I have been reading about Elisabeth Ney. I walk by her Hyde Park studio often. A whimsical limestone union of a Roman temple and a towered fortress; now the Elisabeth Ney museum.
My musings on her art and life led me to her large portrait hanging in the museum. There she stood in flowing black, her determined face framed by short curly hair. In 1860, her hair was as trailblazing as her choice of vocation and lifestyle.
The first German woman trained at the Munich Academy, she became an acclaimed European artist in the 1850s. The museum showcases her reach and legion. Sculpted busts of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Jacob Grimm, Arthur Schopenhauer, Otto von Bismarck, George V of Hanover line the tables.
The Swan King Ludwig II of Bavaria stands at the entrance, a friend and patron of Elisabeth. I sensed his sadness when I visited his obsessively grandiose palaces. He failed to stab through the veil to become his true self. https://sreeatlarge.com/sad-king-ludwig/
Elisabeth managed to do just that with precision. She knew what she wanted and how to get it. She remained Miss. Ney after marrying Edmund Montgomery in 1863, and he became her ‘best friend.’ In 1872, the family moved to Texas and some twenty years later she produced some of her best-known Texas works.
I am not crazy about this epithet often used to describe Elisabeth – she was ahead of her times. It’s a redirect, away from her profound accomplishments. She would be unique and ahead even today.
I believe she chose to draw outside the lines deliberately. She wasn’t just being ahead of her time. It was an ingenious chisel to chip away social barriers.
After all, if you cut off your hair in the 1800s and wear trousers, who would frown if you were also a sculptor?
She is one of the smartest and bravest women who called Austin home. I celebrate her short hair.
If you want to read more about her:
https://artistshomes.org/site/elisabet-ney-museum