Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/215

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WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS


of unusual ability. In her youth she had been trained in practical affairs as well as in art, and, although she felt that "the needle and distaff were enemies to the brush and pencil," her varied knowledge served her well in the responsibilities she had assumed, and at the head of the institution she had founded she became as well known for her executive ability as for her piety.

Little as the works of Lanf ranco appeal to us, he was a notable artist of the Carracci school; Caterina did him honor as her master, and, in the esteem of her admirers, excelled him as a painter.

Girardet, Berthe. Gold medal at the Paris Exposition, 1900; honorable mention, Salon des Artistes Franjais, 1900; ten silver medals from foreign exhibitions. Member of the Soci6t6 des Artistes Fran5ais and the Union des femmes peintres et sculpteurs. Born at Marseilles. Her father was Swiss and her mother a Miss Rogers of Boston. She was a pupil for three months of Antonin-Carlte, Paris. With this exception, Mme. Girardet writes : " I studied mostly alone, looking to nature as the best teacher, and with energetic perseverance trying to give out in a concrete form all that filled my heart."

Among her works are: "L'Enfant Malade," bought by the city of Paris and placed in the Petit Palais des Champs Élysées; a group called the "Grandmother's Blessing," purchased by the Government and placed in a public museum; the bust of an "Old Woman," acquired by the Swiss Government and placed in the Museum of Neuchâtel; a group, the "Madonna and Child," for which the artist received the gold medal ; and two groups illustrat-