Bonnie MacLeary (sometimes McLeary, which is how she signed her work) (January 2, 1886 – February 2, 1971) was an American sculptor. Some sources give her date of birth as 1890, 1892, or 1898.

Early life

MacLeary was born in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, the youngest of four children of James Harvey MacLeary and his wife, Mary; at six she began creating sculptures with clay from the banks of the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

. At her parents' divorce she was taken in by her grandparents, Valentine and Helen King, who took her to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1901. She began studies there with

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

before traveling to Paris, where in 1903 she was studying with

William Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

at the

Académie Julien An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

. She also studied

miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript * Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album * Ottoman miniature, ...

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

before returning to New York. There she began studies with James Earle Fraser at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

in 1912, choosing to pursue her career as a sculptor. Around 1910 she met Ernest Kramer while visiting family in

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, and soon thereafter they married; they would live in Dallas, St. Louis, and New Mexico over the next few years, and visited her family in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, where many of them had moved, many times. When Kramer went to fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she established a studio in New York City.

Career

The showing of two of her sculptures at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1921 marked the beginning of MacLeary's career, and in 1924 her sculpture ''Aspiration'' was acquired by the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. She suffered a studio fire in 1927, which destroyed many pieces; at some point during this time in her life she also divorced her husband. She quickly recovered from the loss of her workspace, and soon began winning prizes for her work. She became an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1930; her diploma portrait in the collection is by

Jerome Myers Jerome Myers (March 20, 1867 – June 19, 1940) was an American artist and writer associated with the Ashcan School, particularly known for his sympathetic depictions of the urban landscape and its people. He was one of the main organizers of the ...

. Other organizations to which she belonged include the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

, the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

, the

Allied Artists of America An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, the

American Artists Professional League The American Artists Professional League (AAPL) is an American organization that promotes artists and their works. It was formed in 1928 in New York City by Frederick Ballard Williams Frederick Ballard Williams (1871- 1956) was an American landsc ...

, the

Society of Medalists The Society of Medalists was established in 1930 in the United States to encourage the medallic work of superior sculptors, and to make their creations available to the public. The Society of Medalists was the longest running art medal collector's ...

, and the Southern States Art League. During her career she would show at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...

, among other places. From the 1940s she focused on

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

work. She resettled in

Washington, New Jersey Washington is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 6,461, In 1964 she and her second husband, James McGahan, moved to Florida. MacLeary's most popular works were statues of women and children, many designed to be displayed in gardens; so successful were they that she crafted small versions to be sold in stores.

Molly Spotted Elk Mary Nelson Archambaud (born Mary Alice Nelson; Penobscot pronunciation: Molly Dellis; ), best known by her stage name Molly Spotted Elk, was a Penobscot Indian dancer, actress, and writer who was born on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation ...

served as the model for a number of her pieces. MacLeary rarely depicted male figures, although she did create a few memorials to men during her career. These include Benjamin Rush Milam (for the Texas Historical and Landmarks Association), A. Joseph Armstrong (at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

), and

Luis Muñoz Rivera Luis Muñoz Rivera (July 17, 1859 – November 15, 1916) was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and politician. He was a major figure in the struggle for political autonomy of Puerto Rico in union with Spain. In 1887, Muñoz Rivera became part ...

(at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

). Also in Puerto Rico is a

memorial, ''Victory''; other public commissions include ''Free Ireland'' (1923), in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and the Rotan Memorial at the Antoinette Memorial Home. Another memorial is in Brooklyn's

Green-wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...

, while a relief dedicated to the women of the Confederacy is in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

. The

Witte Museum The Witte Museum was established in 1926 and is located in Brackenridge Park in San Antonio, Texas. It is dedicated to telling the stories of Texas, from prehistory to the present. The permanent collection features historic artifacts and photograp ...

in her birth city contains examples of her work, as do numerous private collections; the Metropolitan Museum of Art sold ''Aspiration'' in 2015 for $8,750. The

San Antonio Museum of Art The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is an art museum in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, USA. The museum spans 5,000 years of global culture. The museum is housed in the historic former Lone Star Brewery (1886) on the Museum Reach of the San Antonio ...

is home to two of her works, ''Blessed Damozel'' and ''Fountain Figure of a Water Nymph.''

Death

She died at Lakeland General Hospital in Lakeland after a short illness. Her cremated remains were interred in Oakside Cemetery in

Zephyrhills Zephyrhills is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was counted at 17,194 in the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. Zephyrhills is also known as the headquarters of the Zephyrhil ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacLeary, Bonnie 1971 deaths People from San Antonio Sculptors from Texas American women sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists Students of William Merritt Chase Académie Julian alumni Art Students League of New York alumni Sculptors from New York (state) 1886 births