Statue of Stephen F. Austin
Marble statue of Stephen F. Austin on a stone pedestal
The statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection
ArtistElisabet Ney
Year1905 (1905)
MediumMarble sculpture
SubjectStephen F. Austin
Dimensions194 cm (76.5 in)[1]: 140 
LocationNational 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 and installed in 1905; it is part of the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., as one of the two statues from Texas. The other Texas statue, Sam Houston, is also by Ney and was produced in parallel. Another carving of Stephen F. Austin is displayed in the Texas State Capitol, where it was installed in 1903.[2]

The statue in the Texas State Capitol

History

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]

Design

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 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cutrer, Emily Fourmy (2016). The Art of the Woman: The Life and Work of Elisabet Ney. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 9781623494247. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  2. ↑ Fowler, Mike; Maguire, Jack (1988). The Capitol Story: Statehouse in Texas. Austin, Texas: Eakin Press. p. cs 12.
  3. 1 2 Taylor, Bride Neill (1938). Elisabet Ney: Sculptor. Austin, Texas: F. Taylor. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  4. ↑ Fortune, Jan; Burton, Jean (1943). Elisabet Ney. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 242, 270. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
  5. ↑ Architect of the Capitol (1965). Compilation of Works of Art and Other Objects in the United States Capitol. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. pp. 210–211. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
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