Cornelia Van Auken Chapin (August 7, 1893 – December 4, 1972) was an American sculptor and

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

born in

Waterford, Connecticut Waterford is a town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Waterford, Ireland. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Southeastern Connecticut ...

. She was known for her stone models of birds and animals, which she largely carved directly from life and without preliminary models or sketches.

Early life

Cornelia Chapin was born in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and raised in New York City as part of a prominent socialite family.Sculptors’ Guild Travelling Exhibition, 1940-1941’’, Sculptors’ Guild, New York, New York, 1940 p. 6 Daughter of Lindley Hoffman Chapin (1854–1896), a Manhattan lawyer and Cornelia Garrison (Van Auken) Chapin (1865–1925), an actress, Cornelia Chapin was also a descendant of Supreme Court Justice George P. Andrews (who presided in the trials of former slave traders) and

Cornelius K. Garrison Cornelius Kingsland Garrison (March 1, 1809 – May 1, 1885) was an American steamboat captain, shipping agent, shipbuilder, capitalist, and politician. He served as the 4th Mayor of San Francisco from 1853 until 1854. Biography He was born o ...

(a merchant involved with the building of railroads). Chapin was also sister to poet Katherine Garrison Chapin Biddle, whose husband

Francis Biddle Francis Beverley Biddle (May 9, 1886 – October 4, 1968) was an American lawyer and judge who was the United States Attorney General during World War II. He also served as the primary American judge during Nuremberg trials following World War I ...

was the 58th

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

. Chapin's nephew was Schuyler Chapin, General Manager of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for New York City under Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

. Her older paternal half-sister was the publisher

Marguerite Caetani Marguerite Gilbert Caetani, Princess of Bassiano, Duchess of Sermoneta (''née'' Chapin; 24 June 1880 – 17 December 1963), was an American-born publisher, journalist, art collector, and patron of the arts. She married an Italian aristocrat and ...

Sculpture

Cornelia Chapin developed an interest in art as a young child – dabbling in pencil sketches and watercolors - but by the early 1920s, she settled on sculpture as her main interest. Chapin studied under Gail Sherman Corbett and later shared studios with both

Genevieve Karr Hamlin Genevieve Karr Hamlin (1896-1989), was an American sculptor and potter. She created the 1926 Exposition of Women's Art & Industries Medal. She was a member of the Philadelphia Ten. Biography Hamlin was born July 1, 1896, in New York City. She at ...

and

Marion Sanford Marion Sanford (February 9, 1904 - February 1987) was an American sculptor known for her bronze portraits of women engaged in everyday domestic activities. Early life and career Sanford was born to American parents in Guelph, Ontario and was ra ...

. She early became interested in creating somewhat abstracted animal forms and in the early 1934 moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to study

direct carving This page describe terms and jargon related to sculpture and sculpting. __NOTOC__ A armature :An armature is an internal frame or skeleton which supports a modelled sculpture. A typical armature for a small sculpture is made of heavy gauge ...

with Mateo Hernandez (1884–1949), from whom she learned the art of direct carving. She would go to the zoo and carve sculptures of animals, an unusual technique for direct carvers. In 1936, following the success of her carving ''Tortoise'' she was elected a member of the ''Salon d'Automne'', the only foreigner and the only woman thus honored that year. She returned to the United States following the start of World War II and shared a studio, that had formerly belonged the

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculpture, sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Moun ...

, with Sanford. In the summer of 1949 she was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the

3rd Sculpture International 3rd Sculpture International was a 1949 exhibition of contemporary sculpture held inside and outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It featured works by 250 sculptors from around the world, and ran from May 15 ...

held at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

. From 1951 to 1953 Chapin served on the New York City Art Commission. Chapin was most famous for her sculptures of birds and animals, though she also sculpted human figures. Between 1930 and the early 1960s, Chapin exhibited in galleries in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maine, and Paris,"American Women," 1939-1940. Volume III. and won numerous awards and prizes for her work during the 1930s and 1940s. These included the 2nd Grand Prize at the 1937 Paris International Exposition for her sculptures
Pelican in Repose
and
Tortoise in Volcanic Rock
" the Sculpture Prize from the Asbury Park Fine Arts Society in 1939, and an Honorable Mention from th
Allied Artists of America
in 1941 for her sculpture "Paquita the Bear." She also lectured on the art of direct carving in museums and schools. Chapin was a member of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

, the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) 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 member ...

, and the only foreign and only woman sculptor elected to the Societaire Salon d'Automne, in 1936. Chapin was a founding member of the

Sculptors Guild Sculptors Guild, a society of sculptors who banded together to promote public interest in contemporary sculpture, was founded in 1937. Signatories to the original corporation papers (Sculptors Guild, Inc.) were Sonia Gordon Brown, Berta Margouli ...

and also a member in the

and the

. Cornelia Chapin sculptures are represented in the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., and in

Rittenhouse Square Rittenhouse Square is a public park in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that is the center of the eponymous Rittenhouse neighborhood. The square is one of the five original open-space parks planned by William Penn and his surveyor Thomas ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, among other locations.

Personal life

In her later years, Chapin lived and worked with Marion Sanford in Lakeville, Connecticut. Cornelia Chapin died in Connecticut in 1972.

Selected works

* ''Reigning Christ, Triumphant'', The Great Cross, above the High Altar,

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Hall, Edward Hagaman, L.H.D., “A Guide to the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine on the City of New York’’ The Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral Church, Seventeenth Edition, 1965 pp. 130-132

References

External links

Papers of Cornelia Chapin, 1822-1959: A Finding Aid.Schlesinger Library
, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapin, Cornelia Van Auken 1893 births 1972 deaths American modern sculptors Sculptors from New York City 20th-century American sculptors Sculptors Guild members People from Lakeville, Connecticut Sculptors from New York (state) 20th-century American women sculptors