Anne Whitney (1821-1915)

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION
One of the most successful women artists working in the United States during the 19th century, Anne Whitney was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, to a wealthy, liberal family. She studied anatomy at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and then took a drawing class at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She began her career as a poet, but by 1860 she turned her attention toward sculpting. Sculptor William Rimmer gave her private lessons from 1862 to 1864. Her early style was neoclassical, but her work became more realistic after she went to Europe. From 1867 to 1871, Whitney lived in Rome with other American expatriate women sculptors including Harriet Hosmer. She then returned to Boston, establishing a studio of her own. She was a politically driven artist whose subjects addressed abolition, women’s rights, social justice, and poverty. Several public commissions and notable exhibitions cemented her place in the art world, and she had a significant influence on following generations of women artists working in the Boston area. Whitney died in 1915 at the age of 93.

Adapted from
Sara Woodbury, DMA unpublished material, 2011.


NOTES
NOTES ON ANNE WHITNEY: Sara Woodbury, "Anne Whitney and 'Lady Godiva': An Overview," DMA research document, Collections Records Object File, May 16, 2011.
  1. Biography (1821-1915)
    1. Born in Watertown, Massachusetts to a wealthy, liberal family. Studies  NY (specifically Brooklyn) and Philadelphia.
    2. Starts career as poet, but takes up sculpture around  1859-1860. 1
      1. Studies anatomy at a hospital in Brooklyn and then takes a drawing class at the Pennsylvania academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.2
      2. 1862-1864: Studies privately with sculptor William Rimmer. 3
      3. Early style is neoclassical, but becomes more realistic during her time in Europe and especially after her return to the United States.4
    3. Never marries;  maintains “Boston marriage” with Adeline Manning. 5
    4. 1867-1871: Lives and works in Rome with other American expatriate women sculptures, including Harriet Hosmer; eventually returns to US.6
    5. 1871: returns to Boston, establishes her studio. Receives several public commissions and participates in many notable exhibitions over the years.7
  2. Artistic Significance
    1. One of the more successful women artists working in the United States during the nineteenth century.
      1. Possibly modeled the first male nude by a woman, during the time she was studying with Rimmer. This was reworked into the Lotus Eater around 1868. Today this work survives only as a plaster copy.8
    2. Politically driven artist whose subjects address abolition, women’s rights, social justice, and poverty.9
    3. Significant influence on following generation of women artists working in Boston area.10
  3. Exhibitions of Note. 11
    1. 1871: International Exposition of London
    2. 1876: Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
    3. 1893: Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition
      1. Her work was shown in Women’s arts (which included crafts as well as fine art) section rather than with male artists
      2. Whitney was particularly vociferous about having the art of women segregated from that of men; as a women’s rights advocate, she thought all the fine arts should be shown together regardless of the gender that created it.
  1. Some Important Works
    1. Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands to God, or Africa, ca. 1862-4 (destroyed)
      1. Marble of a reclining semi-nude African woman; appears to be awakening.
      2. In context of Civil War, considered an “Allegory of Emancipation.” 12
    2. Roma, ca. 1869 (multiple versions made between 1870-1890 in different media and sizes)
      1. An allegory on the poverty and suffering of nineteenth-century Rome, inspired in part by her observations of daily life in Rome, as well as Hellenistic sculptures such as Old Beggar Woman. 13
    3. Lotus-Eater, ca. 1868, plaster, 89.5 cm high (35 ¼’’). Newark Museum, New Jersey.
      1. This is a revised version of a male nude Whitney had made while studying under William Rimmer, possibly the first male nude made by a woman in the United States.14
    4. Le Modèle, 1875
      1. Another figure of a haggard old woman, this time representing France
      2. Whitney’s first important bronze work. 15
    5. Samuel Adams, 1873-1876
      1. 1873: her full-length marble portrait of Samuel Adams is chosen to represent Massachusetts in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. Installed 1876, the second such monument by an artist to be placed there.16
      2. 1876: Massachusetts commissions its own version of the Samuel Adams sculpture for Faneuil Hall.17
    6. Charles Sumner, 1875-1902: An episode on the women’s inequality in the arts. 18
      1. 1875: Boston’s Public Garden holds a competition for a sculpture honoring Charles Sumner, Massachusetts senator and abolitionist who had died in 1874.
      2. Whitney’s interpretation shows him in contemporary rather than classical dress, reflecting her turn toward realism
      3. Though judged to be the best entry, the council decided not to use Whitney’s work when they learned that she was a woman, arguing that they didn’t think a woman could sculpt a man’s legs sufficiently.
      4. Whitney was allowed to keep the cash prize and have her sculpture model returned to her. She also had the support of Boston arts community, which believed that the committee based its decision on gender, not skill.
      5. 1900-1902: Whitney’s sculpture is finally cast and installed at Harvard Square
    7. Harriet Martineau, 1883: portrait of English social reformer. Destroyed in a fire in 1914.19
    8. Leif the Discoverer, 1887, located at Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
    9. Some notable portraits: Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone.20
-------------------------

