The Elizabet Ney Museum

    I visited the Elizabet Ney Museum for a homeschool art field trip. The museum is located on Forty-Fourth Street and Avenue H in downtown Austin. The museum is a limestone structure that was originally designed by Elizabet Ney to be her residence. The house was very striking and even has a bank of windows that would allow her to open up the back wall of her main room studio so she could move large objects into the area. What surprised me was that Elizabet focused her house on art more than living purposes. For instance, she refused to have factory made furniture in her house so she had a group of carpenters piece together minimal furnishings. One interesting part of the home was a skinny flight of steps that lead to the top of the tower where Elizabets husband had his writing studio. Another interesting fact about her whimsical nature involved the creek behind the home, she had it dammed up in order to create her own personal lake to be a backdrop for the entertaining of her many guests and clients.

Elizabet Ney
Photo By: Chandra Brown

Edmund Montgomery
Photo By: Chandra Brown

     When I first walked into the studio the middle of the room showcased the self portrait of Elizabet Ney and her husband, Edmund Montgomery, in the medium she was best known for, sculpting marble.  What intrigued me about her self portrait was that she waited until she was older to begin this piece which is a depiction of her younger self. She toted around a plaster cast of herself for years as she traveled from Germany, Portugal and Italy before she came to Texas where she sculpted the piece. I also liked the sculpture of her husband because of the amazing detail she displayed in his hair and sideburns.

     Elizabet did many portraits of historical people such as King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It has been noted that Ludwig did not like to sit for long periods of time, as a result Ludwigs sculpture was less detailed than most of the other pieces. She had also sculpted a portrait of Jesus which I thought was outstanding. The fact that her house was built strategically next to the city brought many politicians to her residence for their sculptures and interesting discussions. Some well known historical Texas figures in her repertoire include Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. She was excellent at depicting the details of anatomy in the human hand. While I was studying her work I realized how accurately she had chiseled them to look like the real thing, this made me think that her sculptures of her human subjects were a very close rendition of what they really looked like.

'Jesus Christ'
Photo By: Chandra Brown

      When I visited the museum I spotted a picture of Elizabet standing in front of her house, the house as you may realize is beautiful, however, the landscape was very bland as it is today. I can see why the keepers of the museum would want to keep it as original as possible but I do suggest a magnificent garden graced with a commissioned sculpture of Eizabet Ney to make the area more appealing in order to attract more visitors. Also, it has been said that Elizabet had her own personal lake, I think if they take advantage of that fact and get the lake up and running again, add some picnic tables and a lakeside bench it would make the museum more of a destination.
     I was fascinated to find an amazing female sculptist and painter who could have chosen any place in the world to live here in Texas, I wish she could have lived longer so she could add to her collection of amazing sculptures for the publics enjoyment. If you love art and are visiting Austin, Texas it's worth venturing off the beaten path to peruse the Elizabet Ney Museum.

Art Field Trip
Elizabet Ney Museum
Photo By: Chandra Brown