Part 53 (1/2)
At the Paris Exposition, 1900, she exhibited two excellent portraits, one of her father and another of Ellen Key; also a charming genre subject, ”The Old Couple.”
ROMANI, JUANA, H. C. Born at Velletri, 1869. Pupil of Henner and Roybet, in Paris, where she lives. This artist is, _sui generis_, a daughter of the people, of unconventional tastes and habits. She has boldly reproduced upon canvas a fulness of life and joy, such as is rarely seen in pictures.
While she has caught something of the dash of Henner, and something of the color of Roybet, and gained a firm mastery of the best French technique, these are infused with the ardor of a Southern temperament.
Her favorite subjects are women--either in the strength and beauty of maternity, or in the freshness of youth, or even of childhood.
Some critics feel that, despite much that is desirable in her work, the soul is lacking in the women she paints. This is no doubt due in some measure to certain types she has chosen--for example, Salome and Herodias, in whom one scarcely looks for such an element.
Her portrait of Roybet and a picture of ”Bianca Capello” were exhibited at Munich in 1893 and at Antwerp in 1894. The ”Pensierosa” and a little girl were at the Paris Salon in 1894, and were much admired. ”Herodias”
appeared at Vienna in 1894 and at Berlin the following year, while ”Primavera” was first seen at the Salon of 1895. This picture laughs, as children laugh, with perfect abandon.
A portrait of Miss Gibson was also at the Salon of 1895, and ”Vittoria Colonna” and a ”Venetian Girl” were sent to Munich. These were followed by the ”Flower of the Alps” and ”Desdemona” in 1896; ”Dona Mona,”
palpitating with life, and ”Faustalla of Pistoia,” with short golden hair and a majestic poise of the head, in 1897; ”Salome” and ”Angelica,” two widely differing pictures in character and color, in 1898; ”Mina of Fiesole,” and the portrait of a golden-haired beauty in a costume of black and gold, in 1899; the portrait of Mlle. H. D., in 1900; ”L'Infante,” one of her most n.o.ble creations, of a remarkably fine execution, and a ravis.h.i.+ng child called ”Roger”--with wonderful blond hair--in 1901.
Mlle. Romani often paints directly on the canvas without preliminary sketch or study, and sells many of her pictures before they are finished.
Some of her works have been purchased by the French Government, and there are examples of these in the Luxembourg, and in the Gallery of Mulhausen.
RUPPRECHT, TINI. After having lessons from private instructors, this artist studied under Lenbach. She has been much influenced by Gainsborough, Lawrence, and Reynolds, traces of their manner being evident in her work. She renders the best type of feminine seductiveness with delicacy and grace; she avoids the trivial and gross, but pictures all the allurements of an innocent coquetry.
Her portrait of the Princess Marie, of Roumania, was exhibited in Munich in 1901; its reality and personality were notable, and one critic called it ”an oasis in a desert of portraits.” ”Anno 1793” and ”A Mother and Child” have attracted much favorable comment in Munich, where her star is in the ascendant, and greater excellence in her work is confidently prophesied.
SCHWARTZE, THERESE. Honorable mention, Paris Salon, 1885; gold medal, 1889. Diploma at Ghent, 1892; gold medal, 1892. At International Exhibition, Barcelona, 1898, a gold medal. Made a Knight of the Order of Orange-Na.s.sau, 1896. Born in Amsterdam about 1851. A pupil of her father until his death, when she became a student under Gabriel Max, in Munich, for a year. Returning to Amsterdam, she was much encouraged by Israels, Bilders, and Bosboom, friends of her father.
She went to Paris in 1878 and was so attracted by the artistic life which she saw that she determined to study there. But she did not succeed in finding a suitable studio, neither an instructor who pleased her, and she returned to Amsterdam. It was at this time that she painted the portrait of Frederick Muller.