Mary Lawrence (Tonetti) (1868–1945) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. She designed the

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

sculpture at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

Life

Lawrence was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

into a prominent New York family whose ancestors included John Lawrence, mayor of New York City from 1673 to 1675 and 1691–1692, and the War of 1812 patriot, Captain James Lawrence who died after uttering the words, "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!" While in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

preparing for the

, sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens recommended Lawrence, who had been his pupil at the Art Students League of New York for the previous five years, for the creation of the monumental statue of

to be placed at the entrance of the Administration Building. Like many of the buildings at the Exposition, the statue was made of staff, a temporary building material, and no longer exists. Although some critics claimed that St. Gaudens, or his brother Louis, had in fact modelled the work, St. Gaudens himself debunked this by stating in his Reminiscences that Lawrence, "modeled and executed it and to her goes all the credit for the vitality and breadth of treatment which it revealed." St Gaudens biographer Bruce Wilkens relates that Millet objected to the prominent placement of the statue and arranged to have it moved to a spot near the train station. The architect

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the part ...

, a founding member of the prestigious architectural firm

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...

and a widower, who had fallen in love with Lawrence in New York, had enough sway in Chicago to get the statue of Columbus returned to its former place. Lawrence never forgave Millet and is quoted as saying, "I could stamp on his face and grind it into the gravel until it bled."Wilkinson, Bruce, photographs by David Finn, ''Uncommon Clay: The Life and Works of Augustus Saint Gaudens'', Harcourt Brace Jonanvich, Publishers, San Diego 1985 Following the end of the Exposition Lawrence served as an assistant to St Gaudens, helping him in the creation of the General

John A. Logan John Alexander Logan (February 9, 1826 – December 26, 1886) was an American soldier and politician. He served in the Mexican–American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a st ...

monument that was bound for Grant Park in Chicago. Thereafter, she moved to Paris where she studied at the Académie Julian. There, in 1893, she met a young assistant to

Frederick William Macmonnies Frederick William MacMonnies (September 28, 1863 – March 22, 1937) was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States. He was also a highly accomplishe ...

, Francois ML Tonetti. They were married in 1900 in New York City. Saint Gaudens, when he heard about the wedding "broke down and wept" and bemoaned the loss of her artistic ability to a much less talented sculptor, saying that she would likely have "lots of festive children," but would produce no more significant art. Her first child, a son named Oliver, died at the age of thirteen days. Lawrence did produce a few more works after her marriage, such as two fountains she created with her husband for the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

held in Buffalo, New York in 1901. In 1907, she contributed two statues, ''Venice'' and ''Spain'' - again in collaboration with her husband - to the parade of statues on the cornice of

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minnesota, Arkansas and ...

's US Customs House. Lawrence Tonetti was one of the founders of New York's Cosmopolitan Club. As a supporter of the arts, she helped form an artists' colony at her ancestral home of Sneden's Landing, New York, now called

Palisades, New York Palisades, formerly known as Sneden's Landing (pronounced SNEE-dens), is a hamlet in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York. It is located north of Rockleigh and Alpine, New Jersey; east of Tappan; south of Sparkill; and west of t ...

.Savell, Isabell K. (1977). ''The Tonetti Years at Snedens Landing''. New York, NY: The Historical Society of Rockland County. p. 3. .

References

Sources

* Opitz, Glenn B., ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Apollo Books, Poughkeepsie, NY 1986 * Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer, ''American Women Sculptors''. G.K.Hall & CO., Boston 1990 * Saint-Gaudens, Homer, editor, ''The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens'', Published by The Century, New York 1913 * ''New York Times''. "MRS. MARY L. TONETTI; Sculptor, Ex-Aide to St. Gaudens, Made Statue for Fair of '93," March 15, 1945, Section, p. 23.

External links

*Jeanne Rejaunier (granddaughter of Mary Lawrence Tonetti) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Mary American women sculptors 1868 births 1945 deaths People from Palisades, New York 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century American sculptors Académie Julian alumni Art Students League of New York alumni Artists from New York City 20th-century American women artists 19th-century American women artists Sculptors from New York (state)