Woman of the Century/Franc P. Hawes

HAWES, Miss Franc P., artist, was born near Chicago, Ill. She spent the larger portion of FRANC P. HAWES. her life in the East, and returned to Chicago in 1886, where she now resides. She comes of good ancestry and claims descent from Queen Anne of England. She is a daughter of John Hughes Hawes, a Virginian, and is related to the Lees and other noted Virginian families. The first wife of Mr. Hawes was a cousin of Jefferson Davis. He was a benevolent, liberal, public-spirited man, and a lawyer by profession. His second wife, the mother of Miss Franc, was a native of Cincinnati, O., and from her the daughter inherited her artistic talents. Miss Hawes, both as woman and artist, is a person of marked individuality. She has been an artist from her infancy. In childhood "she painted whatever she saw, and frequently what her imagination saw. There are treasured still in her family several quaint landscapes and animal studies, painted by the eight year -old girl before she had had a lesson, either in painting or drawing The first landscape she painted under the eye of a teacher illustrates her singular gifts. It was scarcely "laid in" before the teacher was called away on some errand. He was gone three hours, and at last returned, with apologies for his absence, but they were unuttered, because in amazement he saw the picture finished, and finished so well that he had no suggestion to make, and it was never touched afterward One artist, to whom she went for lessons, set her at work in drawing from the cast, but she declined to do that; her wish was to paint directly from nature, and she required instruction only in the intricacies of coloring. She has an intense earnestness, combined with a natural woman's gift of understanding without analysis From a delicate water-color of Venetian landscape with local color and atmosphere to a study of lions, her range is seen. A striking characteristic possessed by Miss Hawes is her memory. An idea once worked out never leaves her remembrance. While she prefers landscape, with an occasional excursion into the field of still life, as evidenced by her lion pictures, she yet has done a great deal in decorative work. She has received orders from Marshall Field, of Chicago, and others, receiving $5,000 for a single commission. Many of her tapestries and screens are exquisite, and all of them show originality and artistic merit Though she has given the greater part of her life to art, she is distinguished for achievements in other fields. She has been a contributor to various publications in the Hast, furnishing articles on philosophical subjects which show much research. She has also acquired an enviable reputation as an organizer of clubs for philanthropical and literary study.