Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 1876-1973

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Animal sculptor, Bethel, Conn., b. 1876; d. 1973.

From the description of Oral history interview with Anna Hyatt-Huntington, [ca. 1964] [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 312026542

From the description of Anna Hyatt-Huntington interview, [ca. 1964] [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 85185377

Sculptor; New York, N.Y.

From the description of Anna Hyatt-Huntington papers, 1902-1967. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122502404

Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973) was an award-winning American sculptor, best known for her animal pieces and her large equestrian statues.

Born in Cambridge, Mass. on March 10, 1876, the daughter of noted palaeontologist, naturalist, and Harvard professor, Alpheus Hyatt, she had planned to become a concert violinist but was encouraged by her sister to try sculpture. She studied briefly under H.E. Kitsen of Boston, and in the Art Students' League in New York, and received valuable criticism from Gustav Borglum. Other artists with whom she studied include Hermon Atkins MacNeil, George Grey Barnard, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and Malvina Hoffman.

As early as 1898 she began to exhibit her work and by 1906 had established a reputation as a fine sculptor of animals. She lived in Europe from 1906 to 1908 and again in 1910 when she won an honorable mention for her plaster model of Joan of Arc. She then returned to America where she executed many commissions, several of monumental size, such as the Joan of Arc which was placed along Riverside Drive in New York City.

In 1923 she became the second wife of Archer Milton Huntington, adopted son of Collis P. Huntington who founded the Southern Pacific Railroad. Archer Huntington was vitally interested in art, particularly Spanish art and culture; he encouraged his wife's work and she came to share his love for Spain and its people. Despite a lengthy bout with tuberculosis beginning in 1927, Anna continued to actively produce and show her work after their marriage. In 1937 the Huntingtons moved from New York City to Haverstraw, New York to an estate they called "Rocas," and then in 1940 to an estate and farm near Bethel, Connecticut, which they called "Stanerigg." Here Mrs. Huntington became interested in owning and breeding Scottish deerhounds and her kennel at Stanerigg produced a number of award-winning dogs, but her main focus was always her art. She continued to sculpt and produce fine pieces until illness forced her to stop in 1972, and she died shortly thereafter in 1973.

Sculptors Marjorie Jay Daingerfield and Katherine Ward Lane Weems both studied with her, and she was the friend and collaborator of sculptor Abastenia St. Leger Eberle (whom she affectionately called "Stennie") and a colleague of artist Elizabeth Norton.

Particularly well-known are Mrs. Huntington's heroic equestrian statues. These include El Cid (several locations including the Hispanic Society of America in New York and Seville, Spain), Young Andrew Jackson (Andrew Jackson State Park, Lancaster, South Carolina), General Israel Putnam (Putnam Memorial Park, Redding, Connecticut), and The Torchbearers (Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid). Her last major equestrian piece was a statue of Cuban nationalist José Martí, which stands in New York's Central Park; the piece was begun in the mid 1950s but due to the United States' difficult relations with Cuba it was not unveiled until 1965.

Mrs. Huntington was an active member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the National Academy of Design, and the National Sculpture Society, and gave generously to numerous museums, charities and civic organizations. With her husband, she founded Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina, a state preserve and sculpture garden, and the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia; the couple also donated 15,000 acres of forestland in the central Adirondacks to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). Mr. Huntington founded the Hispanic Society and Museum in New York City, and Anna also actively supported this organization.

Mrs. Huntington received numerous awards and honors over her career, among them a silver medal at the San Francisco Exposition in 1915, a gold medal in Philadelphia in 1917, and the Saltus Gold Medal from the National Academy of Design. She became a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur in 1933, was named "Woman of the Americas" in 1958, and on her ninetieth birthday she received greetings from friends, fellow artists, and admirers worldwide. Her sculpture is in the permanent collections of more than 200 museums across the United States as well as overseas.

