Swoboda, Josephine. Born in Vienna, 1861. Pupil of Laufberger and I. V. Berger. This portrait artist has been successful and numbers among her subjects the Princess Henry of Prussia, the late Queen of England, whose portrait she painted at Balmoral in 1893, the Minister Bauhaus, and several members of the royal house of Austria. The portrait of Queen Victoria was exhibited at the Water-Color Club, Vienna.
She also paints charming miniatures. Her pictures are in both oil and water-colors, and are praised by the critics of the exhibitions in which they are seen.
Swope, Mrs. Kate. Honorable mention at National Academy of Design, 1888; honorable mention and gold medal, Southern Art League, 1895; highest award, Louisville Art League, 1897. Member of Louisville Art League. Born in Louisville, Kentucky. Pupil of Edgar Ward and M. Flagg in New York, and later of B. R. Fitz.
Mrs. Swope devotes herself almost entirely to sacred subjects. The pictures that have been awarded medals are Madonnas. She prefers to paint her pictures out of doors and in the sunlight, which results in her working in a high key and, as she writes, "in tender, opalescent color."
One of her medal pictures is the "Head of a Madonna," out of doors, in a hazy, blue shadow, against a background of grapevine foliage. The head is draped in white; the eyes are cast down upon the beholder. A sun spot kisses the white draperies on the shoulder. It is a young, girlish face, but the head is suggestive of great exaltation.
A second picture which received an award was a "Madonna and Child," out of doors. The figure is half life size. Dressed in white, the Madonna is stretched at full length upon the grass. Raised on one arm, she gazes into the face of the infant Christ Child.
Mrs. Swope has had success in pastel, in which, not long since, she exhibited a "Mother and Child," which was much admired. The mother—in an arbor—held the child up and reverently kissed the cheek. It was called "Love," and was exhibited in New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Mrs. Swope's most ambitious work—five by three feet in size—represents an allegorical subject and is called "Revelation."
Sues, Mlle. Lea. Three silver medals from the School of Arts, Geneva; diploma of honor at the National Swiss Exposition, 1896. Member of l'Athénée, Geneva. Born at Genoa and studied there under Professors Gillet, Poggy, and Castan.
This artist paints landscapes, Swiss subjects principally. Her pictures of Mont Blanc and Chamounix are popular and have been readily sold. They are in private collections in several countries, and when exhibited have been praised in German and French as well as in Swiss publications.