The papers of New York sculptor Enid Yandell, measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1890-circa 1901, with photographic prints from 1986. The collection is comprised of glass plate negatives including ten images of Yandell in the studio, thirty-five images of her artwork, including Pallas Athena and the Carrie Brown Memorial Fountain in Providence, Rhode Island, and one image of Daniel Chester French, Elihu Vedder and possibly Lorado Taft. Photographic prints of the negatives, created in 1986, are also found in this collection.
Scope and Contents:
The papers of New York sculptor Enid Yandell, measure 1.5 linear feet and date from circa 1890-circa 1901, with photographic prints from 1986. The collection is comprised of glass plate negatives including ten images of Yandell in the studio, thirty-five images of her artwork, including Pallas Athena and the Carrie Brown Memorial Fountain in Providence, Rhode Island, and one image of Daniel Chester French, Elihu Vedder and possibly Lorado Taft. Photographic prints of the negatives, created in 1986, are also found in this collection.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as two series.
Series 1: Glass Plate Negatives, circa 1890-circa 1901 (1.2 linear feet; Boxes 1-4)
Series 2: Reproduction and Photographic Prints, 1896, 1986 (0.3 linear feet; Box 4, OV 5)
Biographical / Historical:
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, sculptor Enid Yandell (1896-1934) attended the Cincinnati Art Academy in the 1880s, then studied in Paris with Auguste Rodin and Frederick William MacMonnies. Yandell became a leading turn-of-the-century sculptor in New York City, and was one of the first women to join the National Sculpture Society.
Yandell was one of a group of women sculptors known as the "White Rabbits," who worked with Lorado Taft to complete statues and architectural embellishments for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where she won a designers medal.
In 1897 Yandell completed her forty-two-foot high Pallas Athena for the Tennessee Centennial International Exposition held in Nashville. The plaster cast was never bronzed and was ultimately destroyed by the elements, but a glass plate negative image of Yandell standing by the cast remains as a testament to the monumental scale of this sculpture, and was used by exposition managers in advertisements for the fair.
Other works of note include Yandell's statue of Daniel Boone and her Wheelman's Bench, both in Louisville, Kentucky. She also designed and executed Struggle of Life which was installed in 1901 as the Carrie Brown Memorial Fountain in Providence, Rhode Island. Yandell competed with many leading sculptors to win this commission, which was a gift to the city from the widow of Carrie Brown Bajnatti, a member of the prominent family for whom Brown University is named.
Separated Materials:
The Archives also holds microfilm for materials lent for microfilming (reels 2767-2768), including correspondence with family as well as one or more letters from Gutzon Borglum, Philip Martiny, Auguste Rodin, Bertha H. Palmer, and others; a typescript of a lecture; Branstock School teaching material; a file on Yandell's Daniel Boone; price lists; printed material including exhibition catalogs and announcements, 1903-1982; three scrapbooks containing clippings, photographs, letters, and memorabilia, 1892-1927; and photographs of Yandell, her Paris and New York studios, Philip Martiny, Frederick MacMonnies, Daniel Chester French, Elihu Vedder, Lorado Taft's studio, Yandell's friend, Geysa de Bravnecker, and works of art. Loaned material was returned after filming to Mrs. John Trask, who subsequently donated it to the Filson Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Provenance:
The Tennessee Centennial International Exposition advertisement was given to the Archives of American Art in 1976 by an unknown donor. Glass plate negatives were donated by Yandell's niece, Mrs. John J. Trask, in 1986. Trask lent the material on reels 2767-2768 in 1983.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Sculptors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Enid Yandell papers, circa 1890-cica 1901, 1986. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Walton Family Foundation. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