From the guide to the Anna Hyatt Huntington Papers, 1887-1973, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Lawrence Graham Brooks papers, 1897-1981 Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
creatorOf Chester Beach papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Brookgreen Garden photographs. College of Charleston, Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library
referencedIn Betsy Ross Corps. Poster, n.d. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Huntington Estate Papers, 1955-1976 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn A. Hyatt Mayor Papers, 1904-1946 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Addition to the Ronald Christ Collection None., ca. 1976-1996 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
referencedIn Newark Museum. Records of exhibitions, related programs, and events, 1906-[ongoing]. Newark museum
referencedIn Yaghjian, Edmund, 1905-1997. Edmund Yaghjian papers, 1925-1973. University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries
referencedIn Powers, Alfred,. Alfred Powers photographic collection on turkey farming in Oregon [graphic], circa 1900-1981. Oregon Historical Society Research Library
creatorOf Anna Hyatt Huntington Papers, 1887-1973 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Cropsey, Reginald. Papers, 1923-1926. New York State Library
creatorOf Bailey, C. F.,. Photographs of the Mariners Museum, 1930-1932. The Mariners' Museum Library
referencedIn A. Hyatt Mayor papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Anna Hyatt-Huntington papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn James Earle and Laura Gardin Fraser Papers, 1872-1967, 1900-1955 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Alpheus Hyatt II Papers, 1854-1958 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf A. Contini & Son records Archives of American Art
referencedIn Katharine Lane Weems papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Weems, Katharine Lane, 1899-. Papers, 1860?-1991 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Audella Beebe Hyatt Papers, 1858-1957 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Eliot Candee Clark Papers, 1910-1969 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Quattlebaum, Paul, 1886-1964. The Land called Chicora and related materials, 1933-1963. Clemson University Libraries, Robert Muldrow Cooper Library
creatorOf Brookgreen Gardens. Brookgreen Gardens photographs, 1936-1937. Clemson University Libraries, Robert Muldrow Cooper Library
referencedIn Huntington, Mrs. Anna Vaughn : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Acoustiguide tour of Brookgreen Gardens Archives of American Art
referencedIn Alfred Goldsborough Mayor Papers, 1878-1926 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Miscellaneous art exhibition catalog collection Archives of American Art
creatorOf Woodlawn Cemetery (New York, N.Y.). Woodlawn Cemetery records, 1863-1999. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor Papers, 1881-1962 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 1876-1973. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
creatorOf Edward Fenno Hoffman papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Brenda Putnam Papers, 1915-1965 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
creatorOf Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 1876-1973. Anna Hyatt Huntington : artist file : study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1930?-1990 [graphic] [compiled by staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York]. Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn Emile Schaub-Koch Papers, 1933-1965 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
referencedIn Papers, 1860?-1991 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Huntington, Anna Hyatt, 1876-1973. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Oral history interview with Anna Hyatt-Huntington Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith A. Contini & Son. corporateBody
associatedWith Ainslie Galleries (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Bailey, C. F., person
associatedWith Beach, Chester, 1881-1956. person
associatedWith Betsy Ross Corps. corporateBody
associatedWith Brookgreen Gardens. corporateBody
associatedWith Brooks, Lawrence Graham, 1881-1981 person
associatedWith Christ, Ronald J. person
associatedWith Clark, Eliot Candee, 1883- person
associatedWith Cropsey, Reginald. person
associatedWith Fraser, James Earle, 1876-1953 person
associatedWith Hispanic Society of America. corporateBody
associatedWith Hoffman, Edward Fenno, 1916- person
associatedWith Huntington, Archer M., 1870-1955. person
associatedWith Huntington family family
associatedWith Hyatt, Alpheus, 1838-1902 person
associatedWith Hyatt, Audella Beebe, 1840-1932 person
associatedWith Katharine Lane Weems, 1899-1989 person
associatedWith Mariners' Museum (Newport News, Va.) corporateBody
associatedWith Mayor, A. Hyatt (Alpheus Hyatt), 1901-1980. person
associatedWith Mayor, Alfred Goldsborough, 1868-1922 person
associatedWith Mayor, Harriet H. (Harriet Hyatt), 1868-1960 person
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Newark Museum. corporateBody
associatedWith Powers, Alfred, person
associatedWith Putnam, Brenda, 1890-1975 person
associatedWith Quattlebaum, Paul, 1886-1964. person
associatedWith Schaub-Koch, Emile, 1890- person
associatedWith Seckler, Dorothy Gees, 1910- person
associatedWith Weems, Katharine Lane, 1899- person
associatedWith Woodlawn Cemetery (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
correspondedWith Yaghjian, Edmund, 1905-1997. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York (State)--New York
United States
United States
United States
Subject
Art, American
Art, American
Sculpture, American
Animal sculptors
Animal sculptors
Animal sculptors
Animal sculpture
Animals in art
Art
Art
Art
Art museums
Art patronage
Bronze sculpture, American
Dog breeders
Endowments
Equestrian statues
Hispanists, United States
Monuments
Public art
Public sculpture
Scottish deerhound
Sculptors
Sculptors
Sculpture gardens
Upper class
Women
Women and animals
Women artists
Women art patrons
Women philanthropists
Women sculptors
Women sculptors
Women sculptors
Occupation
Artists
Sculptors
Activity

Person

Birth 1876-03-10

Death 1973-10-04

Female

Americans

English

Information

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Ark ID: w6r500bv

SNAC ID: 6266273