430 KANSAS CITY HE VIEW OF SCIENCE. 



department of Literature by Mrs. S. W, H. Gardner, upon Superstition; in the 

 Department of Art by Mrs. S. M. Ford, of Kansas City, upon "Art from a 

 a practical stand-point ; " in the department of Domestic Economy by Mrs. B. 

 Gray, of Wyandotte, upon " How to SimpUfy Housekeeping;" in the department 

 of History and Civil Government by Mrs. M. J. Kellogg, of Emporia, upon 

 " Equal Wages for Equal Work," and in the department of Archaeology by Mrs. 

 H. M. Holden, of Kansas City, upon "The Lost Atlantis." 



The Association was hospitably entertained by Mrs. J. J. Ingalls ''and other 

 ladies of Atchison, and voted that the meeting had been a very gratifying suc- 

 cess in every way. 



We would gladly publish all of the above named articles in the Review, 

 but, as they would nearly fill the whole number, we must confine our selections 

 to one or two written by ladies of our own city, which seem more legitimately to 

 come within its scope. 



"ART— FROM A PRACTICAL STANDPOINT." 



MRS. S. M. FORD. 



The art of ancient Egypt is something very far away from the Social Science 

 club of Kansas and Missouri. Phidias, with all his power for evoking the glory 

 and spendor of Grecian beauty, is remote from its aims and thoughts; it is doubt- 

 ful if a disquisition on the comparative merits of Nicola Pisano and Michael 

 Angelo would make a very lasting impession on it. as a body, or that it would 

 even grow wildly excited over the contested superiority of Missonier or Alma 

 Tadema. But there is a phase of the art question which concerns us all most 

 nearly, and which ought to be brought home to each one of our firesides, because 

 those firesides are affected very sensibly by its neglect or attention. In these 

 days of "Woman's Art Work," such a statement can excite no opposition, and 

 one can easily imagine half a dozen young ladies from the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of anywhere starting forward with such exclamations as "Why, yes, to be 

 sure! You remember my tidy with the Graces painted on it!" or " My crazy 

 quilt with 150 different stitches ! " " Or my lovely model of grandpa's nose ! " 

 But how our sweet friends would open their eyes at the reply that nothing of this 

 kind was hinted at in the previous observation ; that most of their cherished pro- 

 ductions are hideously in contradiction with all the rules of art, have nothing to 

 do with art culture, and that in many cases their gentle originators would find 

 better employment in riding tricicles than in sorting crewels? 



For there is nothing more disheartening in the art prospects of womankind 

 than the extent to which women devote themselves to "fancy work." One 

 might say that the art developement of this country lies in the hands of its women, 

 and how do they show their appreciation of their great taste? By crocheting 

 afghans and painting impossible Venuses, apparently. -. The women in larger cities, 

 who neither paint, model nor embroider, are decidedly the exception, for the 



