Nessa Cohen, born Helen Nessa Cohen, (December 11, 1885 - December 1976) was an American sculptor, born in New York City. She exhibited in the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art.

Early life

Cohen was born on December 11, 1884 in New York City. Her parents were Pauline and Adolph Cohen, who were both of German and Russian heritage. Her father was a lawyer born in Germany. She had an older sister named Sadie.Record for Helen Cohen - born December 11, 1884 and died December 1976. Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

Education

A graduate of

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

, Cohen studied sculpture with James Earle Fraser at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 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 ...

and at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

. She also studied with

Despiau Charles Despiau (November 4, 1874 – October 28, 1946) was a French people, French sculptor. Early life Charles-Albert Despiau was born at Mont-de-Marsan, Landes (department), Landes and attended first the École des Arts Décoratifs and later t ...

and

Charles Malfray Charles Malfray (19 July 1887, Orléans – 28 May 1940, Dijon) was a French sculptor. Born the son of an Orléans stonemason he was a student of the École des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans. At seventeen, he attended the School of Decorative Arts in Pari ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Career

Before 1913 the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

provided monies to Cohen so that she and other artists could travel to the

southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

to study individuals from six Native American tribes to capture their clothes and features. The resulting works included ''Sunrise.'' The sketches that she presented to the museum so that they could assess her skills before sending her to the southwest resulted in the ''Hopi Relay Runner.'' Cohen showed three pieces at the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art in New York, two plaster pieces ''Age'' and ''Portrait'' and the bronze ''Sunrise''.Brown, Milton W., ''The Story of the Armory Show'', The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Foundation, 1963, p. 232 ''Sunrise'' was also exhibited at the 1916 Annual American Exhibition in Chicago, as was the bronze ''The Velvet Cap'', ''Joy'' and ''Card tray: Hospitality''.Art Institute of Chicago.
Annual American Exhibition [of] Paintings and Sculpture
'. The Art Institute of Chicago. 1916. She was a member of 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 ...

and exhibited a piece, ''Moment Musicale'' in the society's 1923 show. Cohen was also a member of 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 ...

, New York Architectural League and the

Society of Independent Artists Society of Independent Artists was an association of American artists founded in 1916 and based in New York. Background Based on the French Société des Artistes Indépendants, the goal of the society was to hold annual exhibitions by avant-gard ...

.National Sculpture Society, ''Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue'', National Sculpture Society, NY 1923, pp. 258, 327 Her work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

. She traveled to Italy and France.

Death

Cohen died in December, 1976. She donated funds to the Art Students League of New York for the Nessa Cohen Memorial Fund for art students' housing, education and travel expenses.Schoolhouse Partners LLC.
Directory of Research Grants 2008
'. AuthorHouse; May 2008. . p. 87.

Works

* ''Age'', plaster * ''Card tray: Hospitality'' * ''Group of Indians of Southwestern United States,'' American Museum of Natural History. * ''Joy'' * ''Navajo Watching Women at Work'' * ''Portrait'', plaster * ''Sunrise,'' bronze, Havana, Cuba * ''The Velvet Cap''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Nessa 1880s births 1976 deaths American women sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists National Association of Women Artists members Society of Independent Artists Olympic competitors in art competitions