Eugenie Shonnard

Eugenie Frederica Shonnard (1886–1978) was an American sculptor and painter born in Yonkers, New York.

Eugenie F. Shonnard
Born(1886-04-29)April 29, 1886
Yonkers, NY
DiedApril 5, 1978(1978-04-05) (aged 91)
Santa Fe, NM
NationalityAmerican
EducationAlphonse Mucha, Auguste Rodin
Known forSculpture
Spouse(s)Edward Gordon Ludlam
Patron(s)Edgar Lee Hewett

Career

Shonnard began her art studies at the New York School of Applied Design for Women with Alphonse Mucha[1] and at the Art Students League with James Earle Fraser.[2] In 1911 she moved to Paris where she studied with sculptors Antoine Bourdelle and Auguste Rodin.[3] There she exhibited at the Paris Salons of 1912, 1913 and 1922.[4] Shonnard also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1916, the Museum of Modern Art in 1933 and the 1939 New York World's Fair.[5] Among her notable early sculptures are busts of Alphonse Mucha and Dinah, the Bronx Zoo's first gorilla.[6]

Bust of Alfons Mucha by Eugenie Shonnard

In 1926, Edgar L. Hewett, director of the School of American Research invited her to settle in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she was given studio space at the Museum of New Mexico.[7] While in New Mexico she became well respected for her carvings of Pueblo Indians. She traveled to the Pueblos and learned how they make pottery with Maximiliana, the sister of famous San Ildefonso potter, Maria Martinez.[8] Shonnard's Pueblo Indian with Bowl sculpture was unanimously chosen to represent New Mexico in the 1938 exhibition of sculpture at the Architectural League in New York.[9] She had solo exhibitions at the New Mexico Museum of Art in 1928, 1937 and 1954 and at the Roswell Museum and Art Center in 1969.[10] In May 1954 she was awarded an honorary fellowship in fine arts by the School of American Research and Museum of New Mexico.

Shonnard was an early proponent of the "direct carving" style of creating sculpture. She developed a cement material she called Keenstone which she used for both sculptural and architectural work.[1]

Shonnard was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and the National Sculpture Society and exhibited at their 1923[4] and 1929[11] exhibitions. In 1939 she created wood panels—Indians and Cattle—for the U.S. Court House and Post Office in Waco, Texas, through the Section of Painting and Sculpture.[12][13]

Personal life

Shonnard was the daughter of Civil War Major Frederic Shonnard of the 6th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment,[14] and Eugenie Smyth Shonnard, a descendant of Declaration of Independence signatory Francis Lewis. On July 26, 1933 she married E. Gordon Ludlam.[15]

Collections

Works by Shonnard can be found in:[16]

References
  1. Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women Sculptors, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston 1990 p. 246
  2. Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women Artists, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston 1982 p. 212
  3. Heller, Jules and Nancy G, Heller, ed., "North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary" Garland Reference Library of the Humanities (Vol. 1219), Garland Publishing Company, New York & London, 1995
  4. Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue, 156th Street of Broadway New York, The National Sculpture Society 1923, p. 227
  5. Grauer, Michael R. (2004). "Woman Artists of Santa Fe". American Art Review. XVI (5): 167.
  6. Gott, Ted; Weir, Kathryn (June 2013). Gorilla. Reaktion Books Ltd. ISBN 9781780230672. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  7. Walter, Paul A. F. (October 1928). "Eugénie F. Shonnard". The American Magazine of Art. 19 (10): 552. JSTOR 23930221.
  8. Loomis, Sylvia. "Oral history interview with Eugenie Shonnard, 1964 February 27-1964 April 9". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  9. Wallis, Ada King. "Eugenie Shonnard Highly Honored". Western Woman - Widening Horizons. 16 (1): 8.
  10. Kovinick, Phil; Yoshiki-Kovinick, Marian (1998). An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. p. 278. ISBN 0292790635.
  11. Contemporary American Sculpture, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park, San Francisco, The National Sculpture Society 1929 p. 293
  12. "U.S. Courthouse – Waco TX". Living New Deal. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  13. "New Deal WPA Art in Texas". Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  14. Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture: Volume II. The Trustees, Brookgreen Gardens, 1955 p. 267
  15. Proske, Beatrice Gilman, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture: Volume II. The Trustees, Brookgreen Gardens, 1955 p. 268
  16. "SIRIS - Smithsonian Institution Research Information System". Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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