The Art of the Woman: The Life and Work of Elisabet Ney

Eccentric, aloof German-American sculptor Elisabet Ney (1833-1907) made her way in a man's world by promoting an image of herself as a romantic rebel. She has inspired novels, plays and biographies, but much of this literature, according to Cutrer, perpetuates unfounded mythssuch as the belief that she fled Germany because she was a secret agent of Bismarck. Her busts of Garibaldi, Schopenhauer and half-mad Ludwig of Bavaria never broke out of the neoclassical mold. Emigrating to Texas in 1871, she and her physician husband bought a decrepit, isolated plantation. Cutrer's rigorous biographical-critical study paints a vivid picture of this adventurous woman's frustrating existence as a frontier artist, ever short on sculptor's supplies and appreciation. Lady MacBeth, the piece that crowned her career in the U.S., is a moving exploration of a woman's grief that may reflect Ney's own private anguish. Illustrations not seen by PW. (June)