Statue of Stephen F. Austin | |
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(Austin, Texas) | |
Artist | Elisabet Ney |
Year | 1903 |
Medium | Marble sculpture |
Subject | Stephen F. Austin |
Dimensions | 194 cm(76.5 in) [1] : 140 |
Location | Texas State Capitol, Austin, Texas, United States |
Statue of Stephen F. Austin | |
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(Washington, D.C.) | |
Artist | Elisabet Ney |
Year | 1905 |
Medium | Marble sculpture |
Subject | Stephen F. Austin |
Dimensions | 194 cm(76.5 in) [1] : 140 |
Location | National Statuary Hall Collection, Washington, D.C., United States |
Stephen F. Austin is a statue of Stephen F. Austin by Elisabet Ney, originally modeled in 1893.
Two carvings exist: one installed in 1903 in the Texas State Capitol, and the other installed in 1905 as one of the two statues from Texas in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. In each case it is accompanied by a second statue, Sam Houston , also by Ney and produced in parallel. [2]
In early 1892, the Texas government was preparing materials for a building at the World's Columbian Exposition to be held the following year in Chicago. Texas Governor Oran Milo Roberts recommended that the women's commission charged with fundraising for the exhibit speak with Elisabet Ney, a German–American sculptor residing in Austin, Texas. After a meeting, Ney was invited to sculpt portrait statues of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin for the exhibit, though the commission had no funds to pay the artist for her work. [3] : 86–87 Ney agreed and went to work first on the statue of Houston; she began work on Austin's statue in early 1893 and completed a plaster rendering of Austin by that fall. [1] : 143
The statue of Austin was completed too late to be displayed in Chicago, but Ney and the women's commission intended to cut editions of the Houston and Austin statues in marble for permanent display in the Texas State Capitol. [1] : 141–142 It took years to secure the necessary funding, but in 1901 the Texas Legislature appropriated the funds for the carving, and the two statues were unveiled in the Texas Capitol on January 19, 1903. [4] [3] : 93 An additional copy of each statue was cut for submission to the National Statuary Hall Collection and unveiled in the United States Capitol in 1905. [5]
Stephen F. Austin is a full-length statue in marble. It shows Austin standing on slightly uneven ground with his left foot forward, looking up and ahead into the distance. The lowered hands hold a partially unrolled scroll, meant to represent a map, while a Kentucky long rifle leans against the left hip and leg. Austin is portrayed as a young explorer dressed in fringed buckskins. The front face of the self base (the marble platform on which the figure stands) is inscribed "STEPHEN F. AUSTIN".
Ney used authentic period objects for reference in developing the details of the sculpture, including the long rifle and scroll map. When critics complained that the Houston statue was 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall while the Austin statue was only 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm), she replied that these had been the actual heights of the men, and that anyone objecting should "take the issue up not with her but with God." [1] : 139
The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the Rotunda. The meeting place of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 50 years (1807–1857), after a few years of disuse it was repurposed as a statuary hall in 1864; this is when the National Statuary Hall Collection was established. By 1933, the collection had outgrown this single room, and a number of statues are placed elsewhere within the Capitol.
Frederick Wellington Ruckstull was a French-born American sculptor and art critic.
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Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe Garibaldi and King George V of Hanover. At age 39, she immigrated to Texas with her husband, Edmund Montgomery, and became a pioneer in the development of art there. Among her most famous works during her Texas period were life-size marble figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, commissions for the Texas State Capitol. A large group of her works are housed in the Elisabet Ney Museum, located in her home and studio in Austin. Other works can be found in the United States Capitol, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and numerous collections in Germany.
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The Elisabet Ney Museum is a museum located in Austin, Texas, United States. It is housed in the former studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney and is dedicated to showcasing her life and works. There is a permanent collection of her portrait busts and personal memorabilia on display.
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Sam Houston is a statue of Sam Houston by Elisabet Ney, originally modeled in 1892.
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Albert Sidney Johnston is a memorial statue of General Albert Sidney Johnston by German American sculptor Elisabet Ney. The piece is a life-size recumbent male figure rendered in marble sculpture. It depicts the General at the time of his death in the Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War. Completed in 1903, the piece resides atop Johnston's tomb in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas, where it was installed in 1905.
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Arthur Schopenhauer is a sculpture of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer by sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1859, the piece is a portrait bust rendered in marble. The bust was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas, United States.
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Ludwig II is a sculpture of King Ludwig II of Bavaria by sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1870, the piece is a portrait statue rendered in plaster. The statue was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas; a marble version, completed by another sculptor, is installed in the Herrenchiemsee Palace in Bavaria.
Giuseppe Garibaldi is a sculpture of Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi by German sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1866, the piece is a portrait bust rendered in marble. The portrait was modeled and carved in Italy, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas.
Robert R. Livingston is an 1875 bronze sculpture of Robert R. Livingston, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, executed by the New York born sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer. The state is installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of New York.
Crawford Long is a 1926 marble sculpture depicting the American surgeon and pharmacist of the same name by J. Massey Rhind, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the U.S. state of Georgia.
Roger Sherman is an 1872 marble sculpture of Roger Sherman by Chauncey Ives, installed in the United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is one of two statues donated by the state of Connecticut. The sculpture was unveiled by Senator Orris Sanford Ferry of Connecticut on March 8, 1872.
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