A Gwen John sketch of the night class at Colarossi pre 1914
The Lady Art Student In Paris By Gladys Beattie Crozier
To study art in Paris is, as a rule, a girl artists highest ambition, and the change which has gradually but unmistakably crept over student life there during the last few years is probably traceable to the influx of English and American maidens with their genuine enthusiasm and feeling for art.
The Quartier Latin, as known to the immortal Trilby and her famous trio of companions with its picturesque, tumbledown, vine-covered cafes crowded with curiously attired students of either sex and every nationality, seems practically to have ceased to exist. Trilby's prototype, clad in a duplicate of the historic regimental tunic, brass buttons, and with bare feet, would probably attract as much undesirable notice from the gamins of "Mont Parnasse," in the heart of the Quartier, to-day, as she would if she were to take a stroll at noon down Oxford Street or the Strand.
Picturesque rags are no longer to the fore, and now one meets no more exciting vision than an occasional shock of unkempt hair the cherished possession of some Polish art student, a riotous yellow necktie, or a well-dressed but sandal-shod individual whose bare feet consort somewhat quaintly with clothes of English and a high white linen collar
In fact, as a young English artist has remarked, "it is no longer good form amongst the students to be unconventional." The young English girl who suceeds in completing her artistic training in the congenial atmosphere of Paris, and in pending a couple of years at one of the famous ateliers, engaged in systematic hard under the immediate supervision of the first artists of the day, is fortunate indeed.
work.
The expense of a feminine art student's life is inconsiderable. The best obtainable artistic tuition is cheap in Paris, and £100 a year with economy, 150 with comfort, and £200 with luxury, can be made to cover all expenses.
Every girl seeker after art or novelty, visiting Paris for the first time, will doubtless decide to make her headquarters at one of the reliable pensions in the Quartier, within easy reach of the atelier which she has decided to join- at least, for a time, and until she has gained sufficient knowledge of her companions and surroundings to make other plans.
Of these pensions, the Villa des Dames, in the Rue Notre Dame des Champs, is one of the most comfortable, though rather expensive, for a room, with good food and attendance, costs from £1 16s. to £2 8s. a week. At the Franco-english Guild, No. 6, Rue de la Sorbonne, all information may be obtained by intending students regarding the neighbouring art schools and studios. It is through the lady secretary of the guild that I can give two further addresses of residential homes, run by the Young Womens's Christian Association, where ladies are made extremely comfortable - one at 5, Rue de Turin, and one at 93, Boulevard St. Michel. Here young girls studying alone in Paris would be quite safe and in good hands.
Many mothers prefer that their young daughters should not go alone to classes, and lady chaperons in charge of pupils are admitted to all the ateliers.
The list of schools of art is a long one. I append the scale of fees at the famous Academie Julien, which is a very representative one.
For the half day: - 1 month 60Frs...... £2.8.0
3 month 150Frs...... £6.0.0
9 month 350Frs.......£14.0.0
1 year 400Frs.......£16.0.0
For a whole day, which includes a morning, afternoon, and evening class, the fees are as follows:
1 month 100Frs...... £4.0.0
3 month 250Frs...... £10.0.0
9 month 600Frs....... £24.0.0
1 year 700Frs..... £28.0.0
The pupil, on first joining, must also pay a fee of ten francs for the loan of a painting stool and easel.
The course of instruction includes drawing and painting from the living model, sculpture, a course of instruction in costume and in water-colour painting, black and-white drawing, sketching, and decorative composition. There are also special Sunday classes for drawing from the costume model, and for sketching out of doors. The Luxembourg Gardens are a favourite spot on sunshiny mornings. when the shadiest spots are usually taken up by enthusiastic sketchers' easels.
Most of the big studios hold three "cours" a day. The first begins at eight o'clock and lasts till noon, the second lasts from one o'clock till five, and the third from seven till ten.
Few girls attempt to take all three, but many remain at the studio from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., sending a messenger out to a neighbouring cafe for an attractive little meal.
At the Academie Julien five concours (exhibitions) are held each year. The first takes place in October, and continues throughout the last week of the four ensuing months.
The entries consist of (1) a portrait study, (2) a full-length figure of a woman, (3) a full-length figure of a man, (4) a torso of a woman, and (5) a torso of a man. These concours give endless opportunity for the criticism in which the soul of the student delights.
There are separate class-rooms in a separate building - the Academie Julien des Dames - for the young girl whose people do not wish her to
The Arts work side by side with the masculine students; but the concours are held for both sexes competing together, and there seems little doubt that it is a better plan for the serious older woman artist to join the bigger classes, where men and women work side by side, and where far wider and more varied criticism is obtainable than in the more restricted atmosphere of the art classes devoted to women's work alone.
Different professors visit the studios twice a week, when criticisms are made, and much valuable advice given. Exhibitions also are held each month, at which both the men's and the girls' work are shown, and medals and diplomas are awarded.
Very many well-known artists in Paris take private pupils, but comparatively few students avail themselves of the advantages of working constantly under the direct eye of the master, preferring for the most part the wider life of the schools.
