic system.

Another feature of Eakins' curriculum was his insis­

tence on the life study with nude models. This extreme focus eventually resulted in his forced resignation. His

former student Charles Bregler described some of the

problems with Eakins' approach: It was a great adventure to have the privilege of entering and working from the nude model in the life classes, and to have the advice of Mr. Eakins. It was stimulating and encouraging. However, it was not long

lO^Brownell, 740.

lO^Ibid., 740 - 741.

lO^Rogers, 455.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 115

before we heard rumors and whispering about Eakins because he was having male and female models pose for some of the life classes. This he did in order that the student would get a better understanding, by comparison, of the construction and movement of the spine and pelvis in walking . . . But to take so radical a step in the middle 'eighties resulted in Mr. Eakins' motives being very much misunderstood, abuse and slander of all kinds were heaped upon him.106

While he was Director of the academy, Eakins had pulled the curriculum away from the rigid and lengthy study

of antique casts. He introduced innovations such as the

use of photography to assist in the study of the human

body. However, his successors, Thomas Hovenden and Thomas

Anshutz, promptly returned the Pennsylvania Academy to its

traditional academic roots.

Anshutz during his tenure re-emphasized the use of

casts. He did away with the study of photography. In

addition, Thomas Anshutz discontinued the emphasis on

scientific anatomy. He halted the practice of dissecting

human cadavers. In its place, he personally presented

lectures in anatomy. This was a return to the method of

study that the academy had employed at mid-century.10?

In 1895 William Merritt Chase was added to the

faculty. Chase's presence represented the growing emphasis

on Impressionism in American art. It also signaled the end

of Thomas Eakins' approach to education. Eakins fervently

106gj-gg2er, 380.

10?Lippincott, 178.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 116 was concerned with detail and precision. In contrast,

Chase reflected the new system which stressed the momentary

interplay of light and color.

It is perhaps true that Thomas Eakins' curriculum was

narrowly focused. But, it offered for women art students,

especially, an opportunity to rigorously study the human

body and truly to be a part of the academic system.

Faculty

Christian Schussele Christian Schussele was born in Alsace. He was trained in Paris by Paul Delaroche and Aldolphe Yvon. In

1848 he moved to Philadelphia. He was known for his genre

and historical paintings. Schussele returned to Alsace in

1865; but, was stricken with palsy. His friend John

Sartain, father of Emily, suggested that Schussele teach at

the Pennsylvania Academy since he could no longer function

as a professional painter. He worked at the academy from

1868 until his death in 1879.^99 His approach to art edu­

cation was firmly rooted in the academic system. Nonethe­

less, Schussele also should be recognized for his contribu­ tion to women's art history. He strongly advocated life

studies for his female students at the Pennsylvania Academy

iO^Goodrich, 168.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 117

and was responsible for the initiation of the class in

1868.109

Thomas Eakins

Thomas Eakins has been the most celebrated American

artist by twentieth century art historians. He was a

painter, sculptor, and photographer. Additionally, he was

one of the most influential art educators. From 1876 to

1879 he was Christian Schussele's assistant. With

Schussele's death in 1879, Eakins was promoted to Professor

of Drawing and Painting. In 1882 he was promoted to Director of Schools.

Eakins was trained in Paris. He attended the Ecole

des Beaux-Arts from 1866 to 1869 where he studied with Jean

Leon Gerome. Additionally, he worked with Leon Bonnat for a short time.110

As an artist, Thomas Eakins is best known for his

paintings. Max Schmitt in a Single Scull (1871), The Gross Glinis (1875), and William RushCarving His Allegorical

Figure of the Schuvlkill River (1877). Art historian

Matthew Baigell suggested that "Eakins' strength lay . . .

in his extraordinary ability to extract from his subjects

109Huber, 17.

ll°Matthew Baigell, A Concise History of American Painting and Sculpture (New York: Harper and Row, 1984), 138 - 139.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 118

. . . delicate and multilayered nuances of feeling. "H I

Thomas Anshutz

In addition to studying at the Pennsylvania Academy,

Thomas Anshutz trained at the National Academy and in Paris

with Doucet and Bouguereau. He won the Gold Medal of Honor

from the Pennsylvania Academy in 1909 and was elected an

associate member of the National Academy in 1910.

Anshutz was formally a student at the academy from

1875 to 1880; he was later appointed to be Thomas Eakins' assistant. However, his involvement with Eakins' dismissal

severed their relationship. Anshutz temporarily headed

the art school after the resignation. He formally assumed

the leadership position in 1888.11* He taught courses in

painting and drawing and, as previously discussed, Anshutz

was very traditional in his educational approach.

Thomas Hovenden

Thomas Hovenden was a native of Ireland. He moved to New York in 1863 and studied at the National Academy of

Design. He returned to Europe in 1874 and trained with

llllbid., 141.

ll^Mantle Fielding, Dictionary of American Painters. Sculptors, and Engravers, rev. ed. (Green Farms, Conn.; Modern Books and Crafts, Inc., 1974), 24.

ll^Lippincott, 181. 114pAPA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1888/1889 Circular, P71:918, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 119

Alexander Cabanel in Paris. Hovenden became a full member

of the National Academy in 1882. He was best known as a

painter of genre scenes and occasionally of historical subjects.115

He was hired to replace Thomas Eakins in 1886. As an

instructor he taught painting and drawing. Hovenden managed the art school for only two years; he left the

academy in 1888.116 He did return in the 1891 to teach

composition.11?

James P. Kellv Kelly was a former student of the Pennsylvania

Academy and was involved in the removal of Thomas Eakins.

He was asked to assist with classes after Eakins' resigna­

tion. Kelly was hired formally as an instructor of

painting and drawing for the 1886/1887 school year.H® The

following year he taught modeling in addition.

Bernard Uhle Bernard Uhle was originally from Saxony. He arrived

115gamuel isham. The Historv of American Painting, new edition, with additional chaps, by Royal Cortissoz (New York: Macmillan Co., 1936), 501 - 502.

1 1 6 p A F A Papers, "Circular" dated 1888/1889 Circular, P71:918, AAA. l^?PAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1891/1892 Circular, P71;933, AAA. ^^9pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1886/1887 Circular, P71:905, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 120

in the United States in 1851. He was a former student of

the academy and had entered it at a very young age,

fifteen. Uhle was best known as portraitist; however, he

also very interested in photography.H9 In 1887 he was

employed to teach portrait painting; he held this position for only one year.^^O uhle returned in 1889 to once again

teach portraiture.121

Herbert Gilchrist Herbert Gilchrist was hired as an instructor of

painting and drawing for the 1888/1889 school year. He

taught the women's morning life class. His tenure with the

Pennsylvania Academy was quite brief. He appeared to have

had a rocky relationship with his female students. On

February 27, 1889 the Committee on Instruction received a

petition from the women students in Gilchrist's morning

life class. The students wanted him to be immediately

replaced. The committee agreed to consider the female art students' request.122 Gilchrist was promptly removed from

the women's life class and by March 11 James P. Kelly had

ll^Fielding, 452. 120pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1887/1888 Circular, P71:912, AAA.

121pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1889/1890 Circular, P71:926, AAA.

122pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 27 February 1889, P47:770, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 121

taken over as the instructor. 123 Gilchrist was not

rehired for the following school year.12* This action was

the only instance where women art students actively sought

the removal of an instructor.

Robert W. Vonnoh

Vonnoh trained with Gustave Boulanger and Jules

Lefebvre at the Académie Julian. Additionally, he attended

the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston. He was

selected to be an associate member of the National Academy in 1900 and in 1906 he was elected to be a full member.125

Vonnoh began working at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1891

where he taught painting, drawing, and portraiture. He was

a member of the faculty through the mid-1890's.l26

Charles Graflv

Charles Grafly attended the Pennsylvania Academy; he

also studied in Paris. He worked chiefly as a sculptor. In 1893 he was hired to teach modeling at the academy.12?

He briefly left the school; but was rehired in 1896.

123pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" dated 11 March 1889, P45:216, AAA.

1 2 * p a f a Papers, "Circulars" dated 1889/1890 Circular, P71;926, AAA.

125pielding, 969.

125pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1891/1892 Circular and 1893/1894 Circular, P71:933 and P71:940, AAA.

1 2 ? p a f a Papers, "Circulars" dated 1893/1894 Circular, P71:940, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 122 Gadfly was the instructor for the women's life modeling

c l a s s . 128 Grafly was one of the students who wrote the

Board of Directors protesting the Thomas Eakins' dismissal.

He appeared to be the only former student that the academy hired who had taken part in the protest.129

William Merritt Chase

William Merritt Chase was hired by the Pennsylvania

Academy in 1896. He taught the women's life classes and

still-life painting.

As a professional artist, Chase was a follower of

Impressionism. He painted a variety of themes such as

landscapes, seascapes, portraits, genre scenes and still-

lifes. Charles H. Caffin, writing in 1907, described

Chase's work; "In oils, water-colours, pastels, and even

etchings, he has proved his versatility, revealing an

extraordinary dexterity in the use of each medium, and a

refined sense for the pictorial qualities of colour, tone,

and lighting."130 Chase was prominent not only as an

artist but also as an art educator. He will be discussed

more fully in the Art Students League section.

128pAFA Papers, "Circulars" dated 1896/1897 Circular, P71:953, AAA.

129pAFA Papers, "Correspondence of Thomas Eakins" letter undated c. 1886, P50:954, AAA.

130charles Caffin, The Storv of American Painting (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1907), 117.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 123

Cecilia Beaux

Cecilia Beaux was the only woman to be employed as an

instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy. She was hired in 1895 to teach portraiture. Beaux appeared to have been a

very serious and yet sensitive instructor. A more detailed

discussion of her professional work will be presented in

the following overview of female students at the academy.

Students

Emily Sartain was part of a very well known family in

American art. Her father, three brothers, and her niece

were all artists. Sartain worked as a painter and

mezzotint engraver. She was one of the first women to

enroll in life classes at the a c a d e m y . 131 sartain

exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in

1876. She was the art editor for the magazine. Our

Continent. from 1881 to 1883. She is best known as the

principal at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women.

This vocational art school was the first to instruct women

in industrial art. Sartain held her position at the school from 1886 to 1920.132

Another early student in the life classes was

Catherine Drinker. Besides training at the Pennsylvania

131pAFA Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruc­ tion" dated 11 October 1869, P47: 664, AAA.

132chris Petteys, Dictionary of American Art Women Artists (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985), 624.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 124

Academy, she also studied at the Maryland Institute and the

Art Students League in New York. In 1880 she won the Mary

Smith Prize. Professionally, Drinker worked as a painter

and lithographer. She also privately instructed students.

Her best known student was Cecilia Beaux.

Susan MacDowell attended the Pennsylvania Academy

from 1876 to 1882. While a student at the school, she won

the Mary Smith Prize in 1879 and the Charles Toppan Prize

in 1882. Her mediums were watercolor and oil painting;

she also experimented with photography. Chris Petteys

reported that her "best work predated her marriage in 1884

to Thomas Eakins, who considered her one of the best woman

artists of the t i m e . "133 But, the Pennsylvania Academy did

not acknowledge her talents until 1973 when it held a posthumous exhibition of her work.13*

Gabrielle De Vaux Clements won second place in the

1883 Toppan competitions. After her studies in Philadel­

phia, she went to Paris and trained with Robert-Fluery and

Bouguereau. She was awarded the Mary Smith Prize in 1895.

Gabrielle Clements worked professionally as a painter,

etcher, and church muralist.135

Ellen Ahrens also placed second for the Charles

Toppan Prize in 1884. Professionally, she was a portrait

133ibid., 221.

1 3 * i b i d .

1 3 5 % b i d . , 124.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 125 painter and stained-glass window designer. Additionally,

she illustrated books such as Louisa May Alcott's Jo's Boys.136

Alice Barber Stephens went on to study in Paris at the Académie Julian and the Académie Colarossi. Pro­

fessionally, she had a very diverse career. She was a

painter who specialized in portraiture and landscapes, an

illustrator for magazines and books, and an instructor at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women.13? Stephens'

most famous painting is Female Life Class (1879) which

portrays women art students at the Pennsylvania Academy.

Chris Petteys reported that Cecilia Beaux was

"acclaimed as one of the finest American portraitists during her lifetime."138 Samuel Isham in 1927 called her

work "modern in every way."139 As noted previously, she

was the first and only woman art instructor at the Pennsyl­

vania Academy during the nineteenth century. She won all

three major awards at the academy; the Mary Smith Prize, the Temple Gold Medal, and the Medal of Honor. Her

paintings are prominently displayed at the Corcoran Gallery

of Art and the Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C. Beaux is a an example of a woman who fully deserved

136ibid., 7.

I3?ibid., 670.

138ibid., 53.

139isham, 530.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 126 critical recognition by modern historians and, yet, has

received only limited acknowledgement.

National Academv of Design

The National Academy of Art was the premier academy

of the nineteenth century. Situated in New York City, it

was founded in 1825. Unlike its Philadelphia counterpart, the National Academy was initiated by artists. But the

academy's founding was filled with controversy and rancor.

It was started as a rival association to John Trumbull and

his American Academy of the Fine A r t s . 1*9 The American

Academy, started by merchants and businessmen, was intended

"to cultivate the public taste"1*1 — a purpose similar to

the Pennsylvania Academy. The purported incident which

led to the new academy was the refusal by a caretaker to

allow students access to plaster casts at the American

Academy. The two offended students garnered support from

other New York artists and in 1825 a combined group of

students and artists founded the National Academy of

Design.1*2 m reality, practicing artists were disgruntled

with the leadership of American Academy president, John

l*°William Dunlap, Historv_of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (New York: Benjamin Bloom, 1965), 120.

l*lMatthew Baigell, Dictionary of American Art (New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 10.

1*2l o 1s Marie Fink and Joshua C. Taylor, Academv; The Academic Tradition in American Art (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975): 29.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 127 Trumbull, and with the dictatorial approach of the local

businessmen. William Dunlap, a participant and chronicler

of the events, reported, "I cannot admit into this work

[Dunlap's book] the paltry attacks made by the enemies of

the National Academy of Design when they found that artists

could establish a real academy, governed by artists with artists for teachers . . ."1*3 Therefore, the National

Academy was founded with the express intent to support

American artists and to provide artists with the ability to

train neophytes. Although its beginnings appear more progressive than

the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, the National

Academy tended to be very conservative and rigid in its

focus. Fifty years later, this approach ultimately led

disgruntled students to abandon the National Academy and to

form the Art Students League. The National Academy's rocky

relationship with its students is ironic considering its birth.

Once the National Academy was begun, an Antique

School was started a year later in 1826. However, the

program consisted primarily of copying plaster casts without any formal instruction. Academicians did offer

criticism of student work on a volunteer basis. In

addition, the academy provided a variety of lectures in

such areas as anatomy, perspective, color, mythology, art

l*3Dunlap, 119.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 128

and architectural history, sculpture, composition, etc.l** The lecture series continued until 1832.1*5 in 1837, a

Life School was opened.1*6 The academy held student

competitions for drawing. The winners were presented with

Gold or Silver Palette awards; students were also given

books on art as a prize. The Gold Palette awards were

discontinued in 1842.1*?

During the first half of the nineteenth century, the

National Academy became the dominant association for

artists in New York. Its rival, the American Academy of

Fine Art, disbanded by 1841.1*® Members of the National

Academy included some of nineteenth-century America's most

famous artists such as Asher B. Durand, Samuel Morse,

George Inness, Albert Bierstadt, Elihu Vedder, and William

Sidney Mount.

Organization

The management of the art school was very similar to

that of the Pennsylvania Academy. The National Academy

utilized a Council to oversee the operation of the whole

l**National Academy of Design Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 7 November 1828; 4 January 1828; 7 May 1828; 4 December 1829, roll 798, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

l*5pink and Taylor, 111.

l*6ibid., 32.

l*?Ibid., 31.

l*®Baigell, 10.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 129

institution. Beneath the Council was the School Committee

which was responsible for the running of the art school on

a daily basis.

Circa 1875, the School Committee was composed of

three academicians and the Council was made up of eleven.

The significant difference between the National Academy and

the Pennsylvania Academy was that the men who served on

these two bodies were all professional artists and members

of the academy.

Women Art Students at the National Academy

The instruction of women art students began in 1831.349 This was phenomenally early date when one

considers that the United States was only 55 years old and

that the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris did not admit women

until 1897. The Royal Academy of London admitted its first

woman student in 1860. The ladies class was only for the study of the

Antique. Instruction was free and was offered three days a

week from 12:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon. The class was

taught on a rotating basis by Charles Ingham, Robert W.

Weir, Thomas Seir Cummings, Asher B. Durand and John Ludlow

M o r t o n . 350 just how long this class continued is unclear.

3*9n a d Papers,"Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 11 November 1831, roll 798, AAA.

350ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 130 Lois Marie Fink and Joshua Taylor reported that the ladies

antique class only lasted one year. However, the National

Academy Council minutes for October 29, 1832 stated that

"The ladies class to open on Nov. 5th."351 Therefore, the

class was under consideration for a second year.

Regular study at the academy for women did not

return until 1846. In his annual address in May 1846,

President Asher B. Durand reported that the Council "deemed

it expedient to establish a Female Department in the

A n t i q u e . "352 There may have been some dissension among the

academicians regarding art instruction for women. Durand emphatically stressed to the members of the academy that

this new addition to the school was "incurring no addition­

al e x p e n s e . "353 Besides the fact that adding a women's

class was cost effective, Durand further justified the

course by stating that the class would "doubtless eventuate

no small advantage to the cause of a r t . "354 what did

Durand see as the big boon to art? It was not that the

National Academy would have the opportunity to train and

develop an untapped source of artists. No --- Asher B.

Durand and the council of the National Academy saw the most

351n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 29 October 1832, roll 798, AAA.

3 5 2 n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 13 May 1846, roll 798, AAA. 353ibid.

354ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 131 compelling reason to educate women was the influence that

they might have on their sons. Durand stated, "For the

potent influence of mothers has developed and directed the impulses of the statesman and the Hero, what may not result

from its exercise in our more genial c a u s e . "355

This ladies antique class began with four students: Helen McLeod, Lucy M. Durand, Phoebe Blokeman, and Mrs.

William A. Tappan. All were working as professional

artists and, therefore, entered the class to receive

instruction from the National Academy academicians who at

the time would have been considered America's most

established a r t i s t s . 356 There are no records indicating

how many of these women's sons became heros or statesmen;

so, it is unclear whether the National Academy's goals were actually met.

During the mid-nineteenth century, women's involve­

ment in the National Academy was somewhat erratic. In 1847

and 1848, there were six and twelve women enrolled, respec­

tively. While in 1849 and 1850, no women registered for

classes. Six women were studying in 1851 and nine women

trained the following year. Between 1853 and 1865 no

women were admitted to the academy s c h o o l . 357 The Civil

War which took place from 1861 to 1865 would provide one

355ibid.

356pink and Taylor, 33. 357ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 132 reason for the absence of women students. Another reason for the dearth of female students was not direct antagonism

to them but rather internal problems within the academy

during the mid century. Male art students as well as

female students found instruction at the academy to be

erratic and disorganized. A Harper's Magazine review of

the 1855 annual exhibition openly criticized the National

Academy's capricious style of instruction. The reviewer wrote;

The catalogue of this year's exhibition opens with a hilarious account of the condition and prospects of the Academy. It tells us of the extremely favorable state of health in which the institution finds itself, and states that it never held a higher place in the public interest. Copious allusions are also made to the admirable organization of the Academy. We hear of lectures, schools, collections, etc . . .358

The academy was attempting to give the impression that the

institution had a solid foundation and an established

program of instruction. However, the reality was that the

National Academy of Design was plagued with financial

problems, lack of public support, and a weak educational

program. The Harper's article confronted the idealized

image of the academy with a more realistic assessment:

[T]he academy is an amiable institution, which, with very limited means, and no public sympathy, has been endeavoring to teach the rudiments of art, and to cherish an "esprit de corps" among artists. It has

358iiEditor's Easy Chair," Harper's New Monthlv Magazine 10 (May 1855): 840.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 133

had, we believe, no professors, nor any courses of lectures, and it has certainly been very p o o r . 359

From the above statement, it is obvious that the directors

of the National Academy were not fooling anyone. The academy for all its prestige was poorly endowed and

throughout the nineteenth century it would be beset by

precarious finances.

To ameliorate the academy's problematic instructional

system, Thomas Seir Cummings was put in charge of the

school's activities. His educational approach was quite

regimented; but, he provided the National Academy with much

needed structure and consistency in its educational

program. Cummings stepped down as director of the school in 1865.360

After Thomas Seir Cummings' tenure, the Council re­

instituted the practice of rotating academicians as

volunteer instructors. Unfortunately this system did not

succeed and in January 1870 Lemuel Wilmarth was appointed

instructor of the academy s c h o o l s . 361 Besides Wilmarth's

appointment, the National Academy was considering an even

more radical step — merging its schools with the Cooper

Union.

