ABSTRACT
Leafing through the annotations in this section, one cannot help but be struck by the number of exhibitions and the number offemale exhibitors. Both can be attributed to the importance in the nineteenth century of sketching and painting as an essential part of middle-and upper-class education. Boys as well as girls grew to adulthood with art as an interest, hobby, or vocation. Since photography was still in its early, awkward stages, one captured "Kodak moments" in sketchbooks and travel diaries, especially as travel became easier and cheaper. Painting, especially in ladylike pastels and watercolors, was as important a part of a young woman's repertoire as her needlework and her musical accomplishments. Women who wanted to get serious with oil paints and art schools discovered that the leap from art for casual amusement to serious profession involved much more than a change of attitude. All the arts demand time, concentration, self-absorption, hard work, and relentless dedication--all qualities that were considered unladylike in a time when creatures like David Copperfield's flighty Dora and his devoted Agnes were feminine ideals. The Doras were encouraged to be childlike ornaments and the Agnesses were trained to be selfless and self-effacing.