To study art in Paris is, as a rule, a girl artists highest ambition, and the change which has gradually but unmistakably crept over student life there during the last few years is probably traceable to the influx of English and American maidens with their genuine enthusiasm and feeling for art.
The Quartier Latin, as known to the immortal Trilby and her famous trio of companions with its picturesque, tumbledown, vine-covered cafes crowded with curiously attired students of either sex and every nationality, seems practically to have ceased to exist. Trilby's prototype, clad in a duplicate of the historic regimental tunic, brass buttons, and with bare feet, would probably attract as much undesirable notice from the gamins of "Mont Parnasse," in the heart of the Quartier, to-day, as she would if she were to take a stroll at noon down Oxford Street or the Strand.
Picturesque rags are no longer to the fore, and now one meets no more exciting vision than an occasional shock of unkempt hair the cherished possession of some Polish art student, a riotous yellow necktie, or a well-dressed but sandal-shod individual whose bare feet consort somewhat quaintly with clothes of English and a high white linen collar
In fact, as a young English artist has remarked, "it is no longer good form amongst the students to be unconventional." The young English girl who suceeds in completing her artistic training in the congenial atmosphere of Paris, and in pending a couple of years at one of the famous ateliers, engaged in systematic hard under the immediate supervision of the first artists of the day, is fortunate indeed.
work.
The expense of a feminine art student's life is inconsiderable. The best obtainable artistic tuition is cheap in Paris, and £100 a year with economy, 150 with comfort, and £200 with luxury, can be made to cover all expenses.
Every girl seeker after art or novelty, visiting Paris for the first time, will doubtless decide to make her headquarters at one of the reliable pensions in the Quartier, within easy reach of the atelier which she has decided to join- at least, for a time, and until she has gained sufficient knowledge of her companions and surroundings to make other plans.
Of these pensions, the Villa des Dames, in the Rue Notre Dame des Champs, is one of the most comfortable, though rather expensive, for a room, with good food and attendance, costs from £1 16s. to £2 8s. a week. At the Franco-english Guild, No. 6, Rue de la Sorbonne, all information may be obtained by intending students regarding the neighbouring art schools and studios. It is through the lady secretary of the guild that I can give two further addresses of residential homes, run by the Young Womens's Christian Association, where ladies are made extremely comfortable - one at 5, Rue de Turin, and one at 93, Boulevard St. Michel. Here young girls studying alone in Paris would be quite safe and in good hands.
Many mothers prefer that their young daughters should not go alone to classes, and lady chaperons in charge of pupils are admitted to all the ateliers.
The list of schools of art is a long one. I append the scale of fees at the famous Academie Julien, which is a very representative one.
For the half day: - 1 month 60Frs...... £2.8.0
3 month 150Frs...... £6.0.0
9 month 350Frs.......£14.0.0
1 year 400Frs.......£16.0.0
For a whole day, which includes a morning, afternoon, and evening class, the fees are as follows:
1 month 100Frs...... £4.0.0
3 month 250Frs...... £10.0.0
9 month 600Frs....... £24.0.0
1 year 700Frs..... £28.0.0
The pupil, on first joining, must also pay a fee of ten francs for the loan of a painting stool and easel.
The course of instruction includes drawing and painting from the living model, sculpture, a course of instruction in costume and in water-colour painting, black and-white drawing, sketching, and decorative composition. There are also special Sunday classes for drawing from the costume model, and for sketching out of doors. The Luxembourg Gardens are a favourite spot on sunshiny mornings. when the shadiest spots are usually taken up by enthusiastic sketchers' easels.
Most of the big studios hold three "cours" a day. The first begins at eight o'clock and lasts till noon, the second lasts from one o'clock till five, and the third from seven till ten.
Few girls attempt to take all three, but many remain at the studio from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., sending a messenger out to a neighbouring cafe for an attractive little meal.
At the Academie Julien five concours (exhibitions) are held each year. The first takes place in October, and continues throughout the last week of the four ensuing months.
The entries consist of (1) a portrait study, (2) a full-length figure of a woman, (3) a full-length figure of a man, (4) a torso of a woman, and (5) a torso of a man. These concours give endless opportunity for the criticism in which the soul of the student delights.
There are separate class-rooms in a separate building - the Academie Julien des Dames - for the young girl whose people do not wish her to
The Arts work side by side with the masculine students; but the concours are held for both sexes competing together, and there seems little doubt that it is a better plan for the serious older woman artist to join the bigger classes, where men and women work side by side, and where far wider and more varied criticism is obtainable than in the more restricted atmosphere of the art classes devoted to women's work alone.
Different professors visit the studios twice a week, when criticisms are made, and much valuable advice given. Exhibitions also are held each month, at which both the men's and the girls' work are shown, and medals and diplomas are awarded.
Very many well-known artists in Paris take private pupils, but comparatively few students avail themselves of the advantages of working constantly under the direct eye of the master, preferring for the most part the wider life of the schools.
Life Class at Colarossi date unknown