The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962 Page: 161
663 p. : ill., maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Elisabet Ney, Sculptor
from her parents, but also, what was more important, the artistic
feeling and skill of her father. She was tall and erect, of striking
appearance and possessed beautiful curly auburn hair.
In addition to the above mentioned characteristics, Elisabet
was extremely ambitious. At the age of only seventeen, she as-
tounded her parents with her plans to go to Berlin to study
under the then renowned German sculptor, Christian Daniel
Rauch, who was at the height of his career.
Her announcement that she wanted to become a sculptor
created consternation in the sedate household of the Neys, but
Elisabet was not to be dissuaded. She went on a hunger strike
and threatened to die rather than to give up her cherished am-
bition. Even her bishop could not alter her determination.
At long last her stubbornness prevailed, but only after she was
willing to compromise. She had to give up her dream to go to
Berlin and to study under the celebrated Rauch. She could, how-
ever, go to Munich, capital of Bavaria.
Two years passed, and Elisabet, at the age of nineteen, finally
went to Munich in 1852. From then on a new life opened for her
which took her to heights of fame perhaps hitherto never reached
by any woman in the field of sculpture.
Her two years in Munich completely changed her life. Over a
century ago, she lived and worked like a mid-twentieth century
woman. No woman without her ambition, determination, ability,
perseverance, and personal beauty and charm could have accom-
plished what she did in her day and time. She believed in the
equality of men and women in all fields of endeavor and success-
fully fought for that principle all her life.
She began by taking lessons in drawing and design from the
then well-known painter Johann Baptist Berdelle. He was a strict
teacher and, apparently, Elisabet learned much from him. She
soon learned her way around Munich, a big city, not at all like
provincial and sedate Muenster. One thing, however, was upper-
most in her mind. She must meet Wilhelm von Kaulbach, the
director of the Academy of Arts, the man she would have to win
over, if she were to enter the Academy. When she finally got the
opportunity to see von Kaulbach and to tell him her story, she
received in reply a curt "No." No woman had ever been admitted
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, July 1961 - April, 1962, periodical, 1962; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101195/m1/185/: accessed May 3, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.