  1. 1 Eleanor Tufts, “An American Victorian Dilemma, 1875: Should a Woman Be Allowed to Sculpt a Man?” Art Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, Uneasy Pieces (Spring, 1992), 51.
    2 Eleanor Tufts, 51; Erica E. Hirshler, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston, 1870-1940 (Boston: MFA Publications, 2001), 199.
    3 Hirshler, 15-16.
    4 Elizabeth Martin and Vivian Meyer, Female Gazes: Seventy-Five Women Artists (Toronto: Second Story Press, 1997), 34.
    5 For a thorough discussion of this relationship see Dede L. Mosseau, Anne Whitney: Her Life, her Art, and her Relationship with Adeline Manning (Ann Arbor: University Microform International, 1992) and Christine Kaye Severson, Living Liminality: A Study of Anne Whitney’s Sculpture, Poetry and Letters (Ann Arbor: University Microform International, 2007).
    6 Nancy G. Heller, Women Artists: An Illustrated History, revised and expanded edition (New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1987), 84-85; Martin and Meyer, Female Gazes, 34.
    7 Hirshler, 199-200; Martin and Meyer, 34.
    8 Hirshler, 16.
    9 Martin and Meyer, 34.
    10 Hirshler, 119-120.
    11 Hirshler, 199-200.
    12 Melissa Debakis, “Ain’t I a Woman? Anne Whitney, Edmonia Lewis, and the Iconography of Emancipation,” in Seeing High and Low: Representing Social Conflict in American Visual Culture, ed. By Patricia Johnston (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 84-85.
    13 Lisa B. Reitzes, “The Political Voice of the Artist: Anne Whitney’s Roma and Harriet Martineau,” American Art 8, no. 2 (Spring 1994), 45, 50-52.
    14 Hirshler, 16.
    15 Hirshler, 18.
    16 Hirshler, 16.
    17 Hirshler, 16.
    18 Hirshler, 16-18; see also Eleanor Tufts, “An American Victorian Dilemma, 1875: Should a Woman Be Allowed to Sculpt a Man?” Art Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, Uneasy Pieces (Spring, 1992), 51-56.
    19 Lisa B. Reitzes, “The Political Voice of the Artist: Anne Whitney’s Roma and Harriet Martineau,” American Art 8, no. 2 (Spring 1994), 51.
    20 Smithsonian Institution, “Anne Whitney,” Smithsonian Institution Research Information System, http://siris-artinventories.si.edu.
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  • While training at William Rimmer's studio, Anne Whitney became one of few American women artists at the time who had the opportunity to work from nude male models. 
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General Description
One of the most successful women artists working in the United States during the 19th century, Anne Whitney was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, to a wealthy, liberal family. She studied anatomy at a hospital in Brooklyn, New York, and then took a drawing class at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. She began her career as a poet, but by 1860 she turned her attention toward sculpting. Sculptor William Rimmer gave her private lessons from 1862 to 1864. Her early style was neoclassical, but her work became more realistic after she went to Europe. From 1867 to 1871, Whitney lived in Rome with other American expatriate women sculptors including Harriet Hosmer. She then returned to Boston, establishing a studio of her own. She was a politically driven artist whose subjects addressed abolition, women’s rights, social justice, and poverty. Several public commissions and notable exhibitions cemented her place in the art world, and she had a significant influence on following generations of women artists working in the Boston area. Whitney died in 1915 at the age of 93.

Adapted from
Sara Woodbury, DMA unpublished material, 2011.


Fun Facts
 
  • While training at William Rimmer's studio, Anne Whitney became one of few American women artists at the time who had the opportunity to work from nude male models. 
Archival Resources
Web Resources
 
