Mabel Conkling

Conkling in 1904 - Frederick William MacMonnies's "finest portrait"

Mabel Conkling (November 17, 1871 – October 11, 1966) was an American sculptor, and president of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors from 1926 to 1928.[1]

Early life

Mabel Viola Harris was born in Boothbay, Maine, the daughter of Charles Thomas Harris and Orissa Edna Preble Harris. She studied art in Paris,[2] at the Académie Julian, Académie Vitti, the Whistler Académie, and the Académie Colarossi.[3] Among her instructors were William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Raphaël Collin, Luc-Olivier Merson, and Frederick William MacMonnies.[4] A 1904 portrait of Mabel Conkling by MacMonnies was called "the finest portrait MacMonnies has yet made."[5]

Career

Mabel Harris Conkling's work was included in the 1900 Paris Exposition, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the 1908 Baltimore Sculpture Exhibition, at the National Academy of Design,[6] Harrisburg City Hall,[7] and many other shows. She specialized in public sculptures, including fountains, relief panels, trophies, and cemetery urns. She also made portrait busts in bronze, and bas relief medallions. A bas relief bronze portrait of Ethel Barrymore, by Mabel Conkling, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.[8] A bronze statue by Conkling was presented to theatre professional Samuel Roxy Rothafel in 1931,[9] and a bronze loving cup by Conkling was presented to musician Walter Damrosch in 1933, both presentations by the New York Federation of Women's Clubs.[10]

Conkling was president of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors from 1926 to 1928.[11] She was still on the board when the organization changed its name to the National Association of Women Artists in 1941.[12] Conkling was also president of the Maine Women's Club of New York.[13][14]

Personal life

In 1901 Mabel Viola Harris married a fellow artist, David Paul Burleigh Conkling. They had two daughters, Pauline and Natalie. She was widowed in 1926,[15] sold her four-story Greenwich Village residence and studio at 26 West 8th Street in 1940,[16] and died in 1966, aged 94 years, in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "New Class Members" Decatur Herald (May 16, 1929): 11. via Newspapers.com
  2. ↑ Mariea Caudill Dennison, "The American Girls' Club in Paris: The Propriety and Imprudence of Art Students, 1890-1914" Woman's Art Journal 26(1)(Spring-Summer 2005): 32-37.
  3. ↑ John William Leonard, Woman's Who's Who of America (American Commonwealth Publishing 1914): 199.
  4. ↑ American Numismatic Society, Catalogue of the International Exhibition of Contemporary Medals (DeVinne Press 1911): 67-68.
  5. ↑ "Doings of a Week in World of Art" Philadelphia Inquirer (May 14, 1905): 38. via Newspapers.com
  6. ↑ "Sculptors' Work Shows No Genius" New York Times (January 1, 1908).
  7. ↑ "Exhibit of Art Open in Gallery in City Hall" Harrisburg Telegraph (February 5, 1932): 9. via Newspapers.com
  8. ↑ Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, "Ethel Barrymore" by Mabel Conkling (c. 1910).
  9. ↑ "Roxy Gets Music Award" Oshkosh Daily Northwestern (February 9, 1931): 10. via Newspapers.com
  10. ↑ "Musical Adventure Subscribers Guest at Broadcast; Cup Given to Dr. Damrosch after Program" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (January 29, 1933): 5. via Newspapers.com
  11. ↑ "Woman Artist is Versatile" San Bernardino County Sun (June 25, 1926): 3. via Newspapers.com
  12. ↑ "Art Notes" New York Times (April 12, 1941): 18.
  13. ↑ "Mrs. Paul B. Conkling" Brooklyn Life and Activities of Long Island Society (November 13, 1926): 14. via Newspapers.com
  14. ↑ "Maine Women's Club Twenty-Three Years Old" Brooklyn Daily Eagle (March 13, 1926): 12. via Newspapers.com
  15. ↑ "David P. B. Conkling Dies" New York Times (March 16, 1926): 25.
  16. ↑ "Village Dwelling Sold by Sculptor" New York Times (April 30, 1940): 42.
  17. ↑ "Mabel H. Conkling" New York Times (October 13, 1966): 45.
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