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| Mrs. Seymour Lucas (Mary E. Cornelissen) |
Mary E. Cornelissen was an artist working in late 19th century London, best known for her portraits of children. She was born in Paris in 1855, to an English mother and a Dutch father, and her training in art reflected this multi-cultural beginning, with studies in France, Germany, and England. On her father's side, she had a rich artistic lineage, claiming a descent from Antonius Cornelissen of Antwerp, a patron and friend to Sir Anthony Van Dyck. She was also related through marriage to Peter Paul Rubens. In 1877, she married another artist, John Seymour Lucas, and the two frequently exhibited together at the Royal Academy.
In 1910 Mrs. Lucas was asked to contribute to volume four of the book, Every Woman's Encylopaedia (London, 1910-1912), for which she wrote an article on painting children. The following excerpt is from the introduction, in which she addresses young women considering a career in art, though her advice is applicable to either gender.
The embarking on a career in art is one which, in my opinion, should not be undertaken lightly. Many people, unfortunately, start in the belief that the artist's is an easy life, which gives plenty of opportunity for enjoyment, and is full of that free and easy "Bohemianism" which looks so attractive on the outside.Let me earnestly entreat everyone to disabuse his or her mind of this fallacy.
Art is a hard taskmistress. The words have become a proverb. They are true. I have lived all my life in the world of art, and I have known the greatest painters of my time. Yet I have seen the unceasing study these men devote to their work, for the earnest painter never ceases to be a student. Not only that, but I have seen the strain under which they live in their attempt to set down on canvas what their imagination has conceived and their eyes have seen. I have watched the difficulties they have had to wrestle with, and the problems they have had to solve by dint of long hours of hard labour, and I know how far from easy is the life. I know all this, not only as an artist myself and the wife of an artist, but also by having lived all my life among artists.
Interestingly, in most references to Mrs. Lucas, she is overshadowed by her husband, J. Seymour Lucas, a history and genre painter, and a full Royal Academician. Her first name and maiden name - despite the heritage - are usually forgotten, and instead she is referred to only as "Mrs. Seymour Lucas;" this includes the attribution in the article she wrote for the Encyclopaedia. Of course, this manner of address was common in polite Victorian society, but today it seems odd. Fortunately, Mary Lucas was able to have a career in art and a supportive husband, a not-so-common occurrence in her day. Even among schools that taught women in late 19th century Europe, if the female student intended to marry, she would have been dismissed from the school, as a married women was considered incapable of also being true to her art.
