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304 East
44th Street
Text and photos by
John Troesser
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Sam Houston
by Elizabet Ney |
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Left
- A sampling of some of the busts on display
Right - Gate stone inscription 1939 |
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Ney's
northern light window at her studio.
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The
Elizabet 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 Elizabet Ney) is usual.
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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A
cherub model for a tombstone |
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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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One
of the few items not of clay, plaster or stone |
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.
Austin
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©
John Troesser
May 2002
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