Abastenia St. Leger Eberle
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sculptor. Her most famous piece The White Slave caused controversy representing child prostitution.
Early life
A native of Webster City, IowaWebster City, Iowa
Webster City is a city in Hamilton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 8,070 at the United States 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Hamilton County. Webster City is known as 'Boone River Country' with the Boone River meandering along the east side of the city from north to south...
, her father was a doctor and her mother a musician. Her family later moved to Kansas, then Missouri, before settling in Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. She initially studied to become a professional musician, but her father noticed her talent for modeling. She received lessons from one of his patients before enrolling at the Art Students League
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Early career
She achieved early success with her sculpture Men and Bull, created in collaboration with Anna Hyatt, which was shown at the 1904 exhibition of the Society of American ArtistsSociety of American Artists
The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
. In 1906 she was elected to the National Sculpture Society
National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society 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 included several renowned architects. The founding...
.
St. Leger Eberle worked in a style related to Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
and the New Sculpture
New Sculpture
The New Sculpture refers to a movement in late 19th-century British sculpture.The term "New Sculpture" was coined by the first historian of the movement, the critic Edmund Gosse, who wrote a four-part series for the Art Journal in 1894...
movement. She produced mainly portrait sculpture and decorative work for fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s. Some of her work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. However, she is best known for figurative works that combined realism with emphasis on the flow of drapery and movement.
Later career
The White Slave was exhibited at the 1913 Armory ShowArmory Show
Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors...
in New York, and which caused "a storm of violent controversy" because of its shocking combination of contemporary realism and the nude. The sculpture represented child prostitution, which at the time was euphemistically called white slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
.
Following this success she created a number of sculptures depicting working class children from the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, depicting them at play and work. These represented "the vitality of the city's immigrant population". By 1930 she was forced to leave New York because of financial and health problems. She settled in Westport, Connecticut
Westport, Connecticut
-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....
.
Eberle believed that art should have a social function, writing that artists "had no right to work as an individualist with no responsibility to others. [Artists] must see for people - reveal them to themselves and each other."
"White Slave"
- Armory Show, A Turning Point, 1913 NYC
- Knoxville Museum of Art, American Women Artists: The 20th Century, Oct. 26, 1989-Feb. 4, 1990
- Queensboro Community College Art Gallery. March 11, 1990-Apr.5, 1990
- Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY Feb. 20, 1994-Apr. 10, 1994
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Figure in American Sculpture, Feb. 23, 1995-May 14, 1995
- Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, June 22, 1995-Sept. 10, 1995
- Wichita Art Museum, Oct. 19, 1995-Jan. 7, 1996
- National Academy of Design, Feb. 15, 1996-May 5, 1996
- The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT, They Earned Their Keep The Struggles and Successes of American Women Artists, Apr. 10, 1993-May 30, 1993
- Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC: Part 1: The American Century Art and Culture, 1900-2000, Apr. 23, 1999-Aug. 22, 1999
- Museum of Sex, NYC Inaugural Exhibit: New York City Sex: How NY Transformed Sex in America, Sept. 2, - Feb.15, 2004 Curator, Grady T. Turner,