The Cooper Union had been founded in the late 1850's

359ibid.

360Fink and Taylor, 36.

361n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 3 January 1870, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 134 by New York industrialist, Peter Cooper. Cooper wanted to

provide vocational training for the working class. His

institution offered free courses in art and science such as

mechanical drawing, machine trades, and architecture. 362

In an effort to improve the visual arts curriculum,

Abram Hewitt, director of the Cooper Union, hired the

artist William Rimmer in 1866. Rimmer's relationship with the school was stormy and he was accused of pulling the

Cooper Union away from its vocational roots. Rimmer was dismissed in 1870.363 Abram Hewitt may have decided that

drawing, painting, and the other elements of the visual

arts were better suited to an art school which would focus

on the fine arts.

During January and February of 1870, Hewitt and E.

Wood Perry of the National Academy embarked on a program to

merge the art section of the Cooper Union with the academy.

Cooper Union would provide the money and the National

Academy would provide the instructors and the curriculum.

Hewitt in a letter wrote that the Trustees of the Cooper

Union believed that, "the National Academy of Design is the

proper place for Art instruction, and that it will be

better given when the [Cooper Union art] schools are

iG^Iraining -tbg Hand an

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 135

managed by a r t i s t s . "364 Hewitt and his Trustees agreed to

pay five thousand dollars a year to the National Academy of

Design; the payments would have rescued the academy from its extreme financial difficulties.365 The plan to merge,

however, failed. The National Academy refused the offer

and instead assumed a fifteen thousand dollar mortgage on

its building.

Why did the academy reject the plan? It was not

because the art program of the Cooper Union had a voca­

tional orientation; it was because of the make-up of its

student body. The Cooper Union had two hundred students in

its visual arts section — one hundred and fifty of whom

were women. Daniel Huntington, president of the academy,

called the plan "an outrage to foist two hundred girls on

the Academy schools every y e a r . "366 The March 9, 1870

minutes reported that, "Mr. Huntington moved that the

Special School Committee be requested to express the thanks

of the Academy to the Trustees of the Cooper Union for

their offered proposition and respectfully decline it, in

the name of the A c a d e m y . "36? The academicians decided that

massive debt was preferable to the admission of large

364m a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 February 1870, roll 798, AAA. 365ibid.

366pink and Taylor, 52.

36?NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 March 1870, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 136

numbers of female art students.

This action provides a telling clue to the true

attitude of nineteenth century American male artists toward

female art students. Although the National Academy

admitted women at a very early date, the institution's

response hardly represented a ringing endorsement of

women's art education. Asher B. Durand's comments about

the relationship between motherhood and women's art

training and Daniel Huntington's disgust at the proposition

of large numbers of female art students are separated by

twenty-four years. Yet, they reflect an institutional

environment which was incapable of seeing women as

colleagues. Women art students were an entity to be

endured not supported.

Another example of the academy's reticence to incor­

porate women into its academic program is the case of

Raymond Dobb. In May 1871, Dobb won Honorable Mention for

the Elliott Medal competition for his drawing from the

A n t i q u e . 368 Five months later he was appointed an

assistant instructor. 369 The curious fact of this

occurrence is that the winners of the Silver and Bronze

Elliott Medal were Miss Marie Louise Bascoin and Miss H.

368n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 3 April 1871, roll 798, AAA.

369n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 6 November 1871, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 137

Sidney Baylies.l?0 Dobb had placed third, behind two

women. Yet, he was considered the superior artist for

employment. Although women were not considered worthy candidates

as assistant instructors, the National Academy did show its

commitment to female students by adding a life school for

them which opened in 1871.1?! The total pupil enrollment

at this time was 175. From this group, thirty-nine men and

ten women were advanced to the Life Schools for the follow­

ing year.l?2 The female students accounted for only 20% of

students promoted to the highest level of study in 1872. However, their number would grow in the next few years.

For example, in 1872 113 men and 80 women were admitted to

the antique classes. From this group, 40 men and 23 women

progressed to the life classes.1?^ Therefore, one year

later women comprised 37% of the students to be advanced.

An even number of men and women — 12 males and 11 females

— were admitted to the painting class.1?* Women were making significant advances in their studies at the

1?°NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 3 April 1871, roll 798, AAA.

l?lFink and Taylor, 53.

1?2n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 May 1872, roll 798, AAA.

1?^NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 5 May 1873, roll 798, AAA.

l?4lbid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 138 National Academy. Unfortunately, they were not considered

competent to act as assistants. During the 1873/1874

school year two male students, Charles Braggar and George

Heitzel were selected as assistants for Professor Wilmarth.

In the previous analysis of the Pennsylvania Academy,

the problems of male nudity for the women's life was

discussed. No such controversy erupted at the National

Academy. The School Committee clearly articulated its

policy regarding male nudes. The November 24, 1873 minutes reported:

That the School Committee requires of the Professor in charge that the Male model in the Life School for women shall in no case stand entirely nude, and also that no woman shall be admitted to the Life School under 21 years of aae.l?^

The position hardly reflected a progressive approach to

women's art education; but, it spared the academy the

public outrage that confronted the Pennsylvania Academy.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the National Academy was

not an institution that could be described as trend-

setting. Its curriculum was traditional and its primary

interest was in serving the needs of its members not its

students. Although not directly expressed, the students

were seen as an irritant that drained the National Academy

of its limited resources. Educating the students took up

1?%AD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 24 November 1873, roll 798, AAA. The underlined words were recorded by the Academy secretary for emphasis.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 139 academicians' time and money. For example, during the 1875

student competitions only two out of eleven academicians

appeared to judge the art works.!?®

The members of the academy blamed the educational

program for the institution's insolvency. In his annual

address, academy president Thomas Worthington Whittredge

outlined the continuing financial problems, the cost of

running the school, and the possibility of charging

tuition. He reported that there were 251 students in the

antique school, 131 males (52%) and 120 females (48%); in

addition, the life school had 64 pupils, comprised of 48

males (75%) and 16 females (25%).!?? whittredge indicated

that without an educational program the artists' organiza­

tion could not truly call itself an "academy". He stated,

"It was decided to go on, keep the academy intact and

before the public as a success, and make a vigorous appeal for money."!?®

However, in actuality this action was not taken.

Instead, at the close of the 1874/1875 school year, the

council members dismissed Lemuel Wilmarth as professor and

closed the life classes.!?^ The council's minutes do not

!?®Fink and Taylor, 54.

!??NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 12 May 1875, roll 798, AAA.

!?®Ibid.

!?®Fink and Taylor, 54.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 140 directly state that these steps were taken. The records

for the following term simply resolved, "That the number of

students be limited to 100."!®® Also, the records do not

acknowledge that outraged students of the National Academy

and their professor, Lemuel Wilmarth, founded a rival

school in the fall of 1875. The students had been angered

by the dictatorial approach of the academy's council and by

an utter lack of support for the educational program. The

students had offered to pay the expenses for models in the

life classes; but, this offer was declined. Lemuel

Wilmarth donated fifty dollars toward payment of the academy's debt.!®! But, these gestures were to no avail.

The renegade organization was named the Art Students

League; it was intended to be a site where students could

air their grievances with the academy. The students

planned to return to the National Academy once the life

classes were reinstated and full-time instruction was

available. However, the fledgling group would have a phenomenal success and in particular it would have a

dramatic impact on women and women's art education. The

development of the new school will be discussed in the next

section. But, it is important to note that a large number of the founding members of the Art Students League were

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 1 November 1875, roll 798, AAA.

!®!n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 24 January 1876, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 141

women. They had not found the National Academy supportive

or sensitive to their needs as art students. The women, in

response, were actively involved in the formation of a new

school — a school that would see them not as future

mothers of "heros and statesmen" but as serious and

dedicated artists.

At the May 1876 Annual Meeting, President

Whittredge's report was read to the academy members by the

vice president, Mr. Richards. The tone of the report was

bitter and self-serving; it was filled with inaccuracies.

Whittredge stated that seven years ago the National Academy

assumed a $15,000 debt in addition to its $20,000 mortgage

on the academy building. The result was a total obligation

of $35,000. He suggested that, "This $15,000 was borrowed

mainly to enlarge the schools. It was held that by

showing a greater activity in education the public would be

pleased and would be more ready to assist the Academy."!®2

Whittredge implied that the academy's woes were due to the students and an unsupportive public. However, it was not a

desire to improve the educational program — it was blatant

misogyny that resulted in the National Academy's monetary

problems. Through a merger with the Cooper Union art

school, the organization had had a means to alleviate its

debt. It chose not to do so because the members of the

!®2jîad Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 10 May 1876, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 142

academy did not want a sizeable number of women students. Whittredge's diatribe continued; he referred to a

"disturbance in the schools" which he described as a

"discouragement if not [an] absolute hindrance to our

success." The secretary recording Whittredge's report

added the following statement to the Council's minutes:

"note The disturbance alluded to was the dissatisfaction

of the students at the lack of instruction — which led to

the formation of the Art Students League."!®® The Presi­

dent was simply incapable of admitting that the academy had

any responsibility for the current crisis. Another

example of Whittredge's self-indulgent amaurosis was his

description of Wilmarth's dismissal and the canceling of

life classes: The schools were interrupted this year by the with­ drawal last Summer of the teacher and a number of the students, the immediate cause of this appears to have been the postponement for a couple of months of the opening of the Schools last Autumn.!®^

He reported that 40 students were enrolled at the National Academy — a significant drop from the 315 pupils during

the 1874/1875 school season. In addition, he characterized

the remaining students in this manner:

All the students this year appear to be young men and women who have made up their minds more thoroughly to make Art their profession that was the case with many who crowded our schools formerly, who to all appearances were chiefly anxious of the renown of

!®®Ibid.

!®*Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 143 passing through the Academy Schools in order to get places to teach in seminaries or elsewhere studying art as an accomplishment.!®®

Whittredge's acerbic comments display his resentment

toward the dissenting students. They are, also, overtly sexist in their tone. He applies the oft used technique of

"femininizing" an entity in order to attack it such as

referring to an effeminate male as a "sissy". When

Whittredge refers to "seminaries", he is alluding to

"female seminaries" — post-secondary schools for women.!®®

Studying art as an accomplishment or teaching in a seminary

were not activities in which nineteenth-century men would

have engaged. They were specifically the domain of women.

By referring to these two activities, Whittredge is, in

fact, calling the schismatic students "sissies."

Ultimately, the National Academy addressed its finan­

cial problems by charging tuition. It seemed to be an

obvious solution; but, the academy was fearful of assessing

fees from students. The stumbling block was the belief

that charging tuition for classes might change the institu­

tion's tax-exempt status. The academy hired a legal con­

sultant, Charles Tracy, to examine the ramifications.

Tracy determined that charging for classes was no different

!®®Ibid.

!®®For additional information regarding "female seminaries," see Thomas Woody, A Historv of Women's Education in the United States (New York: Octagon Books, Inc., 1966).

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 144 from charging admission to the academy's annual exhibi­

tions. The National Academy had been charging entrance

fees for many years without impunity. With the authoriza­

tion of their legal council, academy members approved a resolution to charge tuition beginning on January 1,

1877.!®? Although the academicians had complained bitterly

about the expensive burden of the art school, tuition was

repealed the following school year. However, the academy

did exact student fees whenever its financial situation weakened.

With an improvement in its financial situation, the

National Academy rehired Lemuel Wilmarth in 1877.!®®

Wilmarth had been teaching at the Art Students League for

the past two years. He apparently felt that employment

with the National Academy was a more secure situation.

Daniel Huntington in his annual address reported that

during the 1877/1878 school year there were 160 students in

the antique classes (120 males, 40 females) and 45 students

in the life classes (36 males, 9 females). The forty women studying from the antique accounted for 25% of the enroll­

ment; this was a significant drop from the 1874/1875 school

year when women made up nearly fifty percent of the antique

section. Obviously, female art students were opting to

!®?NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 20 November 1876, roll 798, AAA.

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 May 1877, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 145 study elsewhere. The figures for the life school were nearly identical. In 1874/1875 there were 16 (25% of the

class); while, in 1877/78 nine women were admitted (20% of

the class).!®® It may have been that women art students

found admission to the advanced drawing classes difficult

and as an alternative were choosing to work at the Art

Students League. The Art Students League would have

offered them an active role in the administration of the

school as well as a more innovative curriculum. Whatever

the reason, women were not returning to the National

Academy.

On March 10, 1879 the students of the academy peti­

tioned the Council for permission to organize a "Society".

The purpose of the group was to provide a forum for

lectures, readings of essays, and mutual support.!®® The

Council gave its approval and the group was formed during

the spring of 1879. Daniel Huntington, President of the

National Academy, appeared very pleased with the students and their association; he remarked, "They are animated by

an 'esprit de corps' worthy of all praise."!®! Although

the academy seemed to have an improved relationship with

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 8 May 1878, roll 798, AAA.

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 10 March 1879, roll 798, AAA.

!®!n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 14 May 1879, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 146

its students, the council minutes show that the National

Academy was keeping a tight rein on the school. The

minutes which describe the student society are littered

with comments such as "The students presented a memorial to

the Council requesting its approval"!®® and "The students

after advising with the Council have formed a Society."!®®

The academicians were not about to have another student

uprising and they closely controlled school activities.

In 1883 the National Academy received a boost in its

financial situation. Julius Hallgarten presented the

academy with a $17,000 endowment to be used for prize money

for the exhibition awards and to offset expenses at the

school. At this time the student enrollment was growing as

well. The 1884 President's Report indicated there were 184

students attending academy classes.!®^ This figure was

still not comparable to the 1874/1875 level of 315

students.

The report also recorded the observations of a

British visitor regarding the National Academy's curriculum

for women: "The ladies life class has done well, Mr. Conway

!®2n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 10 March 1879, roll 798, AAA. The underlinings were added by the researcher.

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 14 May 1879, roll 798, AAA. The underlinings were added by the researcher.

!®%AD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 14 May 1884, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 147 from England, when he visited our schools was much pleased

with this feature of a life school for ladies, which, he

said the Royal Academy had not dared to establish."!®®

There is no doubt that American art education for women was far more progressive than the European system. It is easy

at times to be critical of the National Academy for its

segregated life classes and partially draped male models.

But, the academy offered women a rigorous program compar­ able to that received by male students.

The academicians were firmly committed to life study.

The primary problem for women at the National Academy was

not the curriculum; it was the negative and stereotypic

attitudes toward them. In the same report where Daniel

Huntington related Conway's comments, the following

observation was;

This kind of study [ladies' life class] will tend to do away with the pretty needle work embroidery style of art, as well as check the rage which many girls have to splash the paint about with a wanton reck­ lessness and bravado.!®®

These are not the comments of a man who sees women as

serious professionals. The terms "needle work", "embroid­

ery style", and "splash the paint about" strongly suggest

an attitude that considers women's art training to be

linked to accomplishment skills.

In 1889 Lemuel Wilmarth resigned. For nearly twenty

!®®lbid.

!®®Ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 148 years he had been the academy's primary professor. He had

endured the institution's financial crisis and his subse­

quent dismissal. His successor was Edgar Melville Ward.!®?

Philanthropist, William F. Havemayer, in 1890 offered

$750 to send a student to Europe for a one year period.

The money was available for 1890/1891 and 1890/1892 school

years. In order to receive the European scholarship,

students were expected to submit samples of their work for

an academy competition. In this manner, the award would

go "to the most deserving student each year, to be used in

affording him a year of study in Europe."!®® The donor and

the academy council obviously considered a male student to

be the likely recipient; in addition, the opportunities for

study were relatively limited for women. The sad truth is

that a woman would not have received comparable benefits

that would have been available to a male student.

Women were never fully acclimated to the National

Academy. Even by 1893 only fifteen women were enrolled in

the ladies life class; the 1874 class had had sixteen. The

academy's great accomplishment in 1893 was that for the

first time in its history the school was run at a

profit.!®® At the turn of the century women accounted for

!®?Fink and Taylor, 117.

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 13 October 1890, roll 798, AAA.

!®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 3/10/1893 - 1/15/1900" Council minutes dated 31 March 1893, roll 799, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 149 33% of the student body in the life and antique classes —

never as high as in 1874/1875 when they made up 43%.®®®

The academy simply could not offer the same support and

advantages as the Art Students League. The enrollment of

female students was never as high since the founding of its

rival school. The environment would never be comparable.

The academicians appeared to be too entrenched in their

attitudes to ever fully accept women as equals and as

artists.

Competitions and Prizes The earliest prizes offered were the Gold and Silver

Palette awards. In May 1836 the student with the best

original design would have won the Gold Palette. A large

Silver Palette was awarded for the best antique drawing and

a small Silver Palette for the best drawing of an anatomi­

cal figure. This first competition was open only to the

male art students; at this time, women were not part of the

student body.®®! The Gold Palette competitions were no

longer held after 1842.®®®

In the years following the Civil War, student

®®®Archives of the National Academy of Design, "Student Register 1897 - 1898" unpublished original document. National Academy of Design, New York. Figure was determined by counting names.

®®!n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 4 May 1836, roll 798, AAA.

®®®Fink and Taylor, 31.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 150 competitions were re-introduced. The Elliot Medal was

established by the widow of Charles Loring Elliot; the

competition was divided into two parts: a silver medal for

a full-length drawing of an antique statue and a bronze

medal for drawing of a torso or bust. When the award was

first presented in May 1871, the Elliott Silver Medal went to Miss Marie Louise Bascoin. The Elliot Bronze Medal was

awarded to Miss H. Sidney Baylies.®®®

An competition for life drawing was initiated in 1872

with the James Suydam award.®®* Male students won the

Silver and Bronze Suydam Medals that first year. However,

two women did win Honorable Mention, Miss Louise Glen and

Miss Cranets.®®® Honorable Mention was quite an accomplishment for Misses Cranets and Glen because the Life

School for women had been open for only one school year.

As an example of the competition process, the March 9

1874 minutes outlined the Elliott and Suydam Medal rules.

For the Suydam Medal in life drawing, students had a three

week period (March 16 to April 10) in which to compete.

The submitted drawing was to be completed within twelve

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 3 April 1871, roll 798, AAA.

®®*NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 25 March 1872, roll 798, AAA.

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 18 April 1872, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 151

days on an 18" by 24" sheet of paper.®®® The day and night

life classes for men used the same male model. Twenty men

entered the competition from the night section and two

competed from the day class. The women's life classes

employed a female model; fifteen competitors entered.®®?

For the Elliot Medal competition, students had eight

weeks (March 11 to May 6) in which to produce a drawing

from the antique. Drawings were to be presented on 24" by

36" sized paper. Competitors for both the Suydam and

Elliott medals used the same seat throughout the contest

period; seat assignments were chosen by lot.®®® The prizes

were awarded at the end of the school year. Jennie

Brownscombe won the 1874 Silver Elliott Medal for the best

antique drawing and Fannie Powell won Honorable Mention in

the Suydam life drawing competition.®®®

Generally, women students at the National Academy

received greater recognition in Elliott Medal competition. More women studied from the antique; therefore, their odds

for winning were higher. It is interesting to note that

during the 1875/1876 student competitions — the year the

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 March 1874, roll 798, AAA.

®®?NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 16 March 1874, roll 798, AAA.

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 March 1874, roll 798, AAA.

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 4 May 1874, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 152 Art Students League was founded — no women received a

medal or honorable mention for either the Elliott or

Suydam Medals.®!®

The Hallgarten Fund provided monetary prizes for painting. The first Hallgarten awards in 1884 went to

women. Mary E. Brown won first place and $40; second place

with a $20 award went to Mary H. McCollom.®ü The follow­

ing year showed similar results: first place to Ellen B.

Robertson and second place to Lilly Lindsley.®!® Through­

out the last quarter of the nineteenth century, women were most successful with the painting competitions; their

weakest area was the Suydam Medals for life drawing. The

Hallgarten Fund arranged for a second prize in the area of

composition.®!® The award went to Arthur J. Keller who won

$200 for his composition, Daniel Interpreting before the

King Belshazzar. The runner-up was Miss McDougall who

received Honorable Mention — but, no money.®!* The

Council of the National Academy decided that for the

®!®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 8 May 1876, roll 798, AAA.

®!!n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 1 May 1884, roll 798, AAA.

®!®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 5 May 1885, roll 798, AAA.

®!®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 November 1885, roll 798, AAA.

