Woman in the Field of Art-the Pioneers and their Followers-ruskin's Generous Tribute to a Woman Artist-women Writers and Why They Succeed-a Tale that Moved a Queen to Tears- Women Playwrights-the Supremacy of the Actress-the Aptitude for Public Speaking-the

Law And Its Barriers

A striking testimony to the triumphs of women in the realm of Art was given by Sir Edward Poynter in his address at the prize distribution of the Royal Academy in 1911, when he asked : " Why do women beat men in the Academy School ? "

The answer was simple. The president found that while the men were " slack," and either did not know how to work or did not care, the women really were in earnest.

The Success Of Women Painters

An unprecedented succession -of feminine triumphs had moved the president to make this comparison. Two of the four gold medals awarded by the Academy had gone to women. The gold medal for historical painting, with the travelling studentship of £200, the coveted blue riband of the Academy, had been won by Miss Margaret Lindsay Williams; and the gold medal for landscape painting by Miss Clark Kennedy, in addition to which all the principal prizes in the painting school, except painting from the nude model, had gone to women.

These successes illustrate the fact that in art, as in other branches of knowledge, women quickly come to the front when they are given the opportunity. Some fifty years ago the Academy Schools were first opened to women, amidst the storm of criticism which invariably meets any proposal to enlarge the sphere of feminine know- • ledge. It was not denied that women had a fine sense of colour - girls are rarely colourblind, while many boys cannot tell blue from purple - and an appreciation of form, but still it was generally considered sufficient for them to devote their artistic gifts to working elaborate samplers and silk embroideries, or at most to drawing crayon portraits of their friends or water-colour sketches of rural scenery and groups of flowers. A girl might with propriety study the anatomy of a rose but not that of the human form.

Some daring spirits wondered why girls might not study art on the same thorough lines as did their brothers. In Paris, Rosa Bonheur had refused to be cabined and confined by what was deemed " feminine " in the pursuance of her art, and had taken the world by storm with her masterly animal paintings. Anxious parents heard, however, with alarm, that the wonderful artist wore her hair cut short and dressed like a man, and there were misgivings in the British home as to the lengths to which a girl with " art " on the brain might go.

 Lucas Malet  (Mrs. St.leger Harrison), daughter of Charles Kingsley, and one of the most talented of photo, modern women novelists Elliott& fry

"Lucas Malet" (Mrs. St.leger Harrison), daughter of Charles Kingsley, and one of the most talented of photo, modern women novelists Elliott& fry

At length the doors of the Royal Academy were cautiously opened to admit women, and Miss Herford, whose niece, Mrs. Ailing-ham, R.w.s., holds an honoured place amongst water-colour painters of to-day, entered as the pioneer, woman student.

1 he admission of women was more than justified when a few years later, in 1867, a young girl, Louisa Starr (the late Madame Canziani), carried off the gold medal of the Academy in open competition with men.

The subject selected by the Council was " David bringing the head of Goliath to Saul," a gruesome subject enough for a mid-victorian young lady to handle. One wonders if it was chosen with the view of scaring the women students from competing. I have heard Madame Canziani relate that her chief difficulty was to get a model for Goliath, but finally she persuaded the family milkman, who was of swarthy complexion and big proportions, to sit for the giant's head.

It is interesting to note that the artistic talent of the first woman gold medallist of the Academy has been inherited by her daughter, Miss Estelle Canziani, one of the most promising young painters of to-day

Women continued to score triumphs in the Academy, and in 1871 Miss Jessie Macgregor, who will be remembered as the painter of ' The Nihilist," which created a sensation at the Exhibition of the Royal Academy some years ago, carried off the gold medal for her picture, " One of the Acts of Mercy."

After a long lapse of time, the medal was again captured by a woman student, Miss Marianne H.w.robilliard, in 1909, with her "Dives and Lazarus," to be followed by the recent brilliant achievement, already referred to, of Miss Margaret Williams, with her picture, "The City of Refuge."

Notwithstanding the triumphs of women in the schools, and their achievements as painters, no woman has yet been permitted to write R.a. after her name.

That crowning triumph was nearly achieved by Elizabeth Thompson (Lady Butler) in 1879. The furore created at the Academy Exhibitions by her battle pictures, notably " The Roll Call" and " Quatre Bras," caused her name to be put up for election to the immortal forty. Miss Thompson was defeated in the final ballot by Hubert von Herkomer with a very narrow majority. The doors of Burlington House have since remained closed to women, but we cannot doubt that they will open before the century is much older.

A Tribute from Ruskin

We cannot leave the subject of women's triumphs in art without referring to the tribute which Elizabeth Thompson's genius won from Ruskin. When the " Roll Call " was taking London by storm, the great master was critical, shall we say suspicious, about a young lady who chose battle scenes for her subjects. If she had painted a vase of flowers there might have been hope for her, but to depict the horrors of war was outside Ruskin's computation of woman's achievement.