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