1. Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe Garibaldi and King George V of Hanover.
12 Facts About Elisabet Ney
1. 2.
The only other surviving child in the Elisabet Ney family was her older brother, Fritz.
3.
Elisabet Ney was the great-niece of Michel Ney, Marshal of France.
4.
Elisabet Ney went on a weeks-long hunger strike when her parents opposed her becoming a sculptor, prompting her parents to request the assistance of their local bishop.
5.
Shortly after completing the Bismarck bust, Elisabet Ney was commissioned in 1868 by Prussian agents to sculpt a full-length portrait of Ludwig II of Bavaria in Munich.
6.
In 1891, Ney was commissioned by the Board of Lady Managers of the Chicago World's Fair Association, and supplemented with by the Texas state legislature, to model figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F Austin for the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition World's Fair in 1893.
7.
Elisabet Ney missed the deadline and the sculptures were not shown at the Exhibition.
8.
Elisabet Ney succeeded in having the orator, three-time presidential candidate, and noted attorney William Jennings Bryan sit for a portrait; she hoped to sell replicas of this bust to debate clubs across the country.
9.
Elisabet Ney refused to use Montgomery's name, often denied she was even married, and once remarked:.
10.
Elisabet Ney wore pants and rode her horses astride as men did.
11.
Elisabet Ney liked to fashion her own clothes, which, in addition to the slacks, included boots and a black artist frock coat.
12.
Elisabet Ney died in her studio on June 29,1907, and is buried next to Montgomery, who died four years later, at Liendo Plantation.