A Texas Icon – Sculptor Elisabet Ney

The busts of Houston and Austin that grace the Capitol in Austin were carved by Texas’ greatest sculptor, Elizabet Ney. Uniquely talented and unconventional, she stretched her lifestyle to the limits – a real Texan.

Born in Westphalia, Germany, Ney escaped a demanding father and left home at nineteen to study art in Munich. There, she married a Scots medical student, Edmund Montgomery, but continued to refer to herself as “Miss Ney.” She ignored the fact of her marriage even when pregnant, referring to Montgomery as “my friend.”  She traveled throughout Europe, sculpting busts of eminent statesmen and building her reputation.  Her unconventional, peripatetic  habits led her, with her husband and a life-long servant, to leave Europe and immigrate to Thomasville, Georgia.

In Georgia, on their farm, her two children were born. Texas seemed a better option, and she and Edmund purchased Groce’s Plantation on the Brazos River, which they renamed Liendo. Elizabet operated the cotton plantation while Edmund pursued his career as a scientist. When her two-year-old son died of Pneumonia, she cremated the body in her own fireplace.

Invited to Austin by the Governor, Elizabet renewed her sculpting and built a studio, now the Elibet Ney Museum. There she created what is possibly her finest work, a recumbent statue of Albert Sidney Johnson, which now resides at his gravesite in the State Cemetery. She continued to shock people with her unconventional ways.

(This information taken from Texas: A Modern History by David G. McComb and the Handbook of Texas Online).

A note from the old blogger – Crocus are now up and blooming among the leaves in my yard. Take heart – Spring will arrive right on schedule!

Dac 

1/12/2009

 

 

Comments

[Karen]

Elisabet Ney was the inspiration for one of our books [Sculpting the learning organization]. We wrote it in Austin-- taking visits to the museum and learning about her and about sculpting as we wrote. Her sculpture of Lady MacBeth is I believe her finest work.

[Irene]

Talented people continue to amaze me. Just finished a note to a high school friend I haven't seen in 30 years. She lives in Atlanta and has established a career in art for herself.
We're digging in for the coldest dip yet, but several years ago I picked daffodils from a neighbors yard on Valentine's Day.
Good to see you back on line.
Irene

[Marj]

When I was teaching the primary gifted (grades K-2) kids, we wrote our own units about local and other well-known "heroes" who might inspire our students. One was Elisabet Ney. I traveled to Austin and toured the museum, taking many pictures to share with the students. The guide was extremely helpful. I left most of the material with the school and the program when I retired; I'm not organized enough to quickly locate my pictures, but it was an extremely interesting day.