Julia Bracken Wendt, (1870–1942) a notable American sculptor, was born on June 10, 1871, in

Apple River, Illinois Apple River is a village in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States. Located on the southern border of Lafayette County, Wisconsin. The population was 347 at the 2020 census, down from 366 in 2010. History The first home built in Apple Ri ...

, the twelfth of thirteen children in an Irish Catholic family.Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, ‘’American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions’’, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 pp. 105*110 Julia Bracken Wendt in her studio

Unsupported at home following the death of her mother when she was nine years old, she ran away from home at thirteen. By sixteen she was working as a domestic servant for a woman who recognized her talent and drive, and paid to enroll her in the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. There she studied with

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860 – October 30, 1936) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Part of the American Renaissance movement, his monumental pieces include, ''Fountain of Time'', ''Spirit of the Great Lakes'', and ''The ...

and by 1887 she had advanced to become his studio and teaching assistant. In 1893, during the

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

she was one of several women sculptors nicknamed the White Rabbits who helped produce some of the

architectural sculpture Architectural sculpture is the use of sculptural techniques by an architect and/or sculptor in the design of a building, bridge, mausoleum or other such project. The sculpture is usually integrated with the structure, but freestanding works that ...

that graced the exposition buildings. Aside from that she was awarded a commission to produce ''Illinois Welcoming the Nations'' for the Fair. The work was later cast in bronze and unveiled at the

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, at which time Governor Altgeld was the main speaker. After successfully pursuing her career for a number of years, in 1906 she married painter

William Wendt William Wendt (February 20, 1865, Bentzen, Kingdom of Prussia – December 29, 1946, Laguna Beach) was a German-born United States, American landscape Painting, painter. He was called the "Dean of Southern California landscape painters." *Bronze ...

and moved to

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, where she continued her success. In California she taught at the

Otis Art Institute Otis College of Art and Design is a Private university, private Art school, art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is l ...

National Sculpture Society, ‘’Contemporary American Sculpture’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1929 and, with her husband, was instrumental in the founding of the

California Art Club The California Art Club (CAC) is one of the oldest and most active arts organizations in California. Founded in December 1909, it celebrated its centennial in 2009 and into the spring of 2010. The California Art Club originally evolved out of The ...

in 1909, which was developed on the premise of allowing women and sculptors into the membership. Wendt was a member of 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 exhibited and was featured in both the 1923 and 1929 Exhibitions and the resulting catalogues.National Sculpture Society, ‘’Exhibition of American Sculpture Catalogue’’, National Sculpture Society, NY 1923 She died in Laguna Beach on June 22, 1942.

Work

Her work can be found in: *

Chicago Historical Society Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the ...

* Civil War Monument,

Missionary Ridge Missionary Ridge is a geographic feature in Chattanooga, Tennessee, site of the Battle of Missionary Ridge, a battle in the American Civil War, fought on November 25, 1863. Union forces under Maj. Gens. Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, ...

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

Laguna Art Museum The Laguna Art Museum (LAM) is a museum located in Laguna Beach, California, on Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway. LAM exclusively features California art and is the oldest cultural institution in the area. It has been kno ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Portrait Collection * old Los Angeles City Hall (now located in the

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