User:Lame Name/Sara Page deleted article

Sara Wells Page (1855-1943), a British female artist, associated as a pupil with Wolverhampton School of Art and Academie Julian, Paris. During her life time she widely exhibited at Parisian Salons and at British art galleries. Her artworks can be seen at Wolverhampton Art Gallery, United Kingdom. Sara Page was born at Moxley, Staffordshire, the fourth of the nine children of Samuel Page, a successful timber merchant, and his wife Sara, neé Wells. The Page family was well-known in Wolverhampton, and her elder brother Samuel Wells Page (1849-1933) was a solicitor and the official receiver for Wolverhampton and Walsall.

In the 1880s, Page studied at Wolverhampton School of Practical Art. Between 1884-1891 she travelled in Italy, copying old masters in Florence and Rome. In 1892 she returned to Wolverhampton from where she exhibited a painting ‘A Golden Venetian’ at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. Following the advice of Sir Frederick Leighton to continue studying art, she went to Paris and entered the Académie Julian. She studied with Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905), Tony Robert-Fleury (1837-1912) and Gabriel Ferrier (1847 -1914), probably at the atelier in 5, rue de Berri. From 1893, she exhibited at the Société des Artistes Français (SAF), then at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts (SNBA).

In 1897, Sara Page settled down at Neuilly-sur-Seine, a wealthy residential suburb of Paris with a strong artistic atmosphere. There she took lessons from Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan-Bouveret (1852 – 1929) and Gustave-Claude-Etienne Courtois (1853-1923). Both also lived in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and maintained their studio at 73, Boulevard Bineau. In 1902, she exhibited at SNBA her large-scale figurative painting ‘Andromeda’, which clearly demonstrates a familiarity with drawing from a live model. Her other paintings ‘Le rocher qui pleure’(The Weeping Rock) exhibited in 1910, and ‘Le Baigneuse’ (The Bather) exhibited in 1911 and 1935, are similar to ‘Andromeda’ in style, composition, and technique. She worked not only in oils, but in various artistic media. As late as in 1925, she was named as a pupil of the miniature painter Gabrielle Debillemont-Chardon (1860-1957).

Living permanently in France, Page kept up relations with her native country, exhibiting her works at Royal Academy, London, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool and the Society of Women Artists, London. Between 1893-1935 she exhibited no less than 52 artworks - oil paintings, drawings, miniatures - both in England and France.

In 1926, she presented to Wolverhampton Art Gallery her 1902 painting ‘Andromeda’ writing about her pleasure and feeling of being honoured 'for it will find a home on the walls where I have so often admired many works of art.'

Sara Page died in 1943. In memory of her, Sara's sister donated to Wolverhampton Art Gallery another painting, ‘The Princess’. Finally, in 1977 the oil painting, ‘Whisper of Spring’ was given to the Gallery by the members of her family. The ‘Whisper of Spring’ relates to the aesthetic ideas of the turn of the century - Art Nouveau with its symbolic interpretation of classical mythology, dreamlike subjects, and the exploration of nature with its irregular flowing lines and forms. Its title and subject closely corresponds to the known works from the same period by Anna Klumpke(1856-1942), Page's fellow student at Académie Julian, which can be found at San Francisco Fine Art Museum.

Hundreds of female students received their artistic training at the Academie Julian in the late 19th-early 20th century, but only few of them managed to establish a financially successful artistic career and to compete with men in the artistic world. Sara Page did not belong to them. Her paintings testify her passionate love of art, enthusiasm and diligence, but they hardly indicate an independent mind, or an outstanding talent. The present location of most of them is unknown. But another reason for this may be her natural inclination to artistic observation and quiet study, rather to striving for fame, glory and financial success: ‘''I love the solitude of work and study above all else. /…/ All mediums seem to me to have their special use and charm and I work in oils, water colour, miniature and pastel with delight, as well as ever interesting black and white. /…/ For a time I exhibited in the Salon des Beaux Arts, but for some years now at the Salon des Artistes Francais, besides at times in our Royal Academy and others, but work and study I love most of all.''’

Sara Page's life and artistic activity provide additional idea about women of Academie Julian, their international origin and their artistic careers.

Literature
1. The Dictionary of British Artists. 1880-1940.

2. Morris S. and Morris K. A Catalogue of Birmingham & West Midlands Painters of the Nineteenth Century. 1974.

3. Graves A. The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and their work. 1769-1904.