®!*NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 26 April 1886, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 153 following year the second place recipient should receive

some financial compensation as well.®!® Henry Epting in

1887 was awarded $50 for second prize. Isabel McDougal won

first place. But, the unfortunate Miss McDougal received

$100 for her prize; only half the amount that her male

predecessor had won the year before.®!®

Curriculum

In 1831 when women first began to study at the

National Academy, the only program available to them was

study from the antique. These students worked with Asher

B. Durand, Charles Ingham, Robert W. Weir, Thomas Seir

Cummings, and John Ludlow Morton.®!? The course of study

was instruction in drawing from the academy's collection of

plaster casts. It was, of course, segregated. The class

appeared to have included some instruction in anatomy.

Study of anatomy would have included lectures and been

illustrated by plaster casts of the human body. The

academy, circa 1829, possessed copies of Houdon's

Ecorche.®!® anatomical horse, casts of hands, arms.

®!®Ibid.

®!®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 2 May 1887, roll 798, AAA.

®!?NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 10 October 1831, roll 798, AAA.

®!®An "ecorche" is a full length statue of the musculature of a male figure.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 154 feet, etc.®!® The instructor at the time was Dr. John

Neilson, Jr. Dr. Neilson unexpectedly resigned on November

21, 1831 and Donald Thayer speculated that Neilson's sudden

action may have been related to the ladies antique

class.®®® Perhaps, the anatomy instructor was incensed at

the possibility of working with female art students.

However, there is no clear information regarding the reason

for Dr. Neilson's hasty resignation. Comments made by

Thomas Seir Cummings indicate that the women found the

study of anatomy a particularly unpleasant activity.®®! This aspect of art instruction may have been the cause for

the demise of the ladies antique class.

When full-time study for women returned in 1846,

their antique class was taught by a rotating group of

academicians. The use of National Academy members as

volunteer instructors continued until 1856 when Thomas Seir

Cummings was put in charge of the school. During this mid

century period, drawing from plaster casts and some

anatomical instruction would have been the extent of the

course work available for women.

A life class for women was started in 1871.®®® As

with the study of the antique, the life class would have

®!®Thayer, 48.

®®®Thayer, 43.

®®!lbid.

®®®Fink and Taylor, 53.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 155

focused on drawing skills. Lemuel Wilmarth would have

overseen the instruction for both the antique and life

classes.

A class in perspective was started in 1870 and taught

by James Renwick Brevoort. It is unclear whether women were allowed to attend this course. Brevoort's class was

apparently not popular with the National Academy students.

In his 1872 President's Address, William Page tartly

commented, "The Class in Perspective . . . was not so numerously attended as it should have been, the students

not being sufficiently advanced to appreciate the value of

the opportunity afforded them."®®®

A painting class was started on January 20, 1873. It was taught by Thomas LeClear. Twelve males and eleven

females were admitted to the class.®®* The painting class

utilized still-life as the focus of study.

During the 1876/1877 term, the academy formally

codified its admission standards, school regulations, and

student behavior rules. The yearly term of instruction

extended from October 1 to June 1. The Day School classes

were open from Monday through Friday from 8:00 to dusk.

Saturday courses ran from 8:00 to 1:00. To be admitted, a

student had to submit a drawing of a head, hand, foot, or

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 9 May 1872, roll 798, AAA.

®®*NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 14 May 1873, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 156 other body part. If the drawing was acceptable, the student would be permitted to enroll in the antique

section. Students in the antique school had to reapply

every year. In order to advance to the life school, a

pupil presented a full-length drawing of an antique statue.

Once admitted, students had to have the School Committee's

approval to re-enter the life classes during succeeding

years. However, those individuals who won either medals or

honorable mention automatically promoted to a life class

without re-admission. Roll was taken in the various

classes and if a student missed three sessions, she lost

her assigned seat in the class. Within the classroom,

students were expected to display "perfect order and silence."®®® As mentioned earlier, the Council of the

National Academy was very determined to keep a tight hold

on the students and they expected quite rigid decorum from

their underlings.

Professor Wilmarth had been trained in Europe and as

a result of his experiences there, he introduced the quick

sketch as a drawing exercise. He also intended to use the

technique in composition classes. The academy schools

utilized the long study method as well. Facility in both

types of drawing was considered essential for an artist's

development: "This practice corresponds with the struggle

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 18 December 1876, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 157

Of life. A fiery impetuosity under the control of a calm

and unconquerable perseverance are the opposing qualities

which should unite to form the perfect artist".®®® The

American art scene during the late nineteenth century was

still rooted in the Romantic/Neoclassic controversy. The

above quote shows how American artists of the time were

trying to reconcile the two opposite philosophies.

By 1885 the academy was offering classes in study of the antique and life, composition and sketch classes as

well as perspective, anatomy, and painting.®®? In 1887, a

modeling class was started. Unfortunately, the class was not a great success — due to some extent to a lack of

support by the members of the academy. The May 2, 1887

minutes admitted that only "a few have attended it."®®®

Apparently sculpture was not highly valued by the academy.

In a members exhibition, sculpture was given short shrift.

The secretary of the Council admitted:

The Council had expected to present you with a glowing account of the modeling class but it appears that the students in that department, on catching a glimpse of the way in which the works of their masters in sculpture have been crowded into a neglected corner, or at best, left to suffocate on the heaters, have taken fright and retired to some region where sculpture

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 8 May 1878, roll 798, AAA.

®®?NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 15 May 1885, roll 798, AAA.

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 2 May 1887, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 158 is duly honored, and proper gallery set apart for its exhibition.229

This quote points out an essential characteristic of

the National Academy. It was very traditional and very

rigid in its focus. The schools emphasized drawing over

painting and as a consequence the medium of sculpture was

not highly valued.

By the last decade of the nineteenth century, the

academy was branching out in its curriculum. A costume

class was added as well as a class in etching.®®® The

American Art Annual for 1900 even reported that the academy

was contemplating adding classes in die cutting and

coin/medal design.®®! The whole focus of the academy was

under going a dramatic change. As it entered the twentieth century, the traditional "academic" curriculum was no

longer applicable to an increasingly industrialized

society. However, throughout the nineteenth century the

National Academy was the quintessential clone of the

European academic model. It tenaciously clung to this form

of instruction where drawing the human body was the core of

the curriculum. As the academy entered the twentieth

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 8 May 1889, roll 798, AAA.

®®®NAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 27 January 1890 and "Minute Books 3/10/1893 - 1/15/1900" dated 9 May 1894, rolls 798 and 799, AAA.

®®!American Art Annual 1900/1901, 227. The academy in fact did add these courses in 1903.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 159

century, the machine became the dominant symbol and as a

result classes in die cutting also would assume a place in

the art school curriculum.

Faculty

The short lived ladies antique class of 1831 had

Charles Ingham, Robert W. Weir, Thomas Seir Cummings, Asher

B. Durand, and John Ludlow Morton as instructors. They

were members of the National Academy Council and worked on

a rotating basis. The best known of the group was Asher B.

Durand. Durand was a central member of the Hudson River

School, a style of landscape painting which emphasized wide

vistas imbued with the supernatural.

Shgjaas Sgir çumminqg Thomas Seir Cummings was hired as an instructor and

head of the National Academy school in 1851. He studied

under Henry Inman. Cummings was best known for his

miniatures. He was an elected member of the National

Academy as well.®®®

Prior to his appointment, the academy utilized

academicians as volunteer teachers. Cummings worked as an

instructor for one year. From the 1852 to 1856, the

National Academy returned to the use of academicians. As

before, the system proved unsatisfactory and Thomas Seir

®®®Baigell, 81.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 160 Cummings was rehired. He was employed by the academy from

1856 to 1865.23®

After Thomas Seir Cummings' departure, the academy tried, yet again, to use the services of its academicians.

Not surprising, the method did not provide adequate

instruction. It became obvious to the Council that

another full-time instructor was required. Lemuel Wilmarth was chosen to head the school.

Lemuel Wilmarth

Like Cummings, Wilmarth was a member of the academy.

He spent nearly twenty years as an instructor and director of the school. He was dismissed at the end of the

1874/1875 term; however, he continued to instruct students

in his studio. Wilmarth was instrumental in helping

establish the Art Students League. He was rehired in 1877

and worked for the National Academy until 1889.

From 1859 to 1862 Wilmarth studied in Munich with

Wilhelm von Kaulbach. He returned to Europe in 1864 and

trained with Jean Leon Gerome until 1867. He first began

teaching at the Brooklyn Academy of Design.®®* Wilmarth

was thoroughly versed in the academic system and his

teaching methodology appeared to be fairly traditional.

®®®Fink and Taylor, 112 - 114 passim.

®®*Clara Eskine Clement Waters and Laurence Hutton, Artists g£ frhg Ninetggnth çgntury ana their works (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, Co., 1894; reprint. New York; Arno Press, 1969.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 161 Following Wilmarth's tenure, the academy used a

variety of painters as instructors such as Will H. Low,

Edgar Melville Ward, James David Smillie, and George W.

Maynard. Although the majority of faculty at the National

Academy of Design were members of that organization, the

school did not have the same caliber of instruction as the

Pennsylvania Academy and the Art Students League. The environment of the institution was very in-grown and

uncompromising. It was not a place that encouraged

artistic innovation or in turn attracted progressive

artists. The men who taught at the academy were well

respected during the nineteenth century; but, they would

not be seen as the outstanding artists of their period by

twentieth century art historians. They were not on the

level of Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, or J. Alden

Weir.

Obviously, no women were part of the faculty. In

fact only two women were full members of the academy before

1900, Anne Hall in 1833 and Cecilia Beaux in 1894.®®®

Since the National Academy selected its instructors from

its membership, the possibility that a women would be

chosen was nil. In addition the academy had not shown

enormous support for women as artists. Lois Marie Fink and

Joshua Taylor called the academy an "artistic

®®®Archives of the National Academy of Design, unpublished list of women elected to the NAD, compiled by Abigail B. Gerdts, curator.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 162

brotherhood. "236 was not about to interrupt the cozy

relationship its members enjoyed and include women as

academicians and instructors.

Students

As has been noted, the National Academy was not

highly supportive of its student body; this situation was

especially true for its women students. Therefore, it is

not surprising that the National Academy of Design produced very few female artists of note. This statement has to be

taken in context because American art history texts

generally do not consider any nineteenth women artist to be

worthy of note. Although virtually all women of this

period are obscure, the female students of the National

Academy do not appear to have achieved the equivalent

levels of the other three schools under examination.

Two students who realized some notoriety were Helena

DeKay and Maria Oakey. Helena DeKay studied privately with

Winslow Homer and John LaFarge. She was a member of the

first ladies life class in 1871. However, Ms. DeKay is

best known for her involvement in the founding of the Art Students League and the Society of American Artists.23?

Both groups were established as rival organizations to the

National Academy. One can surmise that if Helena had been

236pink and Taylor, 28.

23?charlotte Streiffer Rubinstein, American Women Artists (Boston: G. K. Hall and Co., 1982), 140.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 163 truly satisfied with her studies at the academy she would

not have so actively involved in the founding of opposing

institutions. She was on the boards of the Society of American Artists and the Art Students League. Charlotte

Streifer Rubinstein stated that "Helena [DeKay] Gilder's

career as a painter and organizer declined with the

increased burden of family life."23®

Maria Oakey was a close friend of Helena DeKay. Both

shared a studio in New York. Prior to her studies at the

National Academy, she trained at the Cooper Union with John

La Farge. She studied at the academy from 1871 to 1875

and was one of the original students of the women's life

drawing class. However, like DeKay, Maria Oakey became

actively involved in the founding of the Art Students

League. Besides her painting career, Maria Oakey wrote

three books; From Attic to Cellar: A Book for Young

Housekeepers, Beauty in Dress, and Beautv in the Household. As an author she used the name Mrs T. W. Dewing — a sad

commentary that in order to gain recognition she would have

to give up her own name. Oakey won medals at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition and at the 1901 Pan-American

Exposition. She was given a one-woman show at the Pennsyl­ vania Academy in 1907.239

Susan N. Carter won Honorable Mention in the 1873

23®ibid., 141.

239ibid., 141 - 142.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 164 Elliott Medal competitions for drawing from the antique.240

She also worked as a writer; one example was her article,

"Women in the Field of Art-Work" for the North American Review.241

Jennie Brownscombe was the most successful woman

artist of the National Academy students. She graduated

from the Cooper Union school in 1 8 7 1 ; then, went on to

spend the next four years at the National Academy. She

received considerable recognition from the academy. In

1 8 7 4 Brownscombe won the Elliott Silver Medal for drawing from the antique.242 addition she received Honorable

Mention in the Suydam life drawing competition in 1875243

and later won the Silver Suydam medal in 1 8 7 9 . 2 4 4 jennie

Brownscombe also joined the female exodus to the Art Stu­

dents League. However, she does not appear to have been

as frustrated with the National Academy because she contin­

ued to alternate her studies between the two institutions.

She went on to have a successful career as a genre painter.

24ÛNAD Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 5 May 1873, roll 798, AAA. 241gusan N. Carter, "Women in the Field of Art-Work," North American Review 155 (September 1872): 381 - 384.

242n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 4 May 1874, roll 798, AAA.

2 4 3 n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 19 April 1875, roll 798, AAA.

244n a d Papers, "Minute Books 11/8/1825 - 5/8/1893" Council minutes dated 8 May 1879, roll 798, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 165 Art Students Leacme

In an 1891 article for Harper's New Monthly

Magazine, John Van Dyke proclaimed: "there is no better

institution in this country than the Art Students League of

New Y o r k . "245 within sixteen years of its founding, the

Art Students League had become the dominant art school in

the United States — a phenomenal development. Van Dyke, in a decided rebuke directed toward the National Academy,

wrote: "It has no century-old precedents to live up to; its

history is slight, and its prestige [is] not the outcrop of

a reverence for age, but an appreciation of work d o n e . "246

The success of the Art Students League represented more than a schism from a rival institution; rather, the birth

of the League signaled a major shift in art education.

While the National Academy was tenaciously clinging to the

"academic tradition" — a philosophy and a system that

extended from the Baroque period, a new order was being

established in the education of artists. The power of the

Ecole des Beaux-Arts was rapidly diminishing as the French

Academy lost its stranglehold on the Parisian art world.

The late nineteenth century would see the emergence of

Impressionism and Post-Impressionism — movements that

completely repudiated the absolutism of the academic

245John C. Van Dyke, "The Art Students League of New York," Harper's Monthlv 83 (October 1891): 689. 246ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 166

system. The Art Students League represented the American

facet of this revolution in European art.

The League was literally run by its students and as a

result it is tempting to see the Art Students League as an

example of "American democracy-at-work." However, this

attitude is naive and erroneously nationalistic. John Van

Dyke announced, "Unlike its Parisian prototype, the Art

Students League owes its existence not to French Royalty,

but to American e n e r g y . "247 Nineteenth century American

art was closely related to European art. "American energy"

did not produce the success of the Art Students League; rather, it was the European training of its instructors —

men such as J. Alden Weir, Keryon Cox, and J. Carroll

Beckwith. Although Van Dyke wanted to attribute to the achievements of the League to the American personality, the

members of the League during the nineteenth century openly

acknowledged their relationship to European developments.

The president in 1886, Frank Waller, wrote that the Art

Students League "has been catholic in its influence, and all the best European schools have been represented in its

instructors. "248 william St. John, the 1883 president

stressed that the Art Students League instructors had had

"training and education under the greatest masters of

24?ibid.

248&rt Students League Papers, First Report by Frank Waller, NY59-20;021, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 167

Europe" and were in "hearty accord with the progressive art

movements of the d a y . "249

The art of Kenyon Cox, William Merrit Chase, Walter

Shirlaw, J. Alden Weir and the other instructors was not

really "avant-garde"; but, what these men brought to the

Art Students League were European attitudes and perspec­

tives. Conversely, the students brought to the school an

enthusiasm and a dedication that dramatically influenced

art training for the next century. It was a program that

would produce artists as diverse as Georgia O'Keeffe,

Jackson Pollock, Isabel Bishop, Alexander Calder and James Rosenquist. No other art school has had a comparable

impact on American art.

Organization

The governing body of the Art Students League was the

Board of Control. The Board was composed of twelve active

League members. To be a member of the Art Students League,

one had to have been enrolled in the life classes for at

least three months, been proposed by three members, and

approved by a vote of the membership. A majority of the

individuals serving on the Board of Control had to be stu­ dents attending the school. The Board was responsible for

establishing League policies, monitoring the finances.

249a s l Papers, "Members Meetings 1882 - 1885" Presi­ dent's address dated 17 April 1883, NY59-24;306.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 168

administering the school, hiring faculty and conducting

general b u s i n e s s . 250

Students paid a monthly fee to attend the school —

from five dollars in 1875 to eight dollars by 1899. Atten­

dance was never taken; there were no examinations. Yet,

for all the lack of conventional structure, the students

exhibited enormous dedication and self-determination. Ella Condie Lamb, a student from 1881 to 1884, commented, "We

felt a personal responsibility for the success of the

school and became interested in its policies and, in the

Board of Control, for then as now, it was run by students

at work in the classes."251

Women Art Students at the Art Students League

When the students of the National Academy angrily

formed the Art Students League, they fully intended to

return to the academy. The neophyte organization was a

means of continuing their life drawing classes and a place

to air their grievances. On June 2, 1875 a group of stu­

dents met at Lemuel Wilmarth's studio. They decided to

offer life drawing classes beginning on September 15, 1875.

2^®Allen Tucker, "The Art Students League: An Experi­ ment in Democracy," in The Allen Tucker Memorial (New York: Art Students League, 1980), no page number.

25lEiia Condie Lamb, "1881 to 1884," in Fiftieth Anniversary of the Art Students League of New York (New York: Art Students League, 1925), 39.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 169

Wilmarth agreed to teach the classes for f r e e . 252 The stu­

dents sent an announcement to the National Academy in July

outlining their plan to set up a rival organization. 253

Needless to say the announcement was not warmly received by

the members of the National Academy. Worthington Whittredge

promptly sent a rebuttal letter to the newspapers. 254

The rebellious students held a General Meeting on

October 27, 1875 where they elected a Board of Control.

The Officers of the Board were: President, Lemuel Wilmarth;

Vice-Presidents, Julia E. Baker and Edward Prescott;

Recording Secretary, Joseph A. Kernan; Corresponding

Secretary, Annie B. Folger; and Treasurer, Charles A.

Vanderhoof. The remaining members of the Board were:

Frederick S. Church, Charles Y. Turner, May Whitney Hall,

Helen Abbe, Miss M. E. Monks, and W.H. S h e l t o n . 255 out of

twelve positions on the Board of Control five were filled

by women. This number gave women a significant voice in

the development and operation of the new organization. At the same meeting, committees were established to

252a s l Papers, First Report. NY59-20:015, AAA.

253ASL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" letter dated July 1875, NY59-24:172, AAA.

254Marshal Landgren, Years .Of. -Th^ BtPry Qf. the Art Students Leacme of New York (New York: Robert M. McBride, 1940), 19 - 20.

255Art Students League, Catalogue of Works bv Members. Students and Instructors of the Art, .Students League, of New York 1875 - 1900 (New York: Art Students League, 1900), 44.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 170

facilitate the running of the school. Irene de Macarthy

was appointed Librarian. The Library Committee was

composed of Miss Abbe (Chairman), Miss Gay, and Miss Goler.

The Art Committee was chaired by M. S. Bloodgood with

William J. Harper and Carl Hirschberg as members. The

House Committee had M. H. Shelton as the chairman and Frank

Waller, Miss M. E. Monks, Miss Isabella Bartome as members. Again it can be seen that women had vital input in the

founding of the new school. Fifty-one students were

founding members of the Art Students League. Of this

number, twenty were w o m e n . 256

During the first year, the Art Students League

offered three life classes (two for men and one for women),

a sketch class, and a portrait class. Even with tuition

fees of five dollars a month, classes were well attended.

Frank Waller commented, "The results of the first year were

very satisfactory, for it was shown that there were enough

art students in the city to establish and support such a

school."257

However, at the beginning of the second year the

256The founding women members were Helen Abbe, Mrs Julia E. Baker, Mrs Ella Brown, Jennie Brownscombe, Miss A. S. Crocker, Emily Crocker, Emily Cromwell, Charlotte Ewer, Carrie Field, Annie B. Folger, Miss Gay, May Whiney Hall, Helen Hubbard, Helena De Kay, Anna R. Miles, Helen L. Nesmith, Maria Oakey, Lena Rowley, Miss E. D. Sackett, and Miss D. W. Sawyer. List courtesy of Lawrence Campbell, Archives of the Art Students League.

257ASL Papers, First Report. NY59-20:016, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 171

optimism of the previous year seemed to have faded and

prospects appeared rather bleak. The school had no money

with which to start classes for the 1876/1877 season.

