“He who can not apprehend the Beautiful has no heart for the Good.”
The only person to whom Mrs. Duncan ever gave lessons in miniature-painting was her niece, Mary Jane Simes, now the wife of Dr. John Yeates, of Baltimore. This lady is an artist of no small celebrity.
Miss Sarah M. Peale excelled not only in oil portraits but in still-life pieces. She has resided for the last ten years in St. Louis, whither she was induced to go by the invitation of numerous friends. She found there such encouragement and success, with such warm regard from her friends, that she has not as yet found leisure to leave her engrossing pursuits for a visit to her native city. Her varied talents and amiable character are justly appreciated, and she has gathered around her a large and estimable circle. She possesses a fine talent for music in addition to her other accomplishments.
Mrs. Rembrandt Peale is highly spoken of as a painter in oil-colors.
Miss Rosalba Peale is an amateur artist, and is said to have been the first lady member of any Academy of Art in America.
ANN LESLIE.
The name of Leslie has been placed by a painter of eminent merit among the most distinguished of this century, and his sister has contributed to its fame. She was born in Philadelphia; her parents, Robert Leslie and Lydia Baker, went to London in 1793, when she was an infant, and returned in 1799. She showed a taste for painting in childhood, but did not take it up as a regular employment till 1822, at which time she was again in London, on a visit to her brother. She copied several of his pictures, and two or three by Sir Joshua Reynolds, besides painting portraits of her friends. She returned in 1825 to Philadelphia, with her sister, Mrs. Henry Carey, and her brother-in-law, but paid another visit to London four years afterward. Several copies she made from pictures were engraved for the Atlantic Souvenir. One of “Sancho and the Duchess” was pronounced equal to the original in execution. Her skill was great in imitating coloring, but she was accustomed to make the outlines mechanically.
Her life was passed in cheerful and contented activity. She resided several years in New York, where she occupied herself chiefly in copying paintings. She died in the summer of 1857.
Miss Sarah Cole, the sister of the celebrated artist, had a great deal of talent, and not only copied paintings, but produced original compositions. She was born in England, but spent most of her life in the United States. She died in 1858.