Browse Items (31 total)
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Benedette Tobin (1849-1901), plaster, 1893
Benedette Brace Tobin was one of Ney’s most committed Austin supporters. As president of the Ladies’ World’s Fair Association of the World’s Columbian Exposition, Tobin was instrumental in Ney’s receiving the commission for the statues of Sam…
Cast showing musculature of shoulder and arm (mass produced), n.d.
Arm Muscles, a manufactured plaster cast study showing muscles of the upper shoulder. The assumption held by the majority suggests this object was a study aid and not created by Ney herself.
Clasped Hands (Study for Lady Macbeth), 1899-1902
This study was one of many that Elisabet Ney executed while completing Lady Macbeth, in which she captures the Shakespearean character washing the metaphorical blood of King Duncan from her hands.
Dr. David T. Iglehart (1835-1903), plaster, 1903
Fanny Iglehart commissioned Ney to create this bust of her recently deceased husband, a prominent Austin physician. With one photograph and recollected stories from the Igleharts’ daughter, Ney was able to complete the plaster in three days. The…
Ella Dancy Dibrell (1862-1920) plaster, 1900
This portrait medallion depicts Ney’s friend and supporter Ella Dancy Dibrell, who purchased Formosa at Ney’s death and was one of the founders of the Texas Fine Arts Association.
Francis R. Lubbock (1815-1905), marble, modeled 1895; cut 1895-97
One of the first portrait busts that Ney executed in her Austin studio was that of the former Texas governor Francis Lubbock (1861-63). Along with his wife, Gov. Lubbock became one of the many public figures who strongly supported Ney’s work.…
General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862), plaster bust, 1901
The State of Texas commissioned Ney to create a monumental statuary piece of Albert Sidney Johnston for the Texas State Cemetery. The plan came about as early as the 1890s, but was not commissioned until 1901, and was fraught with difficulties. This…
General Albert Sidney Johnston (1803-1862), reclining, plaster, 1903-1904
The State of Texas commissioned Ney to create a monumental statuary piece of Albert Sidney Johnston for the Texas State Cemetery. The plan came about as early as the 1890s, but was not commissioned until 1901, and was fraught with difficulties. This…
Heroic Bust of Christ, marble, modeled 1896; cut 1904
Ney completed this bust of Christ in hopes that it would be exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Unfortunately, the bust was never placed on display due to space restrictions and was later sold to a private collector. Ney, though raised…
Jacob Bickler (1849-1902), plaster, circa 1902
This bas-relief profile portrait commemorates Ney’s friend and neighbor Jacob Bickler, who established the Bickler Academy in 1892. In addition to collaborating on community projects with Bickler, Ney often planned special events at her studio for…
Johanna Runge (1856-1933), plaster, modeled 1887, this cast of Johanna 1900
Julius Runge, the son of German immigrants, was a prominent merchant, financier, and public official based in Galveston. He was also The German Consul for the young state, and helped Ney acquire the Liendo Plantation in Hempstead. In 1887, she…
John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905), plaster, 1895
John Reagan served several terms in the U.S. House and Senate and also held posts with the Confederate States of America, including Postmaster General and Secretary of the Treasury. He was serving as chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas when…
Joseph B. Dibrell (1855-1934), plaster, 1901
Senator Dibrell of Seguin was the husband of Elisabet’s close friend Ella Dancy Dibrell. Senator Dibrell served as Elisabet’s occasional advisor and would champion Elisabet’s work in bureaucratic circles as energetically as his wife did in social…
Joseph Draper Sayers (1841-1929), marble, 1902
Governor Sayers (1899-1903) supported Ney’s endeavors by appropriating state funds to commission the marble figures of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston for the Capitol, and helped her secure later work. In 1911 Sayers became a founding member of…
Julius Runge (1851-1906), plaster, modeled 1887, this cast of Julius 1887
Julius Runge, the son of German immigrants, was a prominent merchant, financier, and public official based in Galveston. He was also The German Consul for the young state, and helped Ney acquire the Liendo Plantation in Hempstead. In 1887, she…
Lady Macbeth, plaster, 1902
One of Ney’s final works of art depicts the famous sleepwalking scene from Shakespeare’s tragic play, when Lady Macbeth, haunted by her role in the murder of King Duncan, wrings her hands and tries in vain to wash imaginary blood from them. The final…
Lorne Ney Montgomery (1873-1913), plaster, circa 1886
Ney made this bust portrait of her teenage son while she was still living at Liendo, not long before Lorne left for college in Baltimore. It was only the third or fourth work she had attempted after leaving Germany in 1871, and her only known…
Oran Milo Roberts (1815-1898), plaster, modeled 1882; this cast 1898
A member of the Texas Supreme Court, a two-term governor (1879-83), and the first law professor at the new University of Texas, Oran Roberts was a fellow landowner in Waller County, where Liendo, Ney’s country home, was located. He was one of Ney’s…
Samuel Houston as a young man (1793-1863), plaster, 1903
Sam Houston is a starring figure in the history of Texas. Houston’s defeat of the Mexican Army at San Jacinto resulted in Texan independence. He later served as President of the Republic of Texas, then U.S. senator. In 1861, he resigned his…
Samuel Houston, Elder Statesman (1793-1863), plaster, 1903
Sam Houston is a starring figure in the history of Texas. Houston’s defeat of the Mexican Army at San Jacinto resulted in Texan independence. He later served as President of the Republic of Texas, then U.S. senator. In 1861, he resigned his…
Samuel Houston, plaster, modeled 1893; cast 1902
Perhaps one of Elisabet Ney's most celebrated Texas works, this sculpture of Sam Houston was originally commissioned by the Texas legislature to be displayed alongside Stephen F. Austin at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In her…
Sir Swante Palm (1815-1899), plaster, 1898-1899
Swante Palm was a Swedish-American diplomat and businessman who promoted Swedish settlement in Texas. He held a number of important positions in Austin, including postmaster and city councilman. Before his death he donated his extensive library to…
Skull (mass produced), n.d.
Plaster cast skull with missing teeth. It appears to have been used as a study aid for the artist, but there is no information regarding its origins. It looks to have a European stylization, but it may also be from her stay here in the United…
Steiner Burleson (1892-1899), marble, modeled 1899, cut 1903-04
After Ney’s friends Albert and Adele Burleson lost their six-year-old son, Steiner, to spinal meningitis, Ney created this portrait medallion as an expression of her deep sympathy. The shell and seaweed forms which encircle the child were popular…
Stephen Fuller Austin (1793-1836), wearing buckskin, plaster, 1898 or 1903
Known as “The Father of Texas,” Stephen F. Austin brought the first 300 immigrant families to Texas to populate his settlement, the Austin Colony, in 1825; these families became known as the Old Three Hundred. In 1836, he was appointed by Sam…