Twelve to thirteen of the League's best students had

dropped out and no money was available to pay Lemuel

Wilmarth a salary. However, Wilmarth offered to teach

voluntarily for a second year. Fees continued to be five

dollars a month. One hundred and thirty-five students

attended that y e a r . 258

Considering Lemuel Wilmarth's largesse as a volunteer

instructor for a year and a half, it is not surprising that

he chose to return to the National Academy for a salaried

position. At the end of that second year a number of stu­

dents such as Frederick Church and Frank Waller felt that

it was advisable to return to the schools of the National

Academy and to maintain the Art Students League as a social organization.259 A special meeting of the Board of Control

was held on April 20, 1877. At that meeting, the Board of

Control drew up a list of demands for the National Academy.

Some of the demands included painting instruction in the

life classes as well as a class in portrait painting. The

female students also included their personal demand. They

wanted a life class that had the same number of hours of

study as the men's life and they insisted that there be "no

258ibid., NY59-20:17, 259lbid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 172

restrictions not imposed on [the] Gents c l a s s . "260

Undoubtedly, this demand was in reference to the covering

worn by the male models in the ladies life classes. The

Board displayed its list of demands on a bulletin board for

the input of the other students.

On April 27, 1877 the Art Students League held a

general meeting. The meeting was chaired by the acting

president, Julia E. Baker; forty-two members attended.

After numerous discussions, the members of the Art Students

League voted to keep their organization intact and to

continue as an educational institution.261 The following

day a new Board of Control, officers, and committee members

were e l e c t e d . 262 The League was now an established

association and no longer an "experiment".

In the spring of 1878 the president Frank Waller

journeyed to Europe and visited various European art

schools. One of the aspects of the Art Students League

that particularly struck him was how different the atti­

tudes and treatment of women art students was. He "wrote a

report which was afterwards published by the League, which

showed that the advantages for women to study from life

26®a s l Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 20 April 1877, NY59-24A; 201, AAA.

261a s l Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 27 April 1877, NY59-224A;203, AAA.

2G2ASL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 28 April 1877, NY59-24A:205, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 173

were greater h e r e . "263 while abroad, Waller contacted

Carroll Beckwith and convinced him to teach at the Art

Students League. The hiring of Beckwith allowed the school

to provide instruction in drawing from the Antique. In addition William Merritt Chase was employed to teach the

life classes. By the end of 1878, there were 147 students;

the number doubled the following y e a r . 264 The sustained

growth of the League permitted it to have a firm financial

standing in just four years. The Treasurer's report for 1879 showed a surplus of over $1800.265 Early in its

founding the women members of the Art Students League had

insisted that they wanted equal treatment in their life

drawing classes. The Model Engagement record book for the

1880/1881 school year showed that the female life students

had both male and female models for their studies.266

this date it is not known whether the male models were

completely naked. For the men, there were two life classes

— one during the day and one in the evening. The women

art students had only one such class. A second ladies life

class was added in 1883. In his president's address.

263a s l Papers, First Report. NY59-20:018, AAA. 264ibid.

265a s l Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 18 November 1879, NY59-24A;(frame number not legible), AAA.

266a s l Papers, "Models Engagement Book" entry dated 1880/1881, NY59-24:001, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 174 William St. John Harper, stated, "The opening of a second

life class for the lady students was no more than an act of

justice to them . . . The ladies were certainly entitled to the same privileges when the attendance warranted it."267

Harper stressed the League's commitment to women's art

education and the awareness by the female students of this

unique attitude. He commented:

Lady art students have been quick to recognize the importance to them, of a school which gives facilities for thorough, and serious study such as this can be had in no other art school anywhere; advantages that they have never had before: a school that gives solid groundwork for excellence in trades and occupation in which they can compete upon equal terms, and which opens to those who have the talent the possibilities of a profession, in which they are peculiarly qualified to excel; the highest honors of which are easily within their g r a s p . 268

Sadly, it is true that no other institution offered the

same quality and support as the Art Students League. How­

ever, Harper is naively optimistic in his assessment of

the success available to women. "The highest honors" were

not really "easily within their grasp." The League presi­

dent had difficulty understanding the deeply rooted

cultural restrictions and bigotry that impeded the advance­

ment of women in nearly all endeavors. It is interesting

to note that when William Harper made the above remarks

over 50% of the League's members were women — 63 women to

267a s l Papers, "Members Meetings 1882 - 1885" dated 17 April 1883, NY59-24:302, AAA.

268ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 175 58 men. Women comprised nearly 60% of the student body —

272 women and 193 men. And most importantly, they provided

a major portion of the Art Students League's income. Female

students during the 1882/1883 school year paid $8939 in

tuition; the male students contributed $5204.269 women

certainly did appreciate the support given by the Art Stu­

dents League; so much so that they flocked to the school. The National Academy of Design did not have comparable

numbers — nor did they want them. The League certainly

provided an outstanding educational program; but, another

reason for its popularity with women is the fact they were

encouraged to voice their concerns and opinions. For

example, the female students of the 1887 women's morning

life class held a meeting regarding their choice of an

instructor for following term. This year's teacher had been Kenyon Cox. Their decision was:

[I]n a meeting of the Women's Morning Life class the majority vote was that the Board of Control should only re-engage Mr. Kenyon Cox if no equally strong or better draughtsman can be obtained. Amy L. Kellogg Mary B. Coxe Mary E. McDonnell Grace Fitz Randolph Emma B. King M. J. Lemon270

This is an amazingly nonchalant attitude to take when

269ASL Papers, "Members Meetings 1882 - 1885" minutes dated 15 May 1883, NY59-24:382, AAA.

2^®ASL Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter c. 1887, NY59-25:197, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 176

studying under one the most famous artists of the nine­

teenth century. It is a decided contrast to the meek and

diffident approach displayed by the National Academy

students. The instructors assumed a very respectful

manner. H. Siddons Mowbray when asked to return for

another year courteously responded:

I beg leave to say in answer to your letter tendering me the position of instructor to Men's Life Class for next season, that I accept with many thanks. very sincerely, H. Siddons Mowbray^'l

Women were able to assert their opinions and influence the

direction of the school because of the large number of

female members. The reason for this occurrence was that

the women actively promoted one another. As soon as one

woman became a member, she quickly proposed another woman.

Consequently, the female art students were a significant

element of the Art Students League program. In the letter

from the ladies life class, one of the students listed was

Mary B. Coxe. During the year that the letter was sub­

mitted, Coxe was being considered for membership in the

Art Students League. Adele F. Bedell proposed Mary; Marion

Lawrence and Edith Mitchell seconded her admission.272 As

part of the admission process, Mary had to sign a statement

271a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 10 May 1887, NY59-25:209, AAA.

272a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" proposal dated 6 December 1887, NY59-25:253, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 177 in which she agreed to comply with the League's Constitu­ tion and By-Laws and to actively involve herself in the

administration of the association. In addition she had to

attest that she "intend[ed] to make Art a profession."273

Adele F. Bedell, Mary's proposer, also had to vouch that

the purpose of Coxe's studies at the League was to advance

her career and not for the development of accomplishment

s k i l l s . 274 Mary B. Coxe was accepted as a member in

December of 1 8 8 7 . In turn, Mary would propose other women

for membership such as Margaret Uhl in 1 8 9 2 . 2 7 5 There is

no doubt that the progressive attitudes and supportive

environment of the Art Students League had a profound

impact on women's art education. These nineteenth century

women were assuming leadership positions, developing their

visual arts' careers, and displaying a considerable sense

of self-esteem. The enlightened attitudes of the League

were allowing women art students to flourish. However,

when an institution moves away from the accepted cultural

norms, there is great risk. Like the Pennsylvania Academy,

the area that would be most troublesome was the use of nude

male models in anatomy and life classes. The American

273a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" statement c. 1887, NY59-25:255, AAA.

274a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" statement c. 1887, NY59-25;275, AAA.

275a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" proposal c. 1893, NY59-25;605, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 178

public at the end of the nineteenth century was no more able to cope with nudity than it had been during the time

of Mrs. Frances Trollope in the early part of the century.

Two events which caused considerable anguish for the

Art Students League involved male nudity and the presence

of female art students. In 1888 Thomas Eakins was asked to

present a series of anatomy lectures. He responded with the following letter;

Mr. E. Mitchell Dear Sir,

The Nat. Acad, of Design has asked me to lecture. I am awaiting an answer to my terms and conditions. I should be glad to lecture at the League also if I can arrange convenient hours. In lecturing upon the pelvis which is in an artistic sense the very basis of the movement and balance of the figure. I should use the nude model. To describe and show an important muscle as arising from some exact origin to insert itself in some indefinite manner under the breech-clout [breech-cloth] is so trifling and undignified that I shall never again attempt it. The smaller bag tied with tapes and thongs, hereto­ fore used at the League is to my mind extremely indecent, and has been more than once a source of embarrassment and mischief. I am sure that the study of anatomy is not going to benefit any grown person who is not willing to see or be seen seeing the naked figure, and my lectures are only for serious students wishing to become painters or sculptors. Adverse criticism could be avoided by announcement of when I should use the naked model. Those not wishing to come to such lecture, could stay away or withdraw and lose nothing they could make use of, but would not hinder others wishing to learn.

Yours truly Thomas Eakins^'o

276a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 27 October 1888, NY59-25;375 - 378, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 179

As was noted in the previous examination of the Pennsyl­

vania Academy, Thomas Eakins was strongly committed to a

thorough and at times explicit study of the human figure.

Although the public often did not agree with his position,

Eakins was highly respected as a painter and teacher by

artists and students. He was a sought after lecturer in

the Eastern art schools. After considerable controversy,

Eakins obviously had learned to firmly state his intentions

in order to avoid any confrontations. In this letter Eakins clearly articulated his position and outlined the

content of his lectures. His suggestion to make an

announcement regarding the lectures seems very reasonable

and commendable. However, even with these precautions,

Eakins' lecture caused consternation among some of the female students. Mrs. M. W. Tyndale, a student at the

League, was particularly upset by the anatomy lectures.

She wrote an angry letter to the Board of Control. She stated:

[T]hat this not being the first course of lectures I have attended on Artistic Anatomy, I was prepared for all necessary illustrations of the subject, but - consider that this day, the feelings of both students and model were needlessly outraged and [I] shall absent myself from the remaining lectures of the course for that s e a s o n . 277

There must have been other complaints to the Board of

Control. Eakins was incensed by the reactions of some

277a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 29 January 1889, NY59-25;437 - 438,AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 180

students and he sent an indignant letter to Horace Bradley,

president of the 1888/1889 Board of Control;

Dear Sir,

Not more than one out of fifty art students will ever amount to anything. Good teaching is for that one only and his progress must not be hindered. Anatomy is a serious subject and I propose to teach it in a serious way for the benefit of serious students as I engaged to do before commencing. The next lecture is on the muscles of the thigh and I shall use the naked model. I have finished the pelvis and as soon as I finish the thigh the model may resume his breeches. Kindly console the jock-strap people with my conviction that missing a few lectures will have no effect upon their careers.

Yours truly Thomas Eakins^^S

As always Eakins is contentious and unrepentant. However,

the Art Students League was not as concerned with social propriety as it was with the commitment to provide all of

its students with professional training. In 1890 the

League began offering a mixed modeling from life class to

its students. Instructor J. Carroll Beckwith was asked his

opinion on this controversial situation. Beckwith was not

supportive of the class. In a letter to the Board of

Control he commented, "Under the present existing social

conditions in our city it would appear almost needless to

point out the disastrous consequences to the League of

27®ASL Papers,"Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 10 February 1889, NY59-25;435 - 436, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 181

such a c o u r s e . "279 At the bottom of the letter, William

Merritt Chase and Benjamin R. Fitz signed their names

endorsing Beckwith's position.2®0

The subject of mixed classes erupted into an even bigger controversy than the Eakins anatomy lectures. The

modeling class taught by Augustus Saint-Gaudens was

composed of approximately three male students and four

female students. Male and female models were posing nude for the course in sculpture.281 The students of the Art

Students League had diverse opinions regarding the appro­

priateness of the class. However, "fireworks" ignited when someone leaked the story of the modeling class to the

newspapers. It was the kind of news item that appealed to

journalists and throughout the month of May the press

unhesitatingly exploited the story. The incident not only found its way into the local papers such as the New York

Sun, New York Herald. New York Advertiser. New York Times.

New York Star, and the New York Tribune; it, also, reached

the Philadelphia Press, the Witness (Middletown, Connec­

ticut), the Journal (Quincy, Illinois), the News (Sheboygan

279a s l Papers,"Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 19 April 1890, NY59-25:489, AAA.

280Ibid., NY59-25I490.

2®^ASL Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" New York Sun 4 May 1890, NY59-24A;46 - 138, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 182 Falls, Wisconsin), and numerous other publications.2®2

Students at the League were outraged that someone had

informed the press. One group of students sent an irate

letter to the Board of Control; they called the action "a

great breach of trust." The letter stated, "we the under­

signed cannot too strongly express our indignation against

those unknown persons who are responsible for this dishon­ orable action."2®3

In response to the scandal, the Board of Control held

a special meeting on May 9, 1890. Bela Pratt, the Men's

Vice-President, proposed that separate modeling classes be instigated for the next school year. This resolution

passed. Joe Evans moved that the class be allowed to

continue until the end of the term. The seven students had

requested this action since there were only two weeks left.

Mr. Evans' resolution did not pass. It is interesting to

note that the Board's vote was evenly split — six in favor

and six against. The Board members who voted affirmatively were all men. The dissenting voters included all four

women on the Board as well as two men.2®4 Augustus Saint-

Gaudens was infuriated by the Board's decision to end his

2®2a s l Papers, "Newspapers Clippings," NY59-24A:46 - 2138, AAA.

2®3a s l Papers,"Secretary's Scrapbook" undated letter c. May 1890, NY59-25;506, AAA.

2®4a s l Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 9 May 1890, NY59-24A:607, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 183 class prematurely. He resigned on May 20, 1890.285

Daniel French was hired to replace Saint-Gaudens for the

following y e a r . 286

The puzzling aspect to the whole affair is the

attitude of the women students in general. Obviously the

four enrolled female students were supportive of the mixed

class. However, among the student body men appeared to be

the most vocal supporters of the concept. The Women's

Vice-President, Susan Ketcham, was adamantly opposed to

mixed life modeling. In fact, quite a number of women

students did not condone combining both sexes into one life

c l a s s . 287 Although the League had fostered great indepen­

dence among its female students, it appears that cultural

strictures were simply too powerful and too deeply in­

grained to be challenged.

The reason for the women's reticence probably was due

to a strong adherence to societal mores. It also may have

been in response to the attitudes and behavior of the male

students. Although the men appear very liberated in their

attitudes regarding equality in the classroom, they may not

truly have followed this idea. As an example of this

285a s l Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 20 May 1890, NY59-24A;608, AAA.

286a s l Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 2 June 1890, NY59-25;514, AAA.

28?ASL Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" New York Sun 4 May 1890, NY59-24A:46 - 138, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 184 supposition, one can look at an incident which occurred in

1896. Twenty-two students in the women's afternoon life

class sent a letter of complaint to the Board of Control.

They charged that male students in the life class next door

were disrupting the women's studies with juvenile antics.

The men had drilled a hole through the classroom partition;

they threw objects through the hole and made obscene

remarks upsetting the model and the female students. This

behavior had continued for some time during the school

y e a r . 288 one member of the Board, Ethel Jarvis Wheeler, was

particularly upset with the accusation and she consulted

with a legal adviser concerning the actions the League

might take in r e s p o n s e . 289

Seven men were involved in the incident; Lawton

Parker, J. A. St. John, Kenneth Miller, Walter Cox, Melvin

Nichols, J. M. Lichtennauer, and George Of. They were

summoned to a hearing by the Board of C o n t r o l . 290 The male

students responded with a letter to the Board of their own.

They called the accusations "insulting" and they stressed,

"we, the Mowbray Class, absolutely refuse to assist in any

288a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" undated note c. March 1896, NY59-26;338, AAA.

289a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" letter 17 March 1896, NY59-26;340, AAA.

290a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" letter 24 March 1896, NY59-26;345, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 185 further investigations by the Board of Control."291 The

behavior of these young is appalling. Their original

pranks were sophomoric. However, the denial and denuncia­

tions are childish and self-serving — actions one might

expect from adolescents not from grown men. The most

shocking element of the incident is that six of the seven

men were members of the Art Students League and one, Melvin

Nichols, was even on the Board of Control. When Nichols

was removed from the Board, he wrote an angry letter

calling the Board's action "illegal and prejudicial to me."

He coyly stated, "No reason has been given for my

dismissal, and I am sure none e x i s t s . "292

At the April 2, 1896 members meeting, the men were

suspended from the L e a g u e . 293 Lawton Parker, insulted by

the decision of the membership, petulantly r e s i g n e d . 294

None of the men showed any sign of remorse. They were the

victims not the perpetrators of belittling and humiliating

actions. In fact, except for Ethel Wheeler, no one at the

Art Students League seemed to be particularly outraged by

these acts of blatant sexual harassment. No sympathy was

291a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" letter dated 24 March 1896, NY59-26:346, AAA.

292a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" letter dated 23 March 1896, NY59-26;350, AAA.

293a s l Papers, "Members Meetings" minutes dated 2 April 1896, NY59-24:685, AAA.

294ibid., NY59-24:686.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 186 ever expressed for the plight of the women students. The

seven men were suspended; but, not expelled from the

League. George Of was made a full member two years later

in 1898 and Lawton Parker eventually recovered from the "insult" to be selected as a Life Member.295

This episode demonstrates how even in an institution

that consciously intended to support equality for women is

captive to deeply ingrained cultural attitudes. Sexual harassment is by its very nature a vicious, angry action

— rooted in misogyny. It is intended to hurt, humiliate

and overpower its victims. The membership could only see

these actions as "boyish pranks" and "harmless high-jinks."

They could not comprehend that rhetoric about the oppor­

tunities for women at the Art Students League was meaning­

less without a radical shift in underlying societal

assumptions.

The scandal of the mixed life class and the harass­

ment episode both occurred during the final decade of the

nineteenth century and both events essentially deal with

issues of sexuality. These occurrences represent a larger

process. It was as though the last vestiges of Victorian

rigidity and hypocrisy were wrestling with a new, more

sophisticated order.

However, just before these societal fissures took

295&rt Students League, Catalogue of Works, no page number.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 187 place, American moralism and religious dogmatism attempted

reclaim their ebbing influence. The evidence of this can

be seen in the emergence of Anthony Comstock — a man

determined to save the world from evils only he could

identify. Comstock founded a group known as the Society

for the Suppression of Vice. He was an avid crusader

against those whom he saw as corrupters of American

innocence and purity. One must wonder why a man would be

so concerned about prurience in others. He obviously had

spent a great deal of time contemplating things carnal. Comstock was particularly fervent in his attack on the

arts. He saw the world of artists as especially libertine

and immoral. In 1906 he "stormed" the Art Students League

looking for obscene material. Comstock confiscated 2500

copies of the American Art Student, a League publication,

and he arrested the nineteen year old bookkeeper, Anna

Robinson. The League magazine contained a sampling of

student work — including ten drawings of nude figures.

These representations certainly could not have been

considered unusual for an art school which employed the

academic system of instruction. But, Anthony Comstock saw

smut and vice. Eventually, the unfortunate bookkeeper was

released from jail. Comstock continued his assault on the

arts during the first decade of the twentieth c e n t u r y . 29^

2^®Nancy Heller, "The Art Students League: 100 Years Later," American Artist 39 (September 1975): 59.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 188

Anthony Comstock faded into oblivion; he is a name

unfamiliar to us today. However, his actions have an eerie

"deja vu" for the late twentieth century. He is not the

last to have seen art schools as purveyors of evil and

anarchy. However, with the benefit of hindsight, one can

see that Comstock's forays were the last gasps of a fading

culture. The fabric of Victorian social mores was rapidly

unraveling. The Armory Show in 1913 would signal the

beginnings of a more worldly and sensual America. These

new attitudes would reach their peak during the 1920's and,

then too, they would falter. The Art Students League was

on the cusp of these changes. It was able to apply the

dictates of the academic system; and, yet, infuse this

aging approach with a dynamism. The Art Students League

would play a dominant role in the development of modern

American art. It would produce both male and female

artists of international renown.

Competitions and Prizes

Although the Art Students League followed the

"academic model" for art education, it did not directly

subscribe to all the accepted tenets. The area of greatest digression was the near absence of artistic competitions

for students. As discussed in Chapter 2, the Prix de Rome

was focus of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts' curriculum. All

classes and training were geared toward winning this

award. The National Academy had the Suydam and Elliott

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 189 Competitions. However, the League reflecting essential changes in the art world dispensed with the tradition and

instead choose to focus on teaching.