Notes
ON ANNE WHITNEY: Sara Woodbury, "Anne Whitney and 'Lady Godiva': An Overview," DMA research document, Collections Records Object File, May 16, 2011.
  1. Biography (1821-1915)
    1. Born in Watertown, Massachusetts to a wealthy, liberal family. Studies  NY (specifically Brooklyn) and Philadelphia.
    2. Starts career as poet, but takes up sculpture around  1859-1860. 1
      1. Studies anatomy at a hospital in Brooklyn and then takes a drawing class at the Pennsylvania academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia.2
      2. 1862-1864: Studies privately with sculptor William Rimmer. 3
      3. Early style is neoclassical, but becomes more realistic during her time in Europe and especially after her return to the United States.4
    3. Never marries;  maintains “Boston marriage” with Adeline Manning. 5
    4. 1867-1871: Lives and works in Rome with other American expatriate women sculptures, including Harriet Hosmer; eventually returns to US.6
    5. 1871: returns to Boston, establishes her studio. Receives several public commissions and participates in many notable exhibitions over the years.7
  2. Artistic Significance
    1. One of the more successful women artists working in the United States during the nineteenth century.
      1. Possibly modeled the first male nude by a woman, during the time she was studying with Rimmer. This was reworked into the Lotus Eater around 1868. Today this work survives only as a plaster copy.8
    2. Politically driven artist whose subjects address abolition, women’s rights, social justice, and poverty.9
    3. Significant influence on following generation of women artists working in Boston area.10
  3. Exhibitions of Note. 11
    1. 1871: International Exposition of London
    2. 1876: Philadelphia Centennial Exposition
    3. 1893: Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition
      1. Her work was shown in Women’s arts (which included crafts as well as fine art) section rather than with male artists
      2. Whitney was particularly vociferous about having the art of women segregated from that of men; as a women’s rights advocate, she thought all the fine arts should be shown together regardless of the gender that created it.
  1. Some Important Works
    1. Ethiopia Shall Soon Stretch Out Her Hands to God, or Africa, ca. 1862-4 (destroyed)
      1. Marble of a reclining semi-nude African woman; appears to be awakening.
      2. In context of Civil War, considered an “Allegory of Emancipation.” 12
    2. Roma, ca. 1869 (multiple versions made between 1870-1890 in different media and sizes)
      1. An allegory on the poverty and suffering of nineteenth-century Rome, inspired in part by her observations of daily life in Rome, as well as Hellenistic sculptures such as Old Beggar Woman. 13
    3. Lotus-Eater, ca. 1868, plaster, 89.5 cm high (35 ¼’’). Newark Museum, New Jersey.
      1. This is a revised version of a male nude Whitney had made while studying under William Rimmer, possibly the first male nude made by a woman in the United States.14
    4. Le Modèle, 1875
      1. Another figure of a haggard old woman, this time representing France
      2. Whitney’s first important bronze work. 15
    5. Samuel Adams, 1873-1876
      1. 1873: her full-length marble portrait of Samuel Adams is chosen to represent Massachusetts in Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. Installed 1876, the second such monument by an artist to be placed there.16
      2. 1876: Massachusetts commissions its own version of the Samuel Adams sculpture for Faneuil Hall.17
    6. Charles Sumner, 1875-1902: An episode on the women’s inequality in the arts. 18
      1. 1875: Boston’s Public Garden holds a competition for a sculpture honoring Charles Sumner, Massachusetts senator and abolitionist who had died in 1874.
      2. Whitney’s interpretation shows him in contemporary rather than classical dress, reflecting her turn toward realism
      3. Though judged to be the best entry, the council decided not to use Whitney’s work when they learned that she was a woman, arguing that they didn’t think a woman could sculpt a man’s legs sufficiently.
      4. Whitney was allowed to keep the cash prize and have her sculpture model returned to her. She also had the support of Boston arts community, which believed that the committee based its decision on gender, not skill.
      5. 1900-1902: Whitney’s sculpture is finally cast and installed at Harvard Square
    7. Harriet Martineau, 1883: portrait of English social reformer. Destroyed in a fire in 1914.19
    8. Leif the Discoverer, 1887, located at Commonwealth Avenue, Boston
    9. Some notable portraits: Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone.20
-------------------------

  1. 1 Eleanor Tufts, “An American Victorian Dilemma, 1875: Should a Woman Be Allowed to Sculpt a Man?” Art Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, Uneasy Pieces (Spring, 1992), 51.
    2 Eleanor Tufts, 51; Erica E. Hirshler, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston, 1870-1940 (Boston: MFA Publications, 2001), 199.
    3 Hirshler, 15-16.
    4 Elizabeth Martin and Vivian Meyer, Female Gazes: Seventy-Five Women Artists (Toronto: Second Story Press, 1997), 34.
    5 For a thorough discussion of this relationship see Dede L. Mosseau, Anne Whitney: Her Life, her Art, and her Relationship with Adeline Manning (Ann Arbor: University Microform International, 1992) and Christine Kaye Severson, Living Liminality: A Study of Anne Whitney’s Sculpture, Poetry and Letters (Ann Arbor: University Microform International, 2007).
    6 Nancy G. Heller, Women Artists: An Illustrated History, revised and expanded edition (New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1987), 84-85; Martin and Meyer, Female Gazes, 34.
    7 Hirshler, 199-200; Martin and Meyer, 34.
    8 Hirshler, 16.
    9 Martin and Meyer, 34.
    10 Hirshler, 119-120.
    11 Hirshler, 199-200.
    12 Melissa Debakis, “Ain’t I a Woman? Anne Whitney, Edmonia Lewis, and the Iconography of Emancipation,” in Seeing High and Low: Representing Social Conflict in American Visual Culture, ed. By Patricia Johnston (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), 84-85.
    13 Lisa B. Reitzes, “The Political Voice of the Artist: Anne Whitney’s Roma and Harriet Martineau,” American Art 8, no. 2 (Spring 1994), 45, 50-52.
    14 Hirshler, 16.
    15 Hirshler, 18.
    16 Hirshler, 16.
    17 Hirshler, 16.
    18 Hirshler, 16-18; see also Eleanor Tufts, “An American Victorian Dilemma, 1875: Should a Woman Be Allowed to Sculpt a Man?” Art Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, Uneasy Pieces (Spring, 1992), 51-56.
    19 Lisa B. Reitzes, “The Political Voice of the Artist: Anne Whitney’s Roma and Harriet Martineau,” American Art 8, no. 2 (Spring 1994), 51.
    20 Smithsonian Institution, “Anne Whitney,” Smithsonian Institution Research Information System, http://siris-artinventories.si.edu.
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