Woman of the Century/Louise Lawson

LAWSON, Miss Louise, sculptor, born in Cincinatti, Ohio, in 186-, She is a daughter of Prof. Lawson, who was for many years dean of the fatuity of the Ohio Medical College. He was a Kentuckian by birth and was graduated from the Transylvania College, Lexington. He was married young, and after the birth of several children went to Europe to take a course of medical study, leaving LOUISE LAWSON. his wife to edit his medical journal, the "Lancet," during his absence, and to look after the little family. Mrs. Lawson filled the editorial chair satisfactorily, for she was familiar with medical literature. All the children of the family, except Louise, died young, and the mother early followed them. Louise became the companion of her father. He never sent her to school, but took charge of her education himself, teaching her just as he would a boy, Latin and Greek, physiology and anatomy, in the most unconventional way. He aroused her enthusiasm for art, through his teaching in regard to the beauty and dignity of the human form. She lived out of doors all summer long, in their country-seat near the city. There she developed the physique which has carried her through studies that would have broken down a girl educated according to common standards. She one day awoke to the fact that only in art could the impulses of her mind find expression. She has always regarded what people call genius as the ability to labor with great patience for the desired results. She spent fourteen years in training, the first two years in the Art School in Cincinnati, three in the School of Design in Boston, three years in the Cooper Union, New York, three in study in Paris, and three in modeling in Rome. Miss Lawson went to Rome a stranger. When she arrived in that famous city, she put up in a hotel, but soon took a studio near Villa Ludi Visi, a beautiful estate with extensive grounds. Her fame came about in an unusual manner. She employed many living models, and they, recognizing her genius, had so much to say of the charming American in other studios that one day she awoke to find herself famous, almost without introduction or presentation outside of a limited circle. She soon after was the recipient of public recognition, the medal from the president of the Raphael Academie Di Belle Arti, as a compliment to her genius, her "Ayacanora " placing her at once among the great modern sculptors. Returning to the United States, she settled m New York and opened a studio. Among Miss Lawson’s finest pieces are "The Origin of the Harp." "Il Pastore," "The Rhodian Boy," and a statue of the late Congressman S. S. Cox. of New York. Her work is marked by the highest artistic excellence. Many of the subjects of her work as a sculptor are American in origin.