Julia Bracken Wendt
Julia Bracken Wendt, (1870–1942) a notable American sculptor, was born in Apple River, Illinois, the twelfth of thirteen children in an Irish Catholic family.[1] Unsupported at home following the death of her mother when she was nine years old, she ran away from home at thirteen. By sixteen she was working as a domestic servant for a woman who recognized her talent and drive and paid to enroll her in the Chicago Art Institute. There she studies with Lorado Taft and by 1887 she had advanced to become his studio and teaching assistant.[2] In 1893, during the Columbian Exposition she was one of several women sculptors nicknamed the White Rabbits who helped produce some of the architectural sculpture that graced the exposition buildings. Aside from that she was awarded a commission to produce Illinois Welcoming the Nations for the Fair. The work was later cast in bronze and unveiled at the Illinois State Capitol,[3] at which time Governor Altgeld was the main speaker.
After successfully pursuing her career for a number of years in 1906 she married painter William Wendt and moved to Los Angeles, California where she continued her success.[4] In California she taught at the Otis Art Institute.[5]
Wendt was a member of the National Sculpture Society and exhibited and was featured in both the 1923 and 1929 Exhibitions and the resulting catalogues.[6][7]
Work
Her work can be found in:
- Chicago Historical Society
- Civil War Monument, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Laguna Art Museum
- Harvard University Portrait Collection
- old Los Angeles City Hall (now located in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)
- Lincoln Park, Los Angeles, California
- as well as in numerous private collections
References
- ↑ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 pp. 105*110
- ↑ McKay, James, The Dictionary of Sculptors in Bronze, Antique Collectors Club, London, 1995
- ↑ Taft, Lorado, ‘’The History of American Sculpture’’, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1925 p. 528
- ↑ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 pp. 105*110
- ↑ National Sculpture Society, ‘’Contemporary American Sculpture’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1929
- ↑ National Sculpture Society, ‘’Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1923
- ↑ National Sculpture Society, ‘’Contemporary American Sculpture’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1929