Enid Yandell
Encyclopedia
Enid Yandell was an American sculptor who studied with Auguste Rodin
and Frederick William MacMonnies
. She was the daughter of Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Jr. and Louise Elliston Yandell of Louisville, Kentucky
. Yandell was a prolific sculptor creating numerous portraits, garden pieces and small works as well as public monuments. The sculpture collection at Speed Art Museum
in Louisville, Kentucky
includes a large number of her works in plaster. Yandell died on June 13, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts, and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, Section O, Lot 396.
Yandell completed degrees in chemistry and art at Hampton College in Louisville. She then attended the Cincinnati Art Academy, where she completed a four-year program in two years, winning a first-prize medal upon graduation in 1889. Yandell also took advantage of apprenticeships with noted sculptors of the day. These included Lorado Taft
, Philip Martiny
and Karl Bitter
.
Yandell was one of a group of women sculptors known as the White Rabbits, who were organized by sculptor Lorado Taft
to complete the numerous statues and other architectural embellishments for the Horticultural Building at the World's Columbian Exposition
in Chicago in 1893. Yandell co-wrote a semi-autobiographical account of her involvement in planning the fair, Three Girls in a Flat (1892).
In 1894, Yandell went to Paris, where she studied with Frederick William MacMonnies
and other instructors at the Académie Vitti in Montparnasse
. Yandell also worked with Auguste Rodin
. She returned to Paris frequently, maintaining a studio there and exhibiting at the Paris Salon.
In 1898 Yandell became the first woman member to join the National Sculpture Society
.
Sculptures by Yandell include a nine-foot statue of Daniel Boone
. The Daniel Boone sculpture was commissioned by the Filson Club of Louisville. Yandell completed a plaster cast which was shown at several exhibitions before C. C. Bickel finally arranged to have the work cast in bronze for the city of Louisville in 1906. The Daniel Boone sculpture survived the Super Outbreak
of tornadoes on April 3, 1974, and is now located in Cherokee Park
, Louisville, Kentucky
. Another casting of the Boone statue was made in 1967 and placed on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University
in Richmond, Kentucky
.
The Wheelmen's Bench is another significant sculpture by Yandell. Also in Louisville, it is located at the intersection of Third Street and Southern Parkway. The sculpture was part of an 1890s civic event dedicating a new bicycle path from downtown Louisville to Iroquois Park
. A historical marker formerly located at the site read as follows:
.
During World War I, Enid Yandell became involved with the Red Cross, and with a French organization for the care of war orphans, La Société des Orphelins de la Guerre. After returning to the United States, she served as director of the Bureau of Communications for the American Red Cross
in New York, and as chair of the Women’s Committee for the Council of National Defense
. These activities consumed almost all her time; she largely gave up her work as a sculptor to help others.
Enid Yandell also designed and executed a beautiful sculpture called the "Struggle of life". This was commissioned by Italian diplomat Paul Bajnotti, of Turin Italy in memory of his wife Carrie Brown. The Carrie Brown Memorial or also referred to as the Bajnotti Fountain was dedicated in 1899. The artisticly beautiful fountain is located in Burnside Park in downtown Providence, Rhode island. In her own words, Miss Yandell describes it as "the attempt of the immortal soul within us to free itself from the handicaps and entanglements of its earthly environments" Reference: "Women in the Fine Arts from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.
By Clara Erskine Clement, Clara Erskine Clement Waters
Edition: large print
Published by BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2007
ISBN 1426458355, 9781426458354" Page 364
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
and Frederick William MacMonnies
Frederick William MacMonnies
Frederick William MacMonnies was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States...
. She was the daughter of Dr. Lunsford Pitts Yandell, Jr. and Louise Elliston Yandell of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Yandell was a prolific sculptor creating numerous portraits, garden pieces and small works as well as public monuments. The sculpture collection at Speed Art Museum
Speed Art Museum
The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest, largest, and foremost museum of art in Kentucky...
in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
includes a large number of her works in plaster. Yandell died on June 13, 1934, in Boston, Massachusetts, and is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky, Section O, Lot 396.
Artistic Training
Lorado Taft
Lorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...
, Philip Martiny
Philip Martiny
Philip H. Martiny was a Franco-American sculptor who worked in the Paris atelier of Eugene Dock, where he became foreman before emigrating to New York in 1878— to avoid conscription in the French army, he later claimed...
and Karl Bitter
Karl Bitter
Karl Theodore Francis Bitter was an Austrian-born United States sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work.- Life and career :...
.
