Elisabet Ney
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Jan. 26, 1833 - June 29, 1907) World-renowned sculptor; lived 35 years in Texas, where she executed works of many noted citizens. Born in Muenster, Westphalia, Germany, Elisabet grew up beautiful, talented, and self-willed. At 19 she began to study at the Academy of Arts, Munich, where her skill and charm brought many admirers, and her strong opinions made some think her eccentric. Before she was 30, Elisabet had produced statues of German royalty and many European statesmen. In 1863 she married Dr. Edmund Montgomery, whom she had met as a young medical student from Scotland. In 1870 they moved to the United States and in 1872, to Texas, which they liked for its vastness and its high regard for freedom. They purchased the famous Liendo Plantation in present Waller County and there reared two sons, only one of whom lived to adulthood. In 1892 Elisabet built this studio, "Formosa," in which to execute statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston for the Texas exhibit at the 1893 World Fair. The statues now stand in the State Capitol. Here she also did a recumbent statue of military leader Albert Sidney Johnston, which lies over his grave at the State Cemetery in Austin. Elisabet Ney and Dr. Montgomery are both buried at Liendo. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Elisabet Ney was already a celebrated sculptor of German royalty and European statesmen before she ever saw Texas. Born in Westphalia in 1833, trained at the Munich academy, and married to the Scottish-born philosopher Dr. Edmund Montgomery, she settled in Texas in 1872, drawn by its vastness and love of freedom. In 1892 she built this studio, "Formosa," where she carved the statues of Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston that now stand in the State Capitol, along with the recumbent figure over Albert Sidney Johnston's grave.
Why it matters
Ney brought world-class European artistry to frontier Texas and shaped how the state pictures its own founders in marble. As an independent, self-willed woman commanding a major artistic career in the 19th century, she remains a landmark figure in American women's history.
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Related people
- · Elisabet Ney
- · Edmund Montgomery
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Sam Houston
Related events
- · World's Columbian Exposition (1893)
Themes & tags
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