Prizes for student work did appear during the mid 1890's. However, they did not directly impact the school

program. In 1895 a scholarship was established in honor of

Elizabeth Henderson. Students who produced the "best work

during the school year" would be awarded "the sum of $250

for first, $50 for second, and $25 for third prizes." The

competition was juried by a committee of Art Student League

instructors. When the awards for the scholarship were

presented the following year, the winner was Lawton

P a r k e r . 297 The second prize went to Charles A. Pulcifer;

Anna Lasser received third place. The Awards Committee

decided to acknowledge two other students with Honorable

Mention — Augustus M. Gerdes and Ethel Jarvis Wheeler.298

In addition to the Henderson Scholarship awards, the American Art Annual for 1898 reported two other prizes of $50 and $25.299 However, the 1900 - 1901 Annual listed a

whole array of prizes: a $50 prize for the portrait class.

^^'^havton Parker was the petulant fellow who was involved in the Women's Life class incident. These awards were presented on May 9, 1896; the harassment incident had occurred just two months earlier.

2®®a s l Papers, "Correspondence of the Board of Control" note dated 9 May 1896, NY59-26:401, AAA.

299Florence N. Levy, ed., American Art Annual 1898 (New York: Macmillan Company, 1899), 299.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 190 the $50 Evans Prize for "the encouragement of the practical

side of art", the Milhau Prize for "best composition in

illustration", and the Saltus Prize for the "best drawing

in the Antique Class."300

The 1875 announcement for the newly formed Art

Students League stated that one of the purposes of the

association was, "the encouragement of a spirit of unselfishness and true friendship."301 This premise was

the ostensible reason for the lack of student competitions.

However, there was another more subtle reason for this

occurence. The curriculum for young artists was gradually

changing; a greater emphasis on teaching and on student-

facuity relationships was emerging. Instructors became

more involved with students through classroom critiques.

The teacher became more of a mentor. In addition, the

declining power of the "academy" meant that awards from

these competitions did not have the impact on a student's

career as they had in France during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Therefore, to some degree the

concept of student competitions was no longer relevant for

the new century.

300Fiorence N. Levy, ed., American Art Annual 1900 - 1901 (Boston: Noyes, Platt and Company, 1900), 224 - 225.

301ASL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" letter dated July 1875, NY59-24:172, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 191 Curriculum

Throughout the nineteenth century the Art Students

League offered numerous classes and a diverse faculty.

During its first year of operation, the League began with

one instructor and three classes: Life, Portrait, and

Sketch. The life classes included two sessions for men and

one for w o m e n . 302 Three years later, during the 1878/1879

school term, students were able to study: drawing from the

antique; drawing, painting or modeling from life; portrait

painting; composition; sketching, and perspective. There

were now five instructors from which to study: William

Merritt Chase, J. S. Hartley, Walter Shirlaw, Frederick

Dielman, and J. Carroll B e c k w i t h . 303

The students enrolled during the 1883/1884 school term studied painting with William Merritt Chase,

portraiture with Charles Y. Turner, composition from a

group of artists including Walter Shirlaw and Thomas W.

Dewing, and antique drawing with William Sartain. There

were five life class sessions (two for men and three for

women). Women had the option to train with Charles Turner

in the morning life class, Walter Shirlaw in the afternoon, or William Sartain for the evening session. In addition,

the school offered sketch and costume classes. In both

302ASL Papers, First Report. NY59-20:016, AAA.

303ASL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 4 June 1878, NY59-24A:244 - 226, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 192 these courses students worked on their own. For the sketch

class, they took turns posing; the emphasis was on rapid

drawing rather than lengthy, detailed studies. Lectures

were available in anatomy, taught by J. S. Hartley, and

perspective, taught by Frederick D i e l m a n . 304

Former student Ella Condie Lamb reminisced about her

studies from 1881 to 1884. She studied painting with

William Merrit Chase. At the start of the term. Chase

employed charcoal drawing as a first step. Lamb reminded

modern readers that kneaded erasers had not been invented

yet; so, students corrected their mistakes using chunks of

bread to rub out the charcoal marks. Not surprisingly,

bread crumbs covered the floor and were removed in the

evenings by a "custodial crew" of large rats. Lamb

reported that Chase used live models as well as still-life

arrangements in his c l a s s . 305 once the students had moved

on to painting with brushes. Chase often would give lengthy demonstrations :

Always immaculate, with his spats and black ribboned eye glasses, he would seize someone's palette and work for an hour, with the biggest brushes and great globs of paint (but never a dab upon himself), while we watched breathlessly. 306

Ella Condie Lamb stressed how much she enjoyed the

304&sL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 5 July 1883, 1883/1884 Programme of Classes, NY59-24A:529 -530, AAA.

305condie, "1881 to 1884," 35 - 37.

306ibid., 37.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 193 sketch classes where students posed for one another and

worked without the pressure of an instructor. She felt the

friendship and comraderie with other aspiring art students was particularly meaningful.

Frank Waller also described the Art Students League during the mid 1880's. Waller, president of the Board of

Control at the time, prepared a report on the status of the

League on its ten year anniversary. He explained that the

beginning students in the antique classes received instruc­

tion and critiques of their work four times a week. The

more advanced students received criticisms twice a week.

For the remainder of the time, the students were encouraged

to explore their own individual s t y l e s . 307

Waller's 1886 report also included an overview of the

school's facilities and equipment. The library had 141

books, 29 bound volumes of periodicals, 101 plaster casts,

and a large supply of pictures for study (drawings,

photographs, lithographs, copies of old masters, etc). The

League subscribed to a variety of French, German, and

English art journals such as Portfolio (London), Gazette

àês. Beenx Arts (Paris), and Die Kunst fur Alle (Munich). Student use of the library had been a major point of

friction at the National Academy of Design. Consequently,

the League was anxious to build a diverse and well-stock

library. The members and the Board of Control wanted its

307&sL Papers, First Report. NY59-20:019, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 194 students to have access to the latest European trends as

well as the opportunity to study the art history and theory of previous periods.308

The school's president was justifiably proud of the

League's educational program. Waller stressed that both

men and women were receiving thorough art training. He stated;

Men and women stand in the school on terms of perfect equality in instruction and membership, and this seems to stimulate all. Much of the best work is done by women, and the school offers the greatest advantages to women who seriously desire to study art.309

Although his understanding of gender bias is rather

ingenuous. Waller does make a point about the school's

curriculum for women. Women at the Art Students League

studied with some of the best American artists of the

nineteenth century. For all intents, they received

virtually the same quality of instruction as their male

counterparts. They had access to superb training and they had an environment which encouraged individuality. They

were not expected to be demure and undemanding. They were

expected to be serious, professional artists. And given

this situation, the female art students took full

advantage.

During the 1890's the school's program continued to

308ibid., NY59-20:028.

309lbid., NY59-20:019.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 195

grow. By 1 8 9 5 the League offered eleven — and, sometimes

thirteen — sessions of the life classes. As the

nineteenth century ended, one can see a small shift in the

curriculum. Emphasis on the human figure is still the

fulcrum of the course of study. However, classes such as

illustration and design appeared. The League had provided classes with a vocational character. The courses in

drawing the head, portrait painting, and costume painting

were all intended to help artists survive monetarily with

portrait and historical commissions. However, these new

classes leaned toward developing skills needed for indus­

try. The same shift in the curriculum had occurred at the

National Academy as well.

In addition to a transition in the course of study,

another change occurred. A woman was finally hired as a

paid instructor. Mary Lawrence Tonetti taught the evening modeling class in 1898.310 Her tenure at the Art Students

League appeared to be brief; she was not listed in

1 8 9 9 / 1 9 0 0 school prospectus. 311 Considering the number of

women members in the Art Students League, it is startling that twenty-three years went by before a woman was

appointed to be an instructor. In fact during the next

twenty-five years only six women were employed.

The female students of the League received excellent

31°Levy, American Art Annual. 2 9 8 .

31lArt Students League, Catalogue of Members. 3 8 .

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 196

training and strong encouragement in their careers. There

were numerous female members working as professional

artists. So, the students did have role models. However,

the League simply could not bring itself to employ women as

instructors. The probable reason for this occurrence was

that the school was strongly committed to having instruc­ tors who had studied in Europe. Each year the school

prospectus would name which the European artist under which

the League instructor had trained. In France, particular­

ly, women were limited in the scope of their artistic

training and could not receive a comparable education.

Yet, some French artists did take female students. So,

European prejudice cannot solely account as for the lack of

women on the Art Students League faculty. Even with all

the policy statements about equality, patriarchy was firmly

rooted in the minds of the nineteenth century artists. The

psychological imagery of a male master artist was too strong to overcome.

Faculty

Between 1875 and 1900 the Arts Students League had an

extensive array of instructors. Nearly fifty teachers were

employed by the League during the nineteenth century. Therefore, only a few instructors have been selected for

this discussion. The featured artists were chosen for

their activities with the women's life classes, painting

classes, and sculpture classes. They were the individuals

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 197 that women art students were most likely to encounter as

teachers.

Walter Shirlaw

Shirlaw was originally an engraver. He did study at

the National Academy and in 1870 he went to Europe for

further t r a i n i n g . 3i2 jjg received most of his training in

Germany and worked with artists of the Munich School.

Shirlaw is usually classified as a genre, portrait, and

mural painter. However, additionally he was famous for

his paintings of nude figures.333 At the Art Students

League he taught women's life classes and composition. He

was an Honorary Member of the Art Students L e a g u e 3 3 4 ^^d in

1888 was elected to be a member of the National Academy of

Design.

William Merritt Chase

Next to Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase has

become one of the best known and most influential art

teachers of the nineteenth century. Chase studied at the National Academy with Lemuel Wilmarth. In 1872 he went to

the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany where he trained with

332Mantle Fielding, Dictionarv of American Painters. Sculptors and Engravers, rev. ed. (Green Farms, Conn.: Modern Books and Crafts, Inc., 1974): 330.

313Matthew Baigell, Dictionarv of American Art (New York: Harper and Row, 1979), 328.

334a s l Papers, First Report. NY59-20:028, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 198

Alexander Wagner, Wilhelm Leibl, and Karl von Piloty. He taught at the Art Students League from 1878 to 1894. He

taught life and painting classes. After leaving the

League, he taught at Shinnecock Art School and, later, he

founded the Chase S c h o o l . 335

J. Carroll Beckwith

James Carroll Beckwith was the antique instructor at

the Art Students League. He had had extensive training in France. He attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts and studied

with Emile Carolus-Duran. 336

Charles Y. Turner Turner was another Parisian trained painter. He did

study at the National Academy for three years. He went on

to France and worked with Leon Bonnat. At the Art Students

League, he taught women's life and studies of the head. He became a member of the National Academy in 1886.337

William Sartain William Sartain was part of a very famous family of

artists. His father, John Sartain, was an engraver and very

involved in the workings of the Pennsylvania Academy. His

sister Emily was also an artist. William went to the Ecole

335Baigell, 71.

336pielding, 24.

337pielding, 375.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 199 des Beaux Arts and trained with Leon Bonnat. He is best

known for his landscape paintings. While affiliated with

the Art Students League, Sartain taught women's life and antique classes.338

J. Alden Weir

Weir is most famous as a member of the American

Impressionists, known as "The Ten." From 1867 to 1868 he

studied at the National Academy; in 1873 he went to Paris

to train with Jean-Leon Gerome, one of the best known

academic p a i n t e r s . 339 weir taught painting and head classes

at the Art Students League.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the major sculptor of the

nineteenth century. In the United States he studied at the

Cooper Union and the National Academy. In addition he

trained abroad at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and in

I t a l y . 320 a teacher he is most famous for the scandal

caused during his mixed modeling class. He resigned over

the incident. However, Saint-Gaudens did return to the Art Students League and remained on the faculty until 1898.321

338pielding, 317.

339Baigell, 371.

320Baigell, 315.

323&rt Students League, "Faculty Employment Cards," unpublished records. Archives of the Arts Students League, New York.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 200 Kenvon Cox

Kenyon Cox is the epitome of the American academic

painter. He frequently portrayed female nudes. Not

surprisingly, these subjects were not popular with the

American public. He received greater financial success for

his mural p a i n t i n g s . 322

Cox had studied in Europe with Carolus-Duran in 1877

and with Gerome from 1878 to 1882. While an instructor at

the League, he taught life classes. Kenyon Cox was an

ardent opponent of modern art; he was extremely critical of

the 1913 Armory Show in New Y o r k . 323

Mary Lawrence Tonetti

Mary Lawrence Tonetti was the only women instructor

at the Art Students League during the nineteenth century.

Like the other League instructors, she had had the

requisite training in Europe. She studied at the Académie

Julian. Tonetti was a close friend and assistant of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens. 324 This relationship probably

explains her teaching position at the League. Saint-

Gaudens left the League in 1898; it was the same year that

322eaigell, 78.

323Milton Brown et al., American Art (New York; Harry N. Abrams, 1979), 382.

324chris Petteys, Dictionarv of Women Artists (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985), 702.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 201 she was chosen to be instructor for the evening modeling class.

Students

Of the five women on the first Board of Control, only

Annie B. Folger appeared to have continued as a profes­

sional artist. She became a pastelist; her primary

subjects were flowers, gardens, and scenes of Nantucket.

She had one exhibition at H. S. Wyler's Art Store in 1909.325

Grace Fitz-Randolph, after her studies, continued her professional career as a painter and sculptor. From 1905

to 1906 she taught at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.326

In addition to training at the League, Maud Humphrey

attended the Académie Julian. Her instructor at the

Parisian school was Jules Dupre, a member of the Barbizon

School. She served on the Board of Control in 1891. Ms.

Humphrey went on to establish a successful career as an

artist and illustrator. Her mediums were oil and water-

color. As a painter she primarily worked on portraits and

studies of children. She produced illustrations for

Harper's Magazine, Century. and a number of books. She was

a card designer for the Frederick A. Stokes Co. and for

325ibid., 252.

326ibid., 249.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 202 Louis Prang & Co. Maud worked steadily until 1898 when she married Dr. Belmont Bogart and ended her career. Maud

Humphrey would achieve fame. The source of her recogni­ tion, however, would not come as an artist; rather, she

would become best known as the mother of Humphrey

B o g a r t . 3 2 7

Ellen Louise Axson, like Maud Humphrey, would receive

fame for her personal life not her professional career.

She married Woodrow Wilson who became the 28th President of

the United States. Regretably, she would die a year after her husband assumed the Presidency.

Mary B. Coxe continued as a painter. She went on to

become a teacher at the Buffalo Art Students League and at

the Rhode Island School of D e s i g n . 328

The nineteenth-century student who would become the

most famous was Florine Stettheimer. Stettheimer served on

the Board of Control in 1895. She was a highly innovative

artist. Elsa Honig Fine reported many art critics saw her

work as "primitive" or "naive". But, Fine believed that

this assessment denied Stettheimer's unique creativity as

an a r t i s t . 329 ggr paintings appeared whimsical and

decorative. Yet, there is great symbolism and social

327ibid., 357.

328ibid., 702.

329£isa Honig Fine, Women and Art (Montclair, N.J.; Allanheld and Schram, 1978), 186.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 203

satire in her works. The May 1932 issue of the Nation

named Stettheimer, Peggy Bacon, and Georgia O'Keeffe as the

three most important women painters in the United

S t a t e s . 330 stettheimer's only one-woman show was at

Knoedler's in 1916. The critics panned her work. After

this embarrassing experience Florine never permitted her

art to be displayed in a solo show. However, she received

her greatest recognition for the sets she designed in Gertrude Stein's play. Four Saints in Three Acts. This

time the critics enthusiastically approved. After her

death Florine was honored with several posthumous exhibi­

tions such as ones at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University, and Vassar College.331

Corcoran School of Art

The Corcoran School of Art presents a very different

type of program than the three previous academies studied.

It was intended to emulate the grand tradition of the

"academic system"; but, the result was quite distinct.

Unlike the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the

National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League,

the Corcoran was not intended to be an association for

330jbid. It is interesting to note that all three of these women attended the Art Students League; Bacon and O'Keeffe were students at the beginning of the twentieth century. 331charlotte Streiffer Rubinstein, American Women Artists (G. K. Hall, 1982), 194 - 196.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 204 artists. The Corcoran Gallery, the parent organization for

the school, was founded and endowed by W. W. Corcoran. He

was a Washington philanthropist whose intention was to

elevate the status of the visual arts in the nation's

capital. His gallery housed a collection of art work and plaster casts.

The school also diverged from the other art academies

in its treatment of women. The Corcoran School of Art was

the least sophisticated and least prestigious of the

schools examined; yet, it was the most supportive and

innovative for women art students. Although it was

intended to be co-educational, the school's students during

the nineteenth-century were nearly all women. The

Corcoran's purpose was to provide traditional "academic

training" to both sexes in Washington, D.C.

In 1983 Allan Marsh wrote a history of the Corcoran

School for his doctoral dissertation. In reference to the

large numbers of female students, he commented;

Why the Corcoran School had been principally an academy of young women from its inception is an intriguing question and one for which there is no simple answer. When compared to the other American academies of the late nineteenth century, such as the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, the National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League, it is evident that the Corcoran was unique in this r e g a r d . 332

Marsh suggested two reasons for the abundance of women

332Aiian Thomas Marsh, "Washington's First Art Academy, The Corcoran School of Art 1875 - 1925" (Ph.D. diss., University of Maryland, 1983), 189.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 205

students. First, he hypothesized that since most of the

" c o p y i s t s " 333 were women, they were the ones who enrolled

in the school when a program was established. Second,

Marsh suggested that the personality of nineteenth century

Washington, D.C. also provided an explanation. Both New

York and Philadelphia had an environment and business base

which could support the visual arts; but, Washington was so

firmly rooted in the business of government that there were

minimal resources to support artists' careers. Outside of

public school teaching, few positions existed for artists

or illustrators.334

Regrettably, Marsh was unable to see the innovative

qualities of the Corcoran during its early years. In a

rather sexist critique, he wrote;

[T]he school struggled to free itself from its image of an academy of dabbling women and moved toward building a program which would compare favorably with some of the large and more established s c h o o l s . 335

It is a gross misunderstanding to see the Corcoran as a

school of lesser quality. There is no doubt that the

curriculum was less adventuresome than other schools and

the faculty was less distinguished than the Pennsylvania

Academy or the Art Students League. However, the Corcoran

was dramatically more responsive and supportive to women as

333copyist is a term for an individual who has permission to draw from a gallery's art collection.

334Marsh, 192.

335narsh, 238.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 206 artists. This radical development deserves credit and

acknowledgement. Of the schools examined the Corcoran

School had the largest number of women instructors. From

its inception women were considered an essential part of

the faculty. The school was forced to confront sexism and

racism. The Pennsylvania Academy and the National Academy

were quietly running on an "old boy's network." The Art

Students League offered many advantages to women but really

never could free itself of the belief in the superiority of

the male artist. The Corcoran during the late nineteenth

century and the early part of the twentieth century did

relinquish the dominance of male artists.

As indicated above, the Corcoran was not part of an

artists' association. It was a private gallery established

by a local businessman. However, the idea of including an

art school with the gallery was first discussed in 1874 by

the Corcoran's Board of Trustees. They instructed the

gallery curator to draw up a plan for a possible s c h o o l . 336

Therefore, the development of a school was under dis­

cussion; but, no definitive program actually arose from

this directive.

Almost as soon as the Corcoran Gallery was founded,

local artists and amateurs requested permission to draw

336corcoran Gallery of Art Papers, "Journal of the Official Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 12 January 1874, roll 261, Archives of American Art, Smith­ sonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 207

from the Corcoran's paintings and sculpture. In 1877 one

Washington artist, E. F. Andrews, began providing these

copyists critiques of their work at no charge.

In 1878 W. W. Corcoran donated $2,123.27 to help

establish a school of design. The Board thanked Mr.

Corcoran for his generosity and told him that the money

would be used for that p u r p o s e . 337 However, once again, a

school did not develop. The only training available at the

Corcoran was the use of the gallery for copying. The Board

did set aside a portion of the gallery and specific times

for the copyists. This activity was extremely popular with

local artists/amateurs. On March 8, 1887 the Board of Trustees elected E. F.

Andrews to work with the copyists as an Instructor in

Drawing. Andrews' services were so popular that he was

overwhelmed with aspiring "students." In a letter E. F.

Andrews complained about the number of copyists using the

gallery facilities. He reported, "From April 1st to June 12th last year there were thirty five [copyists] ... For

the same period this year there were seventy six stu­

d e n t s . "338 Obviously, there was great interest in receiv­

ing artistic training; but, a formal art school under the

auspices of the Corcoran Gallery did not occur until the

337c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 19 October 1878, roll 261, AAA.

338q q a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 13 June 1887, roll 261, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 208 death of William W. Corcoran. Mr. Corcoran's death

provided the financial backing required to establish a true

art school.

Organization

The Corcoran School of Art functioned under the

auspices of the Corcoran Gallery. The school was managed by its Director — who from 1890 to 1902 was E. F. Andrews.