Yandell was one of a group of women sculptors known as the White Rabbits, who were organized by sculptor Lorado Taft
Lorado Taft
Lorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...
to complete the numerous statues and other architectural embellishments for the Horticultural Building at the World's Columbian Exposition
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago in 1893. Yandell co-wrote a semi-autobiographical account of her involvement in planning the fair, Three Girls in a Flat (1892).
In 1894, Yandell went to Paris, where she studied with Frederick William MacMonnies
Frederick William MacMonnies
Frederick William MacMonnies was the best known expatriate American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, as successful and lauded in France as he was in the United States...
and other instructors at the Académie Vitti in Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
. Yandell also worked with Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
. She returned to Paris frequently, maintaining a studio there and exhibiting at the Paris Salon.
In 1898 Yandell became the first woman member to join 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...
.
Daniel Boone Sculpture
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
. The Daniel Boone sculpture was commissioned by the Filson Club of Louisville. Yandell completed a plaster cast which was shown at several exhibitions before C. C. Bickel finally arranged to have the work cast in bronze for the city of Louisville in 1906. The Daniel Boone sculpture survived the Super Outbreak
Super Outbreak
The Super Outbreak is the second largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the tornado outbreak of April 25–28, 2011...
of tornadoes on April 3, 1974, and is now located in Cherokee Park
Cherokee Park
Cherokee Park is a municipal park located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was designed, like 18 of Louisville's 123 public parks, by Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture...
, Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Another casting of the Boone statue was made in 1967 and placed on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
in Richmond, Kentucky
Richmond, Kentucky
There were 10,795 households out of which 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.2% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.6% were non-families. Of all households, 34.7% were made up of individuals and 8.8% had...
.
The Wheelmen's Bench
Iroquois Park
Iroquois Park is a 739 acre municipal park in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Louisville's Cherokee Park and Shawnee Park, at what were then the edges of the city. Located south of downtown, Iroquois Park was promoted as...
. A historical marker formerly located at the site read as follows:
- Erected 1897 by Ky. Div. of League of American Wheelmen to honor cycling pioneer A. D. Ruff (1827-96) of Owingsville, KyOwingsville, KentuckyOwingsville is a city in Bath County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,488 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bath County, and is roughly in the center of the county, at the junction of US 60 and Kentucky Route 36....
. The League's oldest member, he had bicycled to Yellowstone National ParkYellowstone National ParkYellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
in 1893. Marble fountain and stone bench, known to generations of cyclists as "Wheelmen's Bench," designed by famed sculptor Enid Yandell. - Cycle Carnival, 1897 - On October 8, 1897, a parade of 10,000 cyclists passed here to celebrate a new cinder bicycling path along Southern Parkway. Viewed by 50,000 spectators, parade began at Third and Broadway and ended at Iroquois Cycle Club. Many cyclists were in costume; ladies wore bloomers. Bugles and cannon fire marked the parade's progress. Presented by The Louisville Bicycle Club - 1997.
Working for Change
In addition to her work as an artist, Yandell was committed to improving the lives of others. She contributed to the education of future artists by founding the Branstock School in Massachusetts, in 1908. The art school functioned for several summers until her death in 1934. Yandell also worked with Appui Aux Artists, an organization which provided affordable meals for those involved in the arts and their families. Yandell was an active supporter of women’s suffrage and campaigned for the election of President Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
.
During World War I, Enid Yandell became involved with the Red Cross, and with a French organization for the care of war orphans, La Société des Orphelins de la Guerre. After returning to the United States, she served as director of the Bureau of Communications for the American Red Cross
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross , also known as the American National Red Cross, is a volunteer-led, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. It is the designated U.S...
in New York, and as chair of the Women’s Committee for the Council of National Defense
Council of National Defense
The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial support for the war, and public...
. These activities consumed almost all her time; she largely gave up her work as a sculptor to help others.
Enid Yandell also designed and executed a beautiful sculpture called the "Struggle of life". This was commissioned by Italian diplomat Paul Bajnotti, of Turin Italy in memory of his wife Carrie Brown. The Carrie Brown Memorial or also referred to as the Bajnotti Fountain was dedicated in 1899. The artisticly beautiful fountain is located in Burnside Park in downtown Providence, Rhode island. In her own words, Miss Yandell describes it as "the attempt of the immortal soul within us to free itself from the handicaps and entanglements of its earthly environments" Reference: "Women in the Fine Arts from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.
By Clara Erskine Clement, Clara Erskine Clement Waters
Edition: large print
Published by BiblioBazaar, LLC, 2007
ISBN 1426458355, 9781426458354" Page 364
External links
- Three Girls in a Flat by Enid Yandell, Loughborough and Laura Hayes. Chicago: Bright, Leonard & Co., 1892.
- Filson Historical Society: Enid Yandell
- Women in Kentucky: Enid Yandell