Page:Women in the Fine Arts From the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentiet.djvu/190

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WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
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Broeck in London, Canada, and later of William Chase in New York. Now studying in Paris.

Fassett, Cornelia Adèle. 1831-1898. Member of the Chicago Academy of Design and the Washington Art Club. Born in Owasco, New York. Studied water-color painting in New York under an English artist, J. B. Wandesforde. Pupil in Paris of Castiglione, La Tour, and Mathieu. Her artistic life was spent in Chicago and Washington, D. C.

She painted numerous portraits in miniature and a large number in oils. Among those painted from life were Presidents Grant, Hayes, and Garfield; Vice-President Henry Wilson; Charles Foster, when Governor of Ohio, now in the State House at Columbus, Ohio; Dr. Rankin, president of Howard University, Washington; and many other prominent people of Chicago and Washington.

Her chief work and that by which she is best remembered hangs in the Senate wing of the United States Capitol. No picture in the Capitol attracts more attention, and large numbers of people view it daily. It is the "Electoral Commission in Open Session." It represents the old Senate Chamber, now the Supreme Court Room, with William M. Evarts making the opening argument. There are two hundred and fifty-eight portraits of notable men and women, prominent in political, literary, scientific, and social circles. Many of these were painted from life.

The Arcadian, New York, December 15, 1876, in speaking of this picture, says: "Mr. Evarts is addressing the court, and the large number of people present are natu-