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| The
Elisabet Ney Museum sits in a residential neighborhood on 44th Street
off of Avenue G. It's an unusual location for a museum - but nothing
about the place (or Elisabet Ney) is usual. |
| Interior of Elisabet
Ney's studio. |
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Ney
had her fortress-like studio built in 1892 and would commute on
horseback from her home at Liendo
Plantation in Hempstead,
Texas - a good 110 miles. She would camp out en route and spend
weeks in Austin while her husband
wrote and lived the life of a hermit-philosopher at Liendo.
Ney's European circle of friends included some pretty influential
people - many of whom had their likeness recorded by Ney. Her Austin
friends would often come to her studio and if it became too crowded
she'd throw out a few statues to make room. The studio was preserved
after Ney's death in 1907.
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The
photo above is a model Ney sculpted for a tombstone that stands
today in a Fredericksburg
cemetery. After her own son died of a fever - she made a cast of
his small body that she kept until her death. Her doctor recommended
cremation out of fear of contagion and she performed the sad task
herself. This may have started the "madness" rumors.
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| Elisabet Ney's
studio "Formosa" in Austin |
| Ney's sculpture
entitled Sursum, Latin for "Upward." |
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Left - A sampling
of some of the busts on display
Right - Gate stone inscription 1939 |
| Elizabet Ney's
Miller Baby Cast, ca 1900 |
| Ney's northern
light window at her studio. |
| Another sculpture
in Elizabet Ney Studio |
| Elisabet Ney
Studio Spiral Staircase |
The
museum has a third story that can still be visited by climbing a rather
tight spiral staircase. Ney would sometimes sleep on the roof of the
building in the summer and since space was at a premium she had a
bookcase built onto the back of the door leading to the roof.
It is one of Texas' oldest museums
and unquestionably one of the most unusual. The sculptures and personal
items are on loan from the University of Texas.
Admission is free and there is seldom a crowd.
Elizabet Ney is buried at Liendo
Plantation in Hempstead,
Texas.
© John
Troesser
May 2002 |
| A self-carved
bust of the sculptor on display at Liendo |
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