Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/174

Rh member of the International Association of Painters under the impression that her pictures—signed simply A. Delasalle—were the work of a man. Attracted by the dramatic aspects of human nature, she finds congenial subjects in the great efforts of humanity in the struggle for life. Her power of observation enables her to give freshness to hackneyed subjects, as in "La Forge." The attitudes of the workmen, so sure and decided, turning the half-fused metal are perfect in the precision of their combined efforts; the fatigue of the men who are resting, overwhelmed and stupefied by their exhausting labor, indicates the work of a profound thinker; whilst the atmosphere, the play of the diffused glow of the molten metal, are the production of an innate colorist. Her portrait of Benjamin-Constant represents not only the masterful man, but is also the personification of the painter. The attentive attitude, discerning eye, the openness of the absorbing look, the cerebral mask where rests so much tranquil power, the impressive shape of the leonine face, all combine to make the painting one of the finest portraits of the French school.

She has a perfect and rare knowledge of the art of drawing and a faculty for seizing the character of things. Mlle. Delasalle exhibited her pictures at the Grafton Gallery, London, in 1902.

Delorme, Berthe. Medals at Nîmes, Montpellier, Versailles, and London. Member of the Société des Artistes Français. Born at Paris. Pupil of A. Chaplin.

Mlle. Delorme has painted a great number of portraits, which are in the hands of her subjects. Her works are