Overseeing the actions of the Director was the Committee on

Works of Art. This committee reported to the Board of

Trustees. The Board was the governing body of the Corcoran

Gallery. Like the Board of Control at the Art Students

League and the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania

Academy, the Corcoran's Trustees were responsible for the

entire operation of the organization.

Women Art Students at the Corcoran School

At his death in 1888, W. W. Corcoran bequeathed

$100,000 to establish a free art school. The Trustees of

the Corcoran Gallery set out to implement Mr. Corcoran's

intentions. In 1889 duplicate casts were ordered for the

express use of the s t u d e n t s . 339

The school officially opened on January 6, 1890.340

339q g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 10 June 1889, roll 261, AAA.

34O0orcoran School of Art, "Awards 1885 - 1943" p. 16, Corcoran Gallery Archives, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 209

E. F. Andrews was appointed director of the school. The

January 13, 1890 minutes of the Board of Trustees made the

following assertion:

With the number of pupils enrolled in the Art School, it will not be possible to do justice to those desiring instruction . . . The appointment of an assistant is therefore recommended at a salary not exceeding six hundred dollars per a n n u m . 341

The winner of the 1889 Gold Medal drawing award, Mariettta

Minnigerode, was selected as the Assistant Instructor. Of

the four schools examined, the Corcoran was the first to

employ a woman as a regular t e a c h e r . 342 a literal

sense, fifty percent of the Corcoran's faculty at its

founding were female. Why did the Trustees take such as a

progressive step? Regrettably, the most likely explanation

was "money". E. F. Andrews was paid $1,500 for his

services during that initial year. Miss Minnegerode was

paid $360 — one-fourth of Andrews' salary and only 60% of

the money available for an a s s i s t a n t . 343 was simply

"cheaper" to hire a woman — a long standing tradition.

But, the Corcoran should receive credit for supporting women's art education throughout the 19th century. During

341c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 13 January 1890, roll 261, AAA.

342iphe Pennsylvania Academy had Catherine Drinker teach perspective in 1878; but her services were gratis. Marietta Minnigerode was the first woman hired in a salaried position.

343c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 12 January 1891, roll 261, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 210

its first two decades (1890 - 1910) there was a woman instructor on staff at all times.

During its first six months of operation (January 6

to June 30,1890), 115 students attended classes. The site

of the school was intended to house only 75 s t u d e n t s . 344

As one can see, the Corcoran School was an extremely

popular institution in Washington D. C. To encourage the

enrollment of male students, the Corcoran instituted night

classes in November of 1890;345 but, even with the evening

classes, men continued to be a small minority of the

student body during the school's first two decades.

The minutes of Trustees' meeting for January 12, 1891

reported that there were 176 students (102 day students and

74 night s t u d e n t s ) . 346 The school was filled to capacity.

To restrain the large numbers of students, the Trustees

considered the following action:

With still other applicants for instruction awaiting vacancies, it is evident that the time is not far distant when a higher standard must be fixed for admission to the school, or possibly the abolishment or suspension of the elementary class must be considered.347

This passage points out a major problem for the school.

344corcoran School of Art, "The Corcoran School of Art Chronological History," 2d. draft compiled by Ruby Weinbrecht, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

345q q a Papers, "Proceeding of the Trustees" minutes dated 12 January 1891, roll 261, AAA. 346ibid. 34?ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 211 Because of the limited resources for art instruction in Washington, D.C., the Corcoran was providing elementary art

instruction as well as trying to maintain the standards of

an academic art school.

At this same meeting of the Trustees, another issue

was discussed: instructors' salaries. The minutes noted:

Considering the exacting and valuable services per­ formed by the Director and his assistant . . ., the Committee recommend that the salary of the former be increased from $1,500 to $2,000 per annum, and that the latter from $360 to $500. These sums are not believed extravagant in themselves, and scarcely liberal, when compared with the compensation paid for corresponding services in other institutions.348

Marietta Minnigerode's salary could hardly be considered

"extravagant." At one-fourth the amount of the other male

instructor, it was a bargain. The minutes proceed to

outline the anticipated annual expenses of the school, a

total of $4,000. The school's endowment provided a yearly

income of $5,700. Therefore, the Trustees of the school

had a $1,700 s u r p l u s . 349 perhaps, Miss Minnigerode was

informed of this surplus and of the fact that one year ago

six hundred dollars was available for her position. It is

not known if Miss Minnigerode actually protested the

disparity in her salary; but, the following meeting of the

Trustees recorded this note:

Through an error in copying, it [the Board of Trustees] was made to recommend that the salary of the Assistant

348ibid. 349%bid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 212 Instructor in the Art School be placed at $500 per annum, when it was its intention and action to have the recommendation read $600. It is now respectfully asked that the correction be made, said salary of $600 per annum to date from January 1st 1891.350

It is somewhat doubtful that the Board made a copying error

since the original figure appears repeatedly in the minutes

and in the budget report. But, nonetheless, someone

applied pressure on the Board for a salary increase for Miss Minnigerode.

An issue in 1891 that concerned the Board was the

case of Miss Annie E. Walker. Miss Walker applied for

admittance to the 1891/1892 school year. She was accepted

and was granted a "permit to study" card which gave her

access to the school facilities. But, Miss Walker's card

was suddenly rescinded. The reason for this action is that

she was black. Mr. A. 6. Riddle wrote several letters to

the Corcoran's Committee on Works of Art imploring the

school administration to reconsider its action. The

October 12, 1891 minutes of the Trustees' meeting reported;

In regard to several letters from Hon. A. G. Riddle in reference to the case of Miss Walker, which have been addressed or referenced to this committee, we have to say that the issuance and withdrawal of Miss Walker's card, Mr Andrews acted within his discretion as Director of the Art School and without consultation with any member of the Board, as far as we know. The last named step was taken by him in accordance with what was doubtless in his judgement for the best

350c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 13 April 1891, roll 261, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 213

interest of the School, as an educational institution.351

In two very long and obtuse sentences, the Board hedgingly

addressed the covert and overt racism that is an integral

part of Washington, D.C. Washington has always found

itself in a strange dichotomy. As the capital of the United

States, it is suppose to embody the ideals of the Constitu­

tion and Bill of Rights; however, in its culture and back­

ground, it is a very Southern city incorporating the

beliefs of the Confederacy. Throughout the Board's

minutes. Hiss Walker's name is followed by the designation

"colored"; this adjective was meant to convey to the reader

exactly why Miss Walker was not desired as a student. At

the conclusion of the Board meeting, the minutes emphati­

cally stated: "it is not possible at the present time and

under existing conditions to provide special accommodations

of facilities for exceptional c a s e s . "352

The nineteenth-century black activist, Frederick

Douglass, wrote a letter to the Corcoran Gallery on behalf

of Miss Walker. The Board of Trustees acknowledged receipt

of the letter but refused to change their s t a n c e . 353 Annie

Walker was able to receive training at Cooper Union and

351c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 12 October 1891, roll 261, AAA. 352ibid.

353q q a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 18 January 1892, roll 261, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 214

from 1895 to 1896 she studied at the Académie Julian in

P a r i s . 3 5 4

One of the most interesting developments of the 1892/1893 school year was the emergence of the Corcoran Art

Journal. It was written and edited entirely by the women

art students. The purpose of the journal was to describe

the activities of the art school, to consider issues in

art, and to educate the Corcoran students about artistic

trends — especially those in Europe. The first edition

provided articles such as "The Workings of Our School", a

review of articles found in The Studio (an art journal

published in New York), suggestions regarding various

design problems, e t c . 355 The journal frequently mentioned

the French painter, Rosa Bonheur, and the British art

critic, John Ruskin.

However, the Corcoran Art Journal also was concerned

with issues that affected woman artists. In the February

1894 issue, Helen M. Smith, editor of the journal, directly

addressed the problem of limited opportunities for women.

She wrote:

It is an interesting and curious fact that the percentage of women who attain signal or even moderate success as artists or musicians (singers excepted) is surprisingly small, while the great majority of

354andrew J. Cosentino and Henry H. Glassie, The Capital Image; Painters in Washington^ 180_0 - 1915 (Washington, D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, 1983), 273.

355corcoran School of Art, Corcoran Art Journal. Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 215 students in these arts are women. Is it that women have not the capability, are not sufficiently persever­ ing, are not perhaps equally encouraged, or, satisfying themselves with a smattering, resign higher honors from the lack of stability of purpose. It is, nevertheless true, that great painters and great composers have invariably been men. To be sure the name of Rosa Bonheur and a few others — a very few others — are cited as the exceptions to this rule, but considering the great number of living artists, the fractional percent of whom are women, and the army of struggling students, the overwhelming majority of whom are women, it is remarkable and at the same time a fact to be remedied, that women reach a comparatively low s t a n d . 3 5 6

Helen Smith has written an articulate statement outlining

the purported reasons for the lack of advancement for women artists. But, it is particularly distressing when one

realizes that Smith's queries and statements are just as

applicable in 1990. One hundred years later, little

progress has been made and the same old excuses are bandied about women's lack of motivation. Part of the problem is

firm control of the visual arts by men; but, another

problem for women's advancement is revealed in the editor­

ial response to Helen Smith's writings. E. E. Newport

wrote a rebuttal in the March 1894 Corcoran Art Journal,

entitled "Society and the Art Student." Miss Newport responded:

The average art student, and especially the girl student, glories in the fact that she "never goes anywhere" and generally retires "before nine o'clock." An occasional lecture if it bear directly upon art —

356Helen M. Smith, The Corcoran Art Journal 2 (February 1894): 11. Student periodical located in the Corcoran Gallery Archives, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 216 no other subject is worth listening to — is enjoyed, but any further recreation is regarded as a sinful waste of time and energy. As to having callers, demeaning oneself and one's "mission in life" by entertaining members of the other sex in the evenings — the mere mention of such a desecration by some innocent girl student is enough to call forth the profound contempt and even pity of the others, who mentally decide that "she can never be an artist."357

Although tone of this quote is coy and supposedly "light hearted", it shows the powerful social pressure facing

women artists. The women students obviously took their art

studies seriously; but, the ambient culture considered

their work as "fluffy" stuff — an activity with which to occupy one's self, an accomplishment — but not something

to distract someone from the real business of attracting a

spouse. Attempting to be humorous but with the intent of

making women see the "error of their ways", Miss Newport

continued her social diatribe:

Upon hearing the conversation of a bevy of hard working girl students, one is inclined to suppose that there are three words which should become obsolete — forever eliminated from the art student dictionary — society, men, and matrimony. If an ambitious young women forgets the existence of these words, and the substantial realities which they represent, and remembers only the magic syllable "art" then she must, she shall become famous, be her talent ever so slight. And on the other hand if a young woman should discover an unpardonable affection for pretty clothes, a dainty opera bonnet, or a killing pair of boots, to be donned at some occasional social function; if she plead guilty to the crime of having male callers, and worse, oh infinitely sadder fate; if she contemplate the terrible down-fall of marriage, with no matter of

357e . e . Newport, "Society and the Art," The Corcoran Art Journal 3 (March 1894): 5. Student periodical located in the Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 217 how talented or clever a man, then, be she possessed of genius as great as Angelo or Raphael she must undoubtedly fail. Such is the credo of the maiden artist, and all the essays, sermons and books, written by no matter how able and excellent a critic, would have no power to change it. But though it may seem a hopeless task, I have written thus much of my poor little article with the (I hope laudable) purpose of proving that at least the first two words society and men should not be eliminat­ ed from the language, even of the s t u d e n t . 358

How often are men admonished for not being frivolous

enough?

The attendance at the Corcoran Art School and at the

Gallery had been growing steadily. Within three years, the

Corcoran found its facilities did not provide sufficient

space for the school's activities. Property at the

southwest corner of New York Avenue and 17th Street was

purchased as the site for a new, enlarged Corcoran Gallery

and art school. A ground breaking for the new building

took place on June 16, 1893. The architect was a young,

unknown designer named Earnest Flagg. Flagg had studied

at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. For the new site of

the Corcoran Gallery, he created a Beaux-Arts design. The

building was completed in 1897 and it is still in use

t o d a y . 3 5 9

The school continued to be a popular Washington, D.C.

institution. Although the Corcoran had tried expanding

its hours and enlarging its facilities to attract male

358ibid., 5-6.

359Marsh, 163.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 218

students, its student body was still predominately female.

In 1898 the school's director, E. F. Andrews, took a

revolutionary step in women's art training. He selected three well-known women artists to judge the 14th Gold Medal

Awards for drawing. Since the awards beginnings in 1885,

all judges had been male. Andrews felt that it was

necessary "to have a jury of ladies as most our pupils are

l a d i e s . "360 g, p. Andrews understood the importance of

role models for developing students. His action was

momentous and he deserves historical credit for his vision

and his sensitivity to women. Andrews selected Rosina

Emmet Sherwood, Rhoda Holmes Nicholls, and Cecilia Beaux.

These three women were extremely famous and successful

artists during the late nineteenth century. Rosina Emmet Sherwood was from New York; she painted

the mural for the library in the Women's Building at the

1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In 1906 Mrs. Sherwood became an Associate Member of the National Academy

of Design. She was the sole support of her family, a

husband and five c h i l d r e n . 361 Rhoda Holmes Nicholls also

resided in New York; but, she was originally from England.

She worked in oils and watercolor and was an instructor at

360e . f . Andrews, Washington D.C., to Rosina Emmet Sherwood, New York, letter dated 28 April 1898, "Dean's Records" pp. 91 - 92, Corcoran Gallery Archives. 361chris Petteys, Dictionary of Women Artists (Boston; G. K. Hall, 1985), 230.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 219

William Merritt Chase's Shinnecock Summer S c h o o l . 362

Cecilia Beaux was the highly successful portrait painter from Philadelphia. William Merritt Chase remarked that

"Miss Beaux is not only the greatest living woman painter;

but the best that has ever l i v e d . "363 Although in the late

nineteenth century her portraits were in great demand,

Cecilia Beaux, as Charlotte Rubenstein commented, is

"hardly mentioned in surveys of American A r t . "364

Regrettably, the three artists are unknown to twentieth

century audiences.

Nicholls, Sherwood, and Beaux were given the works of

fifteen students (twelve women and three men) for evalua­

tion. The Gold Medal, Bronze Medal, and Honorable Mention

citations were awarded on Wednesday May 24, 1898. The

winner of the Gold Medal was another first for the

Corcoran; it went to a male student, Ernest W. Nelson.

Alice Foster received the Bronze Medal; Eliza T. Wood and

William T. Davis won Honorable M e n t i o n . 365

In his address at the awards ceremony, E. F. Andrews

described the growth and development of the Corcoran School

since its birth in 1890. He reported that 235 students had

362ibid., 524.

363guoted in Charlotte Streiffer Rubinstein, American Women Artists (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982), 127. 364ibid., 128.

365corcoran School of Art, "Awards 1885 - 1943" p. 67, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 220

received instruction during the year 1898. He also

announced with regret the resignation of Lillian Cook, an

assistant instructor in watercolor. Andrews stressed the

popularity of Miss Cook's class and he attributed "the

phenomenal growth and success of the school, its disci­

pline, education and lack of dilletantism, is largely due

to the Assistant Instructress, Miss Lillian E. C o o k . "366

The public was allowed to view the students' work

from Thursday, May 25 to Saturday, May 28. The Corcoran's

Gold Medal Exhibition was a major social event in Washing­

ton; 849 people visited the s h o w . 367 The following year

1,093 guests attended the Gold Medal exhibition and were

entertained by members of the Marine B a n d . 368

Although the Corcoran art exhibitions were popular

social events for the city of Washington, it was still a

relatively provincial city lacking the sophisticated

aesthetic tastes of New York or Philadelphia. For example, James Henry Moser, who replaced Lillian Cook as an instruc­

tor in watercolor at the Corcoran, wrote an impassioned

plea to local artists. In a 1900 review of an art exhibit

for the Washington Times, he pleaded, "I beg you, the

Washington School, not to be satisfied with a provincial

366ibid. 367ibid., 69.

368corcoran School of Art, "Chronological History" p. 7, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 221

standard. Keep your eyes on London, Paris, and New

Y o r k . "369 Tn this show of local talent, Moser was not

impressed with the manner in which E. F. Andrews' work was

displayed. However, one artist he praised was Mathilde

Mueden, a former Corcoran student. He wrote, "Miss Mueden

is the best figure draftsman in Washington, and knows a great deal about painting . . .".370 Mathilde would become

an instructor for the Antique classes at the Corcoran in

1902. Moser's critique of the Washington art scene

highlighted a major problem for the students of the

Corcoran School: the work of local artists and the art

available for viewing was not of very high quality. Unless

the female art students made frequent visits to New York

and Philadelphia or studied in Europe, they did not have

access to current trends and innovations in the visual

arts. The Corcoran provided the standard academic training

found throughout nineteenth century American art schools;

but, the city of Washington, D.C. was so limited in its

artistic resources that it was a major hindrance for the

students' development.

However, the Corcoran was providing its students with a rare commodity, realistic role models, by employing

369james Henry Moser, "The Washington School: An Appeal for a Higher Standard of Art Here at Here at Home" Washington Times 13 May 1900, located in James Henry Moser Papers, roll 985:413, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

370ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 222 female art instructors and utilizing female jurors for the

Gold Medal awards. It, unfortunately, could not overcome

the limited opportunities provided within the local

culture. The effect of this limited access can be seen in another review written by Moser. On June 3, 1900 Moser

compared the student exhibitions at the Corcoran and the

Art Students League (Washington, D.C.) in an article

entitled, "Two Great Art Schools: Prizes for Pupils at the Corcoran and the League." In his review James Henry Moser

complained that the Corcoran's student show was too large

and lacked quality. Moser suggested that perhaps the

school's reason for the lack of selectivity was to prevent

hurting students feelings. However, he stressed that

including sub-standard work injured the higher quality

pieces. Moser wrote :

An instructor's reputation is not jeopardized by a small exhibition of a dozen or less watercolors, but that reputation may be seriously injured by the hiding away of those same twelve watercolors in swarm of one hundred others not up to standard."371

In contrast, Moser pointed out the difference in philosophy

between the two schools, "Compared with the exhibition of

the Corcoran School that of the League seems very small and

insignificant, but a careful examination of the League

exhibit reveals a very high standard, evenly

371james Henry Moser, "Two Great Art Schools: Prizes for Pupils at the Corcoran and the League," Washington Times 3 June 1900, located in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:417, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 223

maintained. "372 The Corcoran's desire to support and

encourage its students had gone too far. It was not able

to provide an essential element in the development of a

young artist, exacting standards. The Corcoran was giving

valuable support and encouragement; but, what it seemed to

lack at the end of the nineteenth century was a performance

criterion which pushed students to their highest level.

By 1902 the Corcoran was entering into a period of

change. E. F. Andrews, the director and driving force in the educational focus of the Corcoran, retired. Following

this event, the school was reorganized. Edmund Messer was

appointed Principal of the school and Richard Norris Brooke

became the Vice-Principal. Women instructors continued to

be on the faculty such as Mathilde Mueden and Catherine

Critcher. But, a fundamental transformation was occurring

nonetheless. Messer and the Committee on Works of Art

implemented more stringent admission requirements. The

curriculum was broadened. For example, a physician. Dr.

Frank Baker, was hired to teach anatomy. The 1908 Direc­

tor's Annual Report announced.

There has been a marked increase in the number of students enrolled in the Men's Life Class, a larger percentage than usual being mature and serious stu­ dents; and more male students have been enrolled in the Day Classes. This is distinctly to the advantage of the S c h o o l . 373

372ibid.

3?3corcoran School of Art, "Director's Annual Report" report dated 1908, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 224

It seems that the presence of male students at the Corcoran

gave it credibility as an art institution.

Competitions and Prizes

On April 16, 1883 S. H. Kauffmann of the Corcoran

Gallery's Committee on Works of Art presented the following

resolution;

Believing the cause of Art will thereby be promoted, and the usefulness of the Gallery extended, the committee on Works of Art respectfully recommends that the Board of Trustees cause to be prepared a suitable "Gold Medal" in coin value equal to fifty dollars ($50.00) to be awarded at the close of each calender year to the pupil or non-professional copyist who shall during each year, show the greatest improvement or progress in drawing from the casts in the G a l l e r y . 374

The resolution was accepted by the Trustees and they

requested that a list of rules be drawn up for the awarding of the medal. Kauffmann and his committee submitted

regulations the following year. To be eligible for the

award, a student/amateur had to have been working in the

Gallery for at least six months. She must submit a minimum

of four numbered but unsigned drawings to the Committee on

Awards before December 31. All competitors had to "certify

on their honor or make an oath, if required" that the drawings were their own.

