Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/57

l unusual for an artist to study under Dutch, German, and Italian masters, as well as French.

The present method of study in Paris—in such academies as that of Julian and the Colarossi—secures to the student the criticism and advice of the best artists of the day, while in summer—in the country and by the sea—there are artistic colonies in which students lead a delightful life, still profiting by the instruction of eminent masters.

Year by year the opportunities for art-study by women have been increased until they are welcome in the schools of the world, with rare exceptions. The highest goal seems to have been reached by their admission to the competition for the Grand prix de Rome conferred by l'École des Beaux Arts.

I regret that the advantages of the American Art Academy in Rome are not open to women. The fact that for centuries women have been members and professors in the Academy of St. Luke, and in view of the recent action of l'École des Beaux Arts, this narrowness of the American Academy in the Eternal City is especially pronounced.

One can but approve the encouragement afforded women artists in France, by the generosity with which their excellence is recognized.

To be an officer in the French Academy is an honor surpassed in France by that of the Legion of Honor only. Within a twelvemonth two hundred and seventy-five women have been thus distinguished, twenty-eight of them being painters and designers. From this famous