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Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons (1878
Edith studied with
"Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons "
''Artnet'' * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Edith Barretto Stevens 1878 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American sculptors People from Halifax, Virginia Sculptors from Virginia Art Students League of New York alumni Sculptors from New York (state) 20th-century American women sculptors
Halifax, Virginia
Halifax is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States, along the Banister River. The population was 1,309 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Halifax County.
History
Carlbrook, Halifax County Courthouse, Mountain Road Historic Di ...
– 1956 New Canaan, Connecticut) was an American sculptor.
Life
Edith studied with Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...
, and 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 ...
, where she won a sculpture prize and scholarships. She apprenticed with James Earle Fraser.
She sculpted figures for the 1902 St. Louis Exposition's Liberal Arts Building, and in 1908 showed her sculpture ''Earth Mother'' 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 ...
. That same year, she married and built a studio on the top floor of their home.
Her work changed its subject matter as her own children were born and posed for her sculptures, often holding ducks, turtles, and other creatures.
''Duck Baby'', beginning a series of garden sculptures for which she is best known today, was the popular hit of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.
The exposition handbook stated: "In the presence of so much that is weighty and powerful, the popularity of ''Duck Baby'' is a significant and touching indication of the world's hunger for what is cheerful and mirth-provoking."
The same may be said of ''Turtle Baby'' and ''Frog Baby'', which forms the centerpiece of the small works collection at Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina.
Parsons also created portrait busts and public monuments including a World War I memorial in Summit, New Jersey
Summit is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. At the 2010 United Sta ...
, and a fountain dedicated to John Galloway in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
.
A quote that appeared in an anonymous newspaper article in the 1920s praised her work.Though intensely reticent about herself one may, if privileged to enter that home, breathe there the spirit of the gifted woman who has been able to imprison in bronze the smile of a little child.
Personal life
She married Howard Crosby Parsons in 1908. He was a direct descendant of Charles Willson Peale and they had one child, Edith Gilman Parsons.See also
* ''Frog Baby'' FountainReferences
External links
"Edith Barretto Stevens Parsons "
''Artnet'' * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Edith Barretto Stevens 1878 births 1956 deaths 20th-century American sculptors People from Halifax, Virginia Sculptors from Virginia Art Students League of New York alumni Sculptors from New York (state) 20th-century American women sculptors