At the Paris Exposition Mrs. Storer exhibited about twenty pieces of pottery mounted in bronze—all her own work. It was an exquisite exhibition, and I was proud that it was the work of one of my countrywomen.
In 1897 Mr. Storer was appointed United States minister to Belgium, and Mrs. Storer took a Japanese artist, Asano, to Brussels, to instruct her in bronze work. Two years later Mr. Storer's mission was changed to Spain, and there Mrs. Storer continued, under Asano's guidance, her work in bronze, some of the results being seen in the mounting of her pottery.
At present Mr. Storer is our Ambassador to Austria, and Mrs. Storer writes me that she hopes to continue her work in bronze in Vienna.
In the summer of 1903 Mrs. Storer was in Colorado Springs, where she was much interested in the pottery made by Mr. Van Briggle. She became one of the directors of the Van Briggle Pottery Company, and encouraged the undertaking most heartily.
Stumm, Maud. Born in Cleveland, Ohio. Pupil of Art Students' League under Kenyon Cox and Siddons Mowbray, and of Oliver Merson in Paris, where her painting was also criticised and approved by Whistler. Her earliest work was flower painting, in which she gained an enviable reputation.
In Paris she began the study of figure painting, and her exhibition at the Salon was favorably received, the purity and brilliancy of her coloring being especially commended.
Several of Miss Stumm's pictures are well known by reproductions. Among these is the "Mother and Child," the original of which is owned by Mr. Patterson, of the Chicago Tribune. Her calendars, too, are artistic and popular; some of these have reached a sale of nearly half a million.
A series of studies of Sarah Bernhardt, in pastel, and a portrait of Julia Marlowe are among her works in this medium. Many of her figure subjects, such as "A Venetian Matron" and "A Violinist," are portraits, not studies from professional models.
This artist has painted an unusual variety of subjects, but is ambitious in still another department of painting—decorative art—in which she believes she could succeed.
Her works are seen in the exhibitions of the Society of American Artists and of the American Water-Color Society.