Ney, Elisabet, 1833-1907

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From the Handbook of Texas Online :

Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney, one of the first professional sculptors in Texas, was born in Münster, Westphalia, on 1833 January 26 to Johann Adam and Anna Elizabeth (Wernze) Ney, a Catholic stonecarver and his wife. Ney enrolled at the Munich Academy of Art in 1852 and, after her graduation two years later, moved to Berlin, where she studied with Christian Daniel Rauch, one of the foremost sculptors in Europe in the mid-nineteenth century. Under Rauch's tutelage, Ney developed a classical style in the German tradition, with a tendency toward realism and a faithfulness to accurate scale. Through Rauch, she also became acquainted with Berlin's artistic and intellectual elite and sculpted her first works, among them portraits of such luminaries as Jacob Grimm and Alexander von Humboldt. During the late 1850s and 1860s Ney led a peripatetic life, traveling around Europe to complete portraits of intellectual and political leaders. Among her best-known works from this period are portrait busts of Arthur Schopenhauer, Giuseppi Garibaldi, and Otto von Bismarck and a full-length statue of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

On 1863 November 7 in Madeira, Ney married Edmund D. Montgomery, a Scottish physician and scientist. They left Europe in 1871 and settled briefly in Thomasville, Georgia, where their two sons were born. In 1872 Ney moved with her family to Texas and purchased Liendo Plantation in Waller County, where Ney, for much of the next twenty years, managed the plantation while Montgomery busied himself with his scientific work. After visiting Austin at the invitation of Governor Oran M. Roberts in the 1880s, Ney decided to resume her artistic career. She built a studio, called Formosa (now the Elisabet Ney Museum), in the Hyde Park area of Austin in 1892 and began lobbying notable citizens and the state legislature for commissions. During the next fifteen years she completed a number of portrait busts as well as statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston, now in the state Capitol, and a memorial to Albert Sidney Johnston, in the State Cemetery. Copies of the Austin and Houston statues are also in the United States Capitol. One of her few ideal pieces, a depiction of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, was also a major project during her Austin years; the marble is now displayed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art. In addition to her sculpting, Ney took an active role in artistic and civic activities in Austin, where she died on 1907 June 29. Four years later a number of her supporters founded the Texas Fine Arts Association in her honor.

References

Cutrer, Emily F. "Elisabet Ney." Handbook of Texas Online . http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fne26 .

Cutrer, Emily Fourmy. The Art of the Woman: The Life and Work of Elisabet Ney . Women in the West, eds. Sandra L. Myres, Elliott West, and Julie Roy Jeffrey. Lincoln, Nebraska, and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1988.

Elisabet Ney biographical file, Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, San Antonio, Texas.

From the guide to the Elisabet Ney Letters Doc 15066 ., 1894 and 1897, (Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library at the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas)

German-born sculptor came to Texas in 1872 with her Scottish husband, Dr. Edmund Montgomery.

Their home was Liendo Plantation near Hempstead, although Ney built a studio in Austin in 1893 where she lived and worked until her death. She is best known for her statues and busts of prominent military, political, and literary figures.

From the description of Ney, Elisabet, papers, 1865-1958. (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 26751479

Portrait sculptor; Austin, Texas.

Born in Westphalia, Germany. Date of birth sometimes cited as 1830. She formed a band that came from Germany to Georgia to form a colony. When it disbanded in 1872 she bought a plantation in Texas. Famous people who sat for her include Garibaldi, Sam Houston, Bismark, Von Humboldt, Von Liebig, Jacob Grimm and Schopenhauer. The museum was founded in 1909.