It was decided to present the award in January. The

judges would be three artists who did not reside in Wash­

ington, D.C. If no one was considered a suitable

374Qorcoran School of Art, "Awards 1885 - 1943" p. 1, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 225

recipient, the Committee on Awards reserved the right not

to award a medal for that year. Once someone received a

medal she/he could not compete a g a i n . 3 7 5 The first Gold

Medal award was presented in 1 8 8 5 . The winner was Miss H.

A. Hartwell.

When the Corcoran School was formally organized, the Gold Medal competition was revised to include three draw­

ings from both the Antique and Life. The regulations were

changed again in 1 8 9 3 . Originally, the medal was to be

awarded to the student who had shown the greatest improve­

ment after six months. The latest revision specified that

the award should be given to the individual who showed the

most significant advances after two years of s t u d y . 3 7 6

The judges for the Corcoran's Gold Medal awards

included some of the best known artists of the late nine­

teenth century such as J. Q. A. Ward, Will Low, Worthington

Whittredge, Edwin Blashfield. Although these names are not

famous to many twentieth century readers, they were

extremely popular and well-respected artists. It also

included instructor/artists such as Lemuel Wilmarth, Carol

Beckwith, William Merrit Chase, James Kelly, Thomas

3^5cq^ Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 1 3 October 1 8 8 4 , roll 2 6 1 , AAA.

376corcoran School of Art, "Chronological History" pp. 6-7, Corcoran Gallery Archives.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 226

Hovenden, C. Y. Turner and William Sartain.377

Curriculum

The Corcoran's educational philosophy was very

conservative and firmly rooted in the academic tradition.

When the school first opened in 1890, three courses were

offered; antique, life, and watercolor.

The first issue of the Corcoran Art Journal described

the delivery of a human skeleton to the school. At the

sight of it, some female students reacted "with timid

glances, lady-like shrieks, and curious questions by the

p u p i l s . "378 Therefore, it appears that the students had

use of a skeleton to draw from; but, no formal class or

instructor in anatomy was offered. A course comparable to

the Pennsylvania Academy's was not available until 1906

when Dr. Frank Baker was hired as a l e c t u r e r . 379

The Corcoran accepted students on the beginning and

intermediate levels; but, the practice was discontinued by

1 8 9 3 . 3 8 0 After this date, students were expected to submit

377corcoran School of Art, "Awards 1885 - 1943," Corcoran Gallery Archives.

378çorcoran Art Journal 1 (December 1892); 15, student periodical in the Corcoran Gallery Archives.

379Florence N. Levy, ed., American Art Annual 1905 - 1906 (New York; American Art Annual, 1905), 314 - 315.

380gg^ Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 9 January 1893, roll 261, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 227

a sample of their work to an evaluation committee in order

to be accepted to the school.

The Board of Trustees first discussed the possibility

of adding a sculpture class to the curriculum in January of

1893.381 However, in reality a class was not formed until

1901. Regrettably, it was cancelled the following year due

to waning student i n t e r e s t . 382

Portrait painting became a part of the Corcoran's

course of study when Robert Hinckley was hired as the

instructor in 1894. It continued to be integral to the

Corcoran's program of study thereafter.

The one primary purpose of the antique class was to

develop students' drawing skills. The Corcoran encouraged its students to work for a week or more on one drawing

rather than employ the "quick-sketch" method which was

being used in European academies, at the National Academy

and at the Art Students League. Drawing instruction was

usually conducted in c h a r c o a l . 383 p@n and ink drawing was

available only during Eugenie DeLand's temporary course

offered during the 1901-1902 school y e a r . 384

381c g a Papers, "Proceedings of the Trustees" minutes dated 9 January 1893, roll 261, AAA. 382jiarsh, 216 - 217.

383ibid., 206 - 207.

384q q a Papers, "Letterpress Books," F. B. McGuire, Washington, D.C., to Eugenie DeLand, Washington, D.C., letter dated 17 June 1902, roll 254, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 228 By the turn of the century the Corcoran School employ­

ed its still-life class as a means to teach painting skills.

Grace Atwater, art critic for the Washington Post, reported,

"The still-life class being considered a preparation for

painting from life as the antique is for d r a w i n g . "385

Throughout the last decade of the nineteenth century,

the Corcoran maintained gender segregated life classes. The women's class was scheduled during the day; while, the

night life class was reserved for male students. Both male

and female models were used. Standing on a low platform, they posed sometimes in the nude and at other times draped.

The Corcoran models were a variety ages, from young women

to old m e n . 386 ^ newspaper article in the April 29, 1900

edition of the Washington Times stated that the life

classes were "regarded as the highest direction of effort

in the s c h o o l . "387 while the course of study at other

schools was moving in various directions at the turn of the

century, the Corcoran's curriculum was still loyal to the academic system. Although the art school rigorously

supported life classes, some of the public did question the use of nude models.

385Grace Atwater, "Corcoran Art School Exhibit," Washington Post 31 May 1903, located in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:579, AAA.

356james Henry Moser, "Students of Fine Arts," Washington Times 29 April 1900, located in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:712, AAA. 387ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 229

In 1899 Corcoran instructor, James Henry Moser,

defended the practice of nudity in life classes:

"The Nude in Art" is a subject which does create, even now, some loud talk and a good deal of suspicious whispering. Artists, however, no longer regard the opposition as deserving serious consideration. The artists and the more intelligent part of the public believe in painting of the nude when the motive, treatment, and spirit . . . is pure.388

Typical of most Americans, Moser believed that art should

be "uplifting". In his mind it was acceptable to portray

nude figures as long as the intent was "pure." The impetus

for Moser's article was in response to the outspoken

reformer, Anthony Comstock, who at the turn of the century

was waging a vigorous campaign to rid America of the

corrupting influence of the arts. As noted, he zealously

attacked publishers, artists, and others whom he accused of

dispensing obscene materials. Astonishingly, James Moser

was supportive of Comstock's actions. He stated that:

America is mainly indebted for its freedom from much pictorial nastiness. But for Mr. Comstock's efforts in this direction, fakirs importuning the stranger to buy lewd prints would be in New York, as they are on the streets of Paris . . .389

As with the other art schools in this study, the

Corcoran was not overly swayed by these redeemers of

American morals. The Trustees and school administrators

took little notice of individuals critical of life classes.

388james Henry Moser, "On the Nude in Art," Washington Times 23 July 1899, located in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:386, AAA. 389ibid.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 230 They were firm in their belief that artistic training

should be rooted in the academic system and that meant the

use of nude models. In a 1903 interview Edmund C. Messer,

E. F. Andrews' successor as head of the Corcoran Art

School, emphatically stated "that a school must be 'academic'.”390

This philosophy was reflected in the course offerings

available in 1903; antique, life, watercolor, still-life, portrait. The Corcoran throughout the first decade of the

twentieth century would firmly cling to the stability of the "academic tradition" for the school curriculum.

Faculty

The faculty of the Corcoran School was certainly less

distinguished than those at the other schools under study.

The probable reason for this situation was the city of

Washington, D.C. It simply did not have the resources or

the interest to support top American artists. Philadelphia

and New York — even Baltimore, forty miles to the north —

had individuals who were avid and supportive patrons of

the visual arts. Although there were some government and

private commissions, these activities were few and

inconsistent. Therefore, most professional artists

preferred to work in the larger metropolitan areas where

390Grace Atwater, "Corcoran School Exhibit," Washing­ ton Post 31 May 1903, in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:578, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 231 they could more easily support themselves as painters and

sculptors.

Although the Corcoran teachers were less well-known,

most had comparable training in Europe. Their background

was thoroughly grounded in the "academic" methodology of

the nineteenth century. The students of the Corcoran received solid training embodying the educational philo­

sophy of the period.

E . F . Andrews

Andrews studied in Düsseldorf under Ludwig Knaus and

Heinrich Mucke from 1859 to 1863. He moved to Paris and

trained with Leon Bonnat in 1863.391 Andrews began his

career at the Corcoran by giving free criticism to copyists

in 1877. Ten years later he was formally hired as Instruc­

tor in Drawing in Drawing. In 1890 he was appointed to be

Director of the Corcoran School, a position he held until

his retirement in 1902.

E. F. Andrews married his student. Marietta

Minnigerode, in 1895. She was 26; he was 60. Everett

Warner, artist and art critic for the Washington Evening

Star, commented on Andrews' style, "As a portrait painter

he was not exactly another Joshua Reynolds, but he wielded

a powerful brush, and could knock out a full-length

391cosentino and Glassie, 251.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 232

portrait in short o r d e r . "392 Andrews' portraits of

President Andrew Jackson and of President James Garfield were considered to be his best works.

Marietta Minnigerode

Ms. Minnigerode worked with E. F. Andrews as a

copyist. In 1889 she was the Corcoran Gold Medal winner.

She also studied with William Merritt Chase in New York,

Luigi Chialiva in Paris, and with Max Liebermann in

Munich.393 Minnigerode was hired as Andrews' assistant in

1890. As a faculty member of the Corcoran School, she

taught watercolor. She resigned from the Corcoran in 1895

when she married E. F. Andrews who was thirty-four years

her senior. Everett Warner was particularly struck by

Andrews' "very young wife" and he described her as "very

pretty and very sweet" — hardly a testament to Marietta's

skills as an a r t i s t . 394

Robert Hincklev

Robert Hinckley was a close friend of John Singer

Sargent. He studied with Emile Carolus-Duran and Leon

Bonnat. In addition he also trained at the Ecole des

392James Henry Moser Papers, Everett Warner, Washing­ ton, D.C., to Grace Fetherolf, Greenwich, Conn., letter dated 7 March 1961, 984:1163, AAA.

393cosentino and Glassie, 252.

394james Henry Moser Papers, Everett Warner to Grace Fetherolf, 984:1165.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 233

Beaux-Arts. At the Corcoran School, Hinckley was employed

as an Assistant Instructor. From 1894 to 1897, he taught

portraiture. Hinckley seems to have been an outspoken individual and apparently had quite a rocky relationship

with the C o r c o r a n . 395 ironically, he applied to be the

Director of the school when E. F. Andrews resigned.

Although Hinckley did not get along with the Corcoran

administration, he did have some student support. Juliet

Thompsom, the 1891 Gold Medal winner, wrote a letter to the

Gallery Clerk, C. Powell Minnigerode, highly praising

Hinckley's skills and recommending him to be the new

d i r e c t o r . 396 Although best known for his portraits,

Robert Hinckley also painted historical subjects.

Lillian Cook

Lillian Cook studied under E. F. Andrews and won the

Gold Medal in 1888. She was hired as an assistant instruc­

tor in October, 1895. Besides her teaching duties. Cook

was responsible for arranging and hiring models for the

life classes. Later she studied in New York with Rhoda

Holmes Nicholls and in Europe. She resigned from the Corcoran staff in 1898.397

395cosentino and Glassie, 141.

396c g a Papers, "Letterpress Books," Juliet Thompsom to C. Powell Minnigerode, letter dated 14 June 1902, roll 254, AAA. 39?CGA Papers, "Letterpress Books," letter of refer­ ence dated 31 August 1903, roll 255, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 234 Berta K. Hanson

Berta Hanson, a Washington painter and illustrator,

was hired to replace Lillian Cook in June, 1898. However,

the following May, 1899 she relinquished her position as an assistant instructor and became Clerk of the Corcoran

School. Apparently, Miss Hanson's services were not needed because that job was abolished in 1900.398 Allan Marsh

reported that her early training was with E. F. A n d r e w s . 399

Later, she studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.*00

James Henry Moser

James Henry Moser received his training at the Art

Students League. He was hired in 1899 to teach watercolor

and remained on the Corcoran staff until his death in 1913.

In addition to teaching, Moser was an art critic and illu­

strator for the Washington Times; he later worked for the

Post and the H e r a l d . ^^1 Displaying a decided bent toward

sexism, Allan Marsh stated that Moser "brought an expertise

to the school that neither Marietta Minnigerode or Lillian

Cook had p o s s e s s e d . "*02 Moser was known for his

3980GA Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 19 June 1900, roll 253, AAA.

399Marsh, 168.

400petteys, 316.

401cosentino and Glassie, 267 - 268. 402Marsh, 213.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 235 illustrations in Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus (1881).403

Edith Ogden

The Corcoran's curricular emphasis was almost solely

on drawing and painting. However, the school attempted to

establish a sculpture program in 1901; but, the class was

discontinued in 1902 due to lack of interest by the

students. Edith Ogden had been hired to teach the ill-

fated course. She had attended the Art Students League

where she studied under Augustus Saint Gaudens. In 1906

for professional reasons, Ogden moved to New York. In a

letter to her, the Director of the Corcoran Gallery wrote;

It also gives me great pleasure to testify that the work which you accomplished as Instructor of the Modeling Class of the Corcoran School of Art was, in every way, satisfactory to us and most creditable to you. I am glad on your account, that you have settled in New York, for there you will find opportunities which, I regret to say, would not be likely to appear in Washington. 404

Regrettably, a women sculptor could not survive in Washing­ ton , D.C.

MhtblldeJMueden Mueden studied at the Corcoran with E. F. Andrews

before the school was officially formed. She won Honorable

Mention in the 1888 and 1889 Gold Medal awards competition.

403cosentino and Glassie, 220.

404q g a Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 4 August 1906, roll 257, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 236 She received further instruction at the Art Students League

(Washington, DC) and at the Art Students League (New York).

Mueden, also, attended the Académie Julian from 1897 to

1899 where trained with Jean P. Laurens, Benjamin Constant,

and Jean J. H e n n e r . 4 0 5

Mathilde Mueden was best known as a portrait painter.

James Henry Moser in an review for the Washington Times in

May 1900 praised her technical and figurative skills. In

1902 she hired by the Corcoran to teach the antique

classes. Muedan resigned in 1909. She returned to the Corcoran in 1921 and remained on the staff until her

retirement in 1941.

Richard N. Brooke

From 1865 to 1871 Richard Brooke was a student at the

Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts. He trained with

Leon Bonnat in 1878 and with Emile Carolus-Duran and Benja­

min Constant in 1888. Brooke was appointed vice-principal

of the Corcoran School in 1902; he was a member of the faculty until 1917.406 Although he did paint military and

genre scenes, Brooke was primarily a landscape painter

while living in Washington D.C. Brooke often worked in

conjunction with other Washington landscape artists such as

405petteys, 328.

406Qosentino and Glassie, 157.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 237 Edmund Messer, James Henry Moser, and Max Weyl.^O?

Students

During the nineteenth century, the Corcoran School of

Art was somewhat removed from the artistic centers of the

United States. However, its female students achieved

virtually the same level of recognition and financial

success as the more prestigious academies. As with the

other schools, most women faded into obscurity. A few

worked as artists and as professionals in related fields.

But, whether a women attended the one of the best schools

or a school in the mid-range of prestige, the result was essentially the same: obscurity.

Perhaps unaware of their ultimate lack of identity,

women students of the Corcoran did pursue careers in the

visual arts. Marietta Minnigerode is unknown to all but a

few local historians; but, she has a seminal place in

history of the Corcoran School. She spent five years as an

instructor at a major art school. After her marriage to

the Corcoran art school director E. F. Andrews, Ms.

Minnigerode's artistic endeavors seem to have faded into

the background. Although her painting career virtually

ended with her marriage. Marietta turned to a genre that has tended to be more supportive of women: writing. She

penned two books describing life in Washington, B.C.,

407Ibid., 157.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 238

Memoirs of a Poor Relation and My Studio Window. Lillian Cook, 1888 Gold Medal winner and Corcoran

instructor for three years, went on to apply for a position

as a teacher of "free hand drawing and painting" at the

Manual Training School in New Jersey. In a letter of

recommendation regarding Ms. Cook's application, a Corcoran

administrator stressed, "She is one of the most energetic

workers I know, and has had wide experience as an Art

Teacher, and as such she is qualified to fill a much higher

position than that for which she has applied."^®® Chris

Petteys' Dictionary of Women Artists indicates that Lillian

Cook ultimately became a public school teacher for the

District of Columbia.^®®

In fact the District of Columbia schools seem to have

been a popular employer for Corcoran art school graduates

at the turn of the century. For example, Maud Newman,

referred to as Mrs. E. M. Weed in her letter of recommenda­

tion for the public schools, was described by the Director

of the gallery as "always one of our best students. She was winner of the Corcoran Gold Medal of Merit in 1896."41®

C. Powell Minnigerode, the Assistant Director of the

Corcoran Gallery, called Mrs. Weed "one of our best and

408cGA Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 31 August 1903, roll 255, AAA.

409petteys, 203.

4^®CGA Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 13 June 1905, roll 256, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 239

most talented s t u d e n t s . "411 Both the Director and the

Assistant Director of the Corcoran Gallery considered Maud

Newman Weed to be an outstanding student; however, they had

no qualms recommending her for a teaching position in the

public schools. One wonders if these two men would have

advised a top male student to pursue a career with the

District of Columbia schools.

Eugenie DeLand aspired for greater things. She

taught a class in pen and ink drawing as an unpaid instruc­

tor during the 1901-1902 school year. At the conclusion of

the term, she applied for a full-time paid position. F. B.

McGuire, Director of the Corcoran Gallery, responded, "I am

directed by the Board to inform you, with deep regret, that

as yet the Art School has not the necessary funds for this

purpose, it would not be possible to employ you in this

capacity at the present t i m e . "412 ^ few days later, the

Corcoran administration did "find" the funds to hire Edmund

C. Messer and Richard N. Brooke as the Principal and Vice-

Principal. 4 H What became of Miss DeLand? She also turned

to that eternal source of employment for women artists, the

public schools, and became a high school art teacher in the

411c g a Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 14 June 1905, roll 256, AAA.

412c g a Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 17 June 1902, roll 254, AAA.

413c g a Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 25 June 1902, roll 254, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 240

District of Columbia. The Director of the Corcoran Gallery

wrote on her behalf to D. C. Board of Education;

Miss DeLand has been a student of this School for about ten years. She has had a thorough Art education, and was for a time instructor in the Art School connected with this Gallery in the class of pen and ink illustration. I feel sure that she is fully qualified to fill the position [high school drawing teacher] to which she has been appointed to the entire satisfaction of your Board, and I am gratified that she has secured this appointment for I think her entire course of study has been such as to fit her especially for it.414

Again one must ask: would the Corcoran's Director have felt

that a male student's ten year course of study was geared

to prepare him to be a high school art teacher?

Not all of the Corcoran female students were employed

by the public schools. Some did succeed in other areas of

the art world. Daisy King won Honorable Mention in the

1891 Gold Medal awards. She went on to become an art

critic for the Washington Evening Star newspaper. Unfor­

tunately, some Washington citizens were unaware of her art

training at the Corcoran School. Everett Warner, her

successor at the Star, wrote.

The qualifications demanded of a newspaper critic, are in themselves a curious commentary on the mores of the period. Daisy King had been doing the art notes for the Star. I believe she was a school teacher with no special information about the arts . . .415

Warner's letter clarifies the conundrum for women artists.

414cga Papers, "Letterpress Books" letter dated 6 December 1907, roll 260, AAA.

41®James henry Moser Papers, Everett Warner to Grace Fetherolf, letter dated 7 March 1961, 984:1163, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 241

Daisy King had few professional options other than teaching

school; however, a mere school teacher obviously did not have the ability or motivation to be a real "Artist" and,

therefore, how could she possibly have the skills to review

and critique the work of an artist?

Two women who did become professional artists were

Olive Rush and Catherine Critcher. In 1892 Critcher won

the Gold Medal and Rush won the Bronze Medal. Rush also

studied at the Art Students League in New York and with

Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1914 she and her

father went to Santa Fe, New Mexico on a visit. Rush was

so enthralled with the Southwest that in 1920 she moved

permanently to Santa Fe. In New Mexico, Olive Rush worked

mostly as a muralist.*!®

Catherine Critcher led quite a varied life. She went

to Paris in 1904 and studied with Richard Miller at the

Académie Julian. From 1905 to 1909 she and Miller opened

an art school for American students in Paris. She returned

to the United States and was hired by the Corcoran Art

School as an instructor. She worked at the Corcoran for

ten years (1909 to 1919). After her departing from the

Corcoran, she founded her own school in Washington, D.C.,

the Critcher School of Fine and Applied Arts. Critcher was

also a frequent visitor to New Mexico and in 1924 she was

41®Edna Robertson and Sarah Nestor, Artists of the Canvons and Caminos; Santa Fe. the Earlv Years. (Salt Lake City; Gibbs M. Smith, 1982), 111 - 112.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 242

the only women elected to the Taos Society of Artists.41?

As has been noted, the Corcoran School during its

first two decades did hire quite number of former students

for paid positions: Marietta Minnigerode, Lillian Cook,

Berta Hanson, Catherine Critcher, and Mathilde Muedan.

Muedan worked at the school from 1902 to 1909 and again from 1921 to 1940.418 specialty was teaching the

antique classes. Fellow faculty member and art critic,

James Henry Mosser, stated that, "Miss Mueden's fine

ability as a draftsman and teacher are highly esteemed . . ."419 After her death in 1949, the Corcoran Gallery

held a memorial exhibition of her work the following year.

Muedan was one of the few women to have succeeded as a

local artist and as an art school instructor. Certainly

the Corcoran's progressive attitudes toward hiring women

provided Muedan with a rare avenue in art education. She

was an important and respected element of the Washington

art scene during the early twentieth century.

41?Cosentino and Glassie, 257.

41®Marsh, 174.

419james Henry Moser, "Art Topics," Washington Post 7 June 1903, located in James Henry Moser Papers, 985:580, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 5

EDUCATIONAL ANALYSIS: FINDINGS, CONSIDERATIONS

AND IMPLICATIONS

The four schools studied represent America's quest for artistic validity. Each had a distinct personality and

style — from the conservative National Academy to the

progressive Art Students League. But, they shared much in

common: similar educational philosophies, curriculum, and teaching methodology. Each school's primary goal was to

train professional artists. This objective was equally

true for female as well as male students. All the schools

provided a rigorous and thorough program of study. They

encouraged their students to see themselves as serious

artists. The schools also were cognizant of their

responsibility in developing and promoting the visual

arts. They trained America's most famous nineteenth

century artists and they were instrumental in the growing

appreciation of the arts by the American public. Although

their role often is not acknowledged, they played a vital

and essential part in the history of American art. Without

them, the visual arts in this country would be truly

impoverished.

243

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 244

The four also deserve enormous credit for their role

in women's history. They provided women with the best

visual arts training available in the United States. In

all four schools, there were instances of crass sexism.

Yet, if one views the whole century from a distance, for

the most part, the schools encouraged and supported their

female students. They considered these young women to be

competent, professional artists. They did not address them

in a patronizing, paternalistic tone as the newspaper

journalists had done. They did not trivialize and belittle the art work produced by their female students. And,

overall, the faculty and administration of all four schools treated the women with integrity and respect.

In examining the schools individually, the one most

sensitive to women's needs was the Art Students League.

The obvious reason for this situation was that it was

founded by a large number of women students. They had more

input and control than at the other institutions. But, even at the League, bigotry and sexism existed. The

National Academy would have to be rated as the least

supportive. However, the school did not provide high levels of encouragement for its male students either. The

academicians were unwilling to acknowledge their minimal

interest in the didactic function of an academy. They saw

their organization as more of a club and exhibition gallery

than as an educational institution. Although the women

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 245

might have wanted more encouragement, the academy was

equally apathetic and inattentive to both sexes.

The school which provided the greatest vocational

support and role modeling was the Corcoran. The Corcoran School of Art steadily employed women as faculty. During

1898 Gold Medal competitions, the administration took the

unheard of step and appointed three women as jurors. The

selection of Cecilia Beaux, Rhonda Holmes Nicholls, and

Rosina Emmet Sherwood showed the essentially all female

student body three successful artists. The students were

furnished with attainable examples of women who had

achieved financial and professional success. They were not

fed the empty rhetoric "that a woman can do anything she

puts her mind to;"^ rather they were given concrete role

modeling. A group of accomplished male artists would not

have had the same impact. Sherwood and Nicholls were

married; Cecilia Beaux was single. Therefore, the female

students could see the errancy of an idea that a career and

^The following quotations are provided as examples of the trivialization of women's activities by nineteenth century journalists. "There is not much that a woman cannot do if she tries; everybody knows that, but, it seems not to have occurred to her to become an artist until a comparatively few years ago." "Women Who Paint," New York Press. 29 January 1890. "New York's women artists have succeeded splendidly as women usually do in anything they put their minds to." "Gotham's Fair Artists," New York Mail. 13 December 1890. Both articles are located in Art Students League Papers, "Newspaper Clippings" NY59-24;46 - 138, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 246 marriage were incompatible. In turn, they also could see

professional options other than marriage. They were shown

that regardless of one's personal status a women could

function and live as an artist. This was a vital and, yet, rare message to provide female students.

The schools with the superior educational program

were the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art

Students League. Both produced major American artists.

From their programs came Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe,

Cecilia Beaux, Florine Stettheimer and many others. Women

at these two schools had the opportunity to train under

outstanding nineteenth century artists such as Kenyon Cox,

Thomas Eakins, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and J. Alden Weir.

Gender Considerations in the Nineteenth Century Art School Curriculum

In general, few differences existed in the curriculum

between the two sexes. Students enrolled in classes such

as antique drawing or still-life painting received the

identical course of study. These classes were usually co­

educational and neither sex was given preferential

treatment. This was true for costume classes, composition, as well as sketching.

Anatomy, however, was not always so equitable. For

example, at the Pennsylvania Academy male students were

permitted to work on the cadavers before the female

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 247

s t u d e n t s . 2 in addition, eight male students were appointed

to be anatomy demonstrators; only two female students were

selected.®

The course with the greatest differences in treatment

was life drawing/painting. This subject was particularly

difficult for the American public to accept. School

administrators strongly backed the need for such a class

and did not hesitate to offer it. However, they did not

agree on the amount of exposure that was appropriate for

women students. The course was always segregated to

maintain Victorian propriety. For male students, there was no opposition toward

displaying full frontal nudity of male and female models

after mid-century. This situation was not true for the

female students. Throughout the nineteenth century

questions arose regarding how much should be on view. The

anonymous letter from R. S. indicated that by 1882 the

Pennsylvania Academy was utilizing male frontal nudity in

the women's life c l a s s . 4 it seems to have been the only

school to have taken this bold step. Augustus Saint-

®Christine Jones Huber, The Pennsvlvania Academv and its Women; 1825 - 1920 (Philadelphia; Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, 1973), 22 - 23.

^Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Papers, "Minutes of the Committee on Instruction" dated 6 January 1881, P47:712, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

4 p A F A Papers, "History of the Academy" letter dated 11 April 1882, P50:607, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 248 Gaudens initiated a co-educational life class in sculpture

at the Art Students League; but, such controversy erupted

that the class was c a n c e l l e d . ^ Thomas Eakins, the anatomy

lecturer at the Art Students League, also removed a male

model's jock strap and, as a result, received a barrage of

complaints.®

Faculty impact on curricular issues was seen primar­

ily within the actions of Thomas Eakins and E. F. Andrews.

As noted earlier, Thomas Eakins was very liberal in his

dealings with female students. He unhesitantly confronted

nineteenth century cultural restrictions. He would not accept repressive social attitudes that directly impacted

on the education of his students. He believed that women

should have the skills to fully depict the human figure —

particularly, the male body which Eakins knew was the root

of Western art. An inability to do a figurai representa­

tion of a nude severely hampered an artist. Without this

proficiency, women would be relegated to painting flower still-lifes and portrait busts, the nadir of the visual

arts hierarchy. No woman would legitimately compete with

male artists unless she possessed this technical skill.

However, it must be acknowledged that this curricular

innovation, the rendering of male nudes, was not always

®ASL Papers, "Minutes of the Board of Control" minutes dated 9 May 1890, NY59-24A:607, AAA.

®ASL Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 29 January 1889, NY59-24;437 - 438, AAA.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 249

desired or accepted by female art students.? E. F. Andrews' contribution to women's art curriculum

was much more subtle than Thomas Easkins'. By employing

women as instructors, Andrews contradicted and the hidden

message that only males could be master artists and

teachers. His educational methodology, although seemingly

traditional, was really quite advanced. He consciously and

intently hired women as teachers. E. F. Andrews' sen­

sitivity to his students' need for realistic role models

was a dramatic, but short-lived, change in the academic

curriculum. In all four schools the faculty appeared to be

generally supportive of their female students. Instructors

were usually male with the exception of the Corcoran

School. Their relationships with the female students were

overall fair and professional. Men like Lemuel Wilmarth or

Kenyon Cox had large numbers of female students; they did

not display favor toward one sex or the other. Thomas

Anshulz and James P. Kelly negatively impacted on women

students with their involvement in Thomas Eakins' dismissal

from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. However,

again it must be stressed that many women were not

?See Louise Lippincott, "Thomas Eakins and the Academy," in In This Academv; The Pennsvlvania Academv of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1976), 177 and Mrs. M. W. Tyndale's correspon­ dence with the Art Students League in Art Students League Papers, "Secretary's Scrapbook" letter dated 27 October 1888, NY59-25;375-378.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 250 comfortable with Eakins' educational approach and

attitudes.

The overwhelming finding of this research study is

that the lack of famous women artists in nineteenth century America can not be attributed to the art schools. Although

there were some barriers, they were relatively minor. The

faculty, curriculum, and administrative policies were very

supportive and progressive. American women had substan­

tially more opportunities available to them than their

European counterparts. Therefore, it is the researcher's conclusion that the cause for the limited number of

recognized women artists lies outside the domain of

academic art training in the United States.

Cultural Considerations Regarding Nineteenth Century Women Art Students American culture was not highly supportive during the

nineteenth century. It simply could not see women as art­

ists; it could only view them in a very restricted societal

role. Newspaper accounts of women's artistic activities

tended to be cloying and patronizing. Even with the

annoying tone, articles discussing women artists and art

students frequently appeared in press. Journalists and

critics acknowledged the sizeable presence of women in the

visual arts. However, the ambient attitude was that women

were indulging in a semi-serious pastime until their real

careers started. And there is some truth to this stance;

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 251

most women, once married, did give up their vocations as

artists. The societal attitude was that the true role for

a woman was as a wife and mother and anyone who differed

from this scenario was an anomaly. The one available career option was in the "applied

arts." In this area women found the greatest financial

success as illustrators and industrial designers. The

culture could accept women in these fields because the

activities seemed to conform to the stereotypic image of

the innately artistic female. However, success in the

"applied arts" is not comparable to success in the "high

arts" of painting and sculpture within the context of

academic art education. The goal of the academic art

schools was always to train their students to be pro­

fessional painters and sculptors of the fine arts. This

appears to have been a difficult goal for nineteenth-

century American women to achieve.

In the first chapter the following question was

asked: what is the difference between training an indi­

vidual to be a serious professional artist versus training

him/her to be an accomplished amateur. The inference of this research has been that the women art students who

sought training in the academic model considered themselves

to be serious artists. Newspaper accounts of the period

even ridiculed young women at the Art Students League or

the National Academy of Design for their intense and

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 252

dedicated demeanor. But, the distressing reality is that

whether a woman studied the visual arts as a hobby or as a

career option the result was often the same: anonymity.

Women who wanted vocational training in the nineteenth

century could attend the Cooper Union or the Philadelphia

School of Design for Women. Studying at an art academy or

a vocational school did not significantly alter a women's future in the arts. Yet, if one looks at the most famous

male artists of the nineteenth century such as Thomas

Eakins, William Merritt Chase, John Singer Sargent, James

Abbott McNeill Whistler, Theodore Robinson, etc, they are

all products of an academic art education. In the nine­

teenth century, training to be a professional artist made a

significant difference for males; it had a negligible

effect for women in their ultimate success and notoriety.

However, the causes for the dearth of famous American

women artists is not simply due to nineteenth century

Victorian attitudes regarding a "woman's place." There is

a secondary cultural influence that is more pervasive and

potentially more damning. Women did exist within very

rigid confines; but, they were not ignored. The attitudes

may have been paternalistic; but, their activities were

discussed and acknowledged. The cultural culprit for this

secondary influence is "revisionist art history" of the

twentieth century. An extensive revision in American art

history began in the 1940's and continued throughout the

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 253 century. Many well-known male artists were omitted from

art history texts. For example, Thomas Dewing, George de

Forest Brush, and Thomas Hovenden have received relatively

little attention. These men were highly acclaimed during

the nineteenth century by art historians and critics; they

were held in greater esteem than Thomas Eakins. Granted in

the field of art history, there is always an on-going

process of revision. An artist can be valued in one

period and ignored in another. However, the revision that

took place in American art was not the result of changes in

aesthetic taste; it was based on nationalism and booster-

ism. Writers and historians in the mid-twentieth century

did not want to promote artists who had close ties to the

European academic system. They wanted to emphasize

"democratic" American art without any ties to European

influences. H. Barbara Weinberg described this re-writing of art history:

Seeking what was American in American art, these writers confronted an art that was American in its lack of American-ness. Condemning the cosmopolitan and the genteel as effete and "feminine," cultural critics and historians such as George Santayana, Van Wyck Brooks, Vernon L. Farrington, Malcolm Cowley, and others associated with the journals The Seven Arts. Poetry. and New Republic, and such selective commen­ tators on the Gilded Age as Lewis Mumford invited us to associate late-nineteenth-century American cosmo­ politanism with a putative loss of self-confidence.®

®H. Barbara Weinberg, "Late Nineteenth Century American Painting: Cosmopolitan Concerns and Critical Controversies," Journal of the Archives of American Art 23, no. 4 (1983): 25 - 26.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 254

This nationalistic attitude combined with the avant-garde contempt for academic art successfully reworked American

art history to suit the authors' views.® It significantly

changed which male artists would receive critical atten­

tion. However, the cultural bias positively eradicated

women artists as a group. To read a current art history

text, one would think American women during the nineteenth

century did nothing more than paint china and decorate

their homes — a patent falsehood.

Conclusions and Implications

It is the researcher's belief that cultural restric­

tions of the nineteenth century and revisionism in the

twentieth century have been the primary causes for the

obscurity of nineteenth-century American women artists.

One reason for this assertion is that the research pre­

viously discussed has shown that American women during the

past century received viable and thorough academic art

instruction. These women met the same entrance require­

ments as the male applicants. Once enrolled, they received

virtually the same program of study. The nineteenth-

century female art students were able to compete in the

same competitions as the male students and they received

numerous awards for their art work. Therefore, the

researcher must strongly state that a lack of educational

®Ibid., 26,

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 255

opportunities cannot account for the limited number of

nineteenth-century women artists found in twentieth-century

art historical texts. In conjunction with the rigorous training received by

women art students, it also must be stressed that nine­

teenth-century art schools were extremely progressive in

their pedagogy. The Pennsylvania Academy admitted women students to the antique section in 1844 and the National

Academy did so in 1846 — nearly sixty years before the

Ecole des Beaux Arts accepted women. The two schools

allowed women to enter life classes in 1868 and in 1871,

respectively. More than thirty years before the French

school did. The Art Students League incorporated women

into the administration of its program and offered female

students an environment for personal growth. The Corcoran

School displayed its support of women's art education

through the hiring of numerous female instructors.

The women at the four art schools did not face the

blatant prejudice that seemed to confront European women.

American women were not charged double tuition as was the

practice at the Académie Julian in Paris. The female art

students in the United States were not barred from

admittance to the nation's most prestigious art schools. However, American women art students did face barriers;

but, the restrictions were more subtle. The incident of

sexual harassment at the Art Students League is one

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 256

example. The Corcoran School's refusal to admit Annie

Walker, an African-American applicant, also demonstrates

hidden barriers. One implication of these findings is that in the

researcher's opinion European women students would have

received greater opportunities had they enrolled in one of

these four art schools. This idea is in contrast to the

situation for men. Certainly, the United States did not

offer an enriched artistic climate such as visits to the

Louvre in Paris. However, the United States did provide a

relatively supportive educational environment and a

thorough program of study.

A second implication of the research is that with the

confirmation of rigorous academic art instruction for nine­

teenth-century American women the issue of cultural

restrictions and art historical bias must be addressed.

Women artists of the period under study should receive

critical evaluation and commentary by modern writers. This

subject is an important area for further study.

Additionally, it is recommended that research

continue to examine women art students at nineteenth

century schools in the western and mid-western United

States. On a larger scale, the researcher found that very

little study has been done on art school curriculum for the

nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is the researcher's

opinion that greater examination in this area would provide

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 257 valuable information regarding the artistic and pro­

fessional development of American artists.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. POSTSCRIPT

The four schools used in this study are still in

existence today and are actively training aspiring artists. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts currently

provides classes in art history, drawing, painting, print-

making, sculpture, anatomy, and perspective.® This course

selection is very similar to that offered during the nine­

teenth century. As of 1987, the Pennsylvania Academy had a

total enrollment of 300 students. Sixty-four percent (193)

of the student body was female;® this figure is slightly

higher than its fifty percent average at the end of the

nineteenth century.

The National Academy School of Fine Art presently has

an enrollment of 500 students.® Like the Pennsylvania Academy, the school still offers traditional courses such

^American Art Annual Directory 1989 - 90. 52nd ed. (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1989), 425.

®Johm D. Warenko, ed., Guide to American Art Schools (Boston; G.K. Hall, 1987), 38.

®American Art Annual Directory 1989 - 90. 402. Figures regarding male and female enrollment were not included in the directory.

258

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 259 as painting, drawing, sculpture, anatomy, portraiture, life sketching, etc.4

The Art Students League also appears to have retained

its original tenets. There are no admissions requirements

and students who have been enrolled in classes for three months are eligible to become members of the League.®

Course offerings consist of drawing, graphic arts, illu­

stration, painting, and sculpture.®

The Corcoran School of Art celebrated its 100th

anniversary in 1990. Its curriculum has become extremely

diverse with courses in such subjects as art history,

aesthetics, calligraphy, ceramics, commercial art, drawing,

graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, print-

making, animation, business and law for the artist, com­

puter art, etc.? By 1987 the Corcoran School had a total

enrollment of 224. Women students comprised 57% (128).®

As a final ironic note, Anne Tristan (psuedonym of

Anne Zalensky) and Annie de Pisan (pseudonym of Annie

Sugier) were two writers deeply involved in the French

feminist movement. They reported that during the 1970's

the Ecole des Beaux Arts was the site of numerous meetings

4lbid.

®Warenko, 8. ®American Art Annual Directory 1989 - 90. 400

?Ibid., 341.

®Warenko, 181.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 260

for feminist activism.® What was once a bastion of male

supremacy had become a "hot-house of French Feminism."®®

The irony is that the Ecole, a seemingly immobile force

during the nineteenth century, had dramatically changed its

personality and focus. Conversely, the American schools

who had been so progressive in the previous century have

shown relatively little change in the ensuing ninety

years.

®Anne Tristan and Annie de Pisan, "Tales from the Women's Movement," in French Feminist Thought, ed. Toril Moi (Oxford, Great Britain: Basil Blackwell, 1987), 46.

®®Toril Moi, éd., French Feminist Thought (Oxford, Great Britain: Basil Blackwell, 1987), 3.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX A

ILLUSTRATIONS OF WORKS OF ART BY NINETEENTH-CENTURY

AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS; AN EXAMINATION OF FIVE

SELECTED TEXTS IN AMERICAN ART HISTORY

261

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ILLUSTRATIONS OF WORKS OF ART BY NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTS: AN EXAMINATION OF FIVE SELECTED TEXTS IN AMERICAN ART HISTORY

Baigell, Matthew. Concise History of American Painting and Sculpture. New York: Harper and Row, 1984.

396 illustrations 5 illustrations by nineteenth-century American women: Mary Cassatt, Woman and Child Driving. 1881. oil on canvas (p. 146).

Mary Cassatt, First Caress. 1891. pastel (p. 146).

Mary Cassatt, The Boating Party, 1893-94. oil on canvas (p. 147).

Maria Oakey Dewing, Garden in Mav. 1895. oil on canvas (p. 178).

Harriet Hosmer, Beatrice Cenci. 1853-55. marble (p.186)

142 illustrations by nineteenth-century American men Therefore, works by nineteenth-century American women account for 1^ of the textual illustrations. Works by nineteenth-century American me account for 36%.

Brown, Milton et al. American Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1979.

752 illustrations 3 illustrations by nineteenth-century American women: Maria Longworth Nicholls, basket, 1882. ceramics (p. 311 - under decorative arts subsection).

Catherine Ziegler Hicks, lap quilt, c. 1876. patchwork with embroidery (p. 281 - under decorative arts subsection).

Mary Cassatt, The Bath. 1892. oil on canvas (p. 272).

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215 illustrations attributed to nineteenth- century American men.

Therefore, works by nineteenth-century American women account for .4% of the textual illustrations. Works by nineteenth-century American men account for 29%.

Novak, Barbara. American Painting in the Nineteenth Century. 2d ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1979.

271 illustrations

0 illustrations by nineteenth-century American women Therefore, works by nineteenth-century American women account for 0^ of the textual illustrations.

Novak, Barbara. Nature and Culture: American Landscape Painting 1825 - 1875. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.

150 illustrations 0 illustrations by nineteenth-century American women Therefore, works by nineteenth-century American women account for of the textual illustrations.

Proun, Jules David. American Painting: From Its Beginnings to the Armory Show, new ed. New York: Rizzoli, 1987.

70 illustrations

0 illustrations by nineteenth-century American women Therefore, women account for 0& of the textual illustrations.

There were a total of 1639 reproductions in the five selected texts on American art history. Nineteenth-century American women artists comprised .5% of the illustrated works of art.

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