From the description of Elisabet Ney papers, 1865-1984. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 86118679

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Elisabet Ney papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Ney, Elisabet, 1833-1907. Ney, Elisabet, papers, 1865-1958. University of Texas Libraries
creatorOf Ney, Elisabet, 1833-1907. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn Taylor, Bride Neill, 1858-1937. Taylor, Bride Neill, papers, 1840, 1864, [1880s]-1937 University of Texas Libraries
referencedIn Rutland, J. W., Mrs. Elisabet Ney interview / Mrs. J.W. Rutland, interview by Mattie Lee Seymour. Austin Public Library, John Henry Faulk Central Library
referencedIn Museums -- Elisibet Ney Museum. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
referencedIn Williams-Houston papers MC143., 1852-1956, (Bulk: 1880, 1900) Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library,
referencedIn Historic sites -- Liendo Plantation. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
creatorOf NEY, ELISABET. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
referencedIn Montgomery, Edmund, 1835-1911. Edmund Montgomery and Elisabet Ney papers, 1830-1949. Southern Methodist University DeGolyer Library
referencedIn Texas Fine Arts Association. Texas Fine Arts Association Records, 1908-1992 University of Texas Libraries
referencedIn Taylor, Bride Neill, papers 1934; 1940., 1840, 1864, [1880s]-1937 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Elisabet Ney Papers AR. J. 006., 1892-1905 Austin History Center , Austin Public Library, 810 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas, 78701.
referencedIn Folsom, Erminia T., 1878-1967. Papers, 1856-1965 and undated University of Texas at Austin. General Libraries
referencedIn Edmund Montgomery and Elisabet Ney papers Mss 0050., 1830-1949 DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
referencedIn Kuehne, John Matthias, 1872-1960. John Matthias Kuehne Photograph Collection, 1894-1950. University of Texas Libraries
referencedIn Sutton, Doris Reinli. Reinli family papers, 1985. University of Texas Libraries
creatorOf Elisabet Ney Letters Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
referencedIn Records, 1886-1903, (bulk 1899-1903) Texas State Archives
referencedIn Houston family collection, 1836-1987. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
referencedIn Schulze, Gene. Gene Schulze papers. University of Texas Libraries
referencedIn Elisabet Ney. Texas Woman's University Library, Mary Evelyn Blagg-Huey Library
referencedIn Pennybacker, Percy V., Mrs., 1861-1938. Pennybacker, Percy V. / Mrs., papers, 1878-1938. University of Texas Libraries
referencedIn Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker Papers, 1878-1938 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History
referencedIn Biography -- Ney, Elisabet. Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Association of the Texas Academy of the Liberal Arts. corporateBody
associatedWith Austin, Stephen F. (Stephen Fuller), 1793-1836 person
associatedWith Bryan, Guy Morrison, 1821-1901. person
associatedWith Daughters of the Republic of Texas. corporateBody
associatedWith Elisabet Ney Museum (Austin, Tex.) corporateBody
associatedWith Folsom, Erminia Thompson, 1878-1967 person
associatedWith Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 1807-1882. person
associatedWith Houston family family
associatedWith Houston, Sam, 1793-1863 person
associatedWith Kuehne, John Matthias, 1872-1960. person
associatedWith Montgomery, Edmund, 1835-1911 person
associatedWith Ney, Elisabet person
associatedWith Pennybacker, Percy V., Mrs., 1861-1938 person
associatedWith Perry, Hally Bryan, 1868-1955. person
associatedWith Roberts, Madge Thornall, 1929- person
associatedWith Rutland, J. W., Mrs. person
associatedWith Schulze, Gene. person
associatedWith Sutton, Doris Reinli. person
associatedWith Taylor, Bride Neill, 1858-1937 person
associatedWith Texas Fine Arts Association corporateBody
associatedWith Texas. Governor (1899-1903 : Sayers) corporateBody
associatedWith Williams, Margaret Lea Houston, 1848-1906 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Egypt
Egypt
Texas
Austin (Tex.)
Waller County (Tex.)
Texas--Austin
Texas--Austin
Hempstead (Tex.)
Subject
Art museums
Portrait sculpture, American
Sculptors
Sculptors, American
Sculpture
Sculpture, Modern
Women sculptors
Women sculptors
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1833-01-26

Death 1907-06-29

Germans

English,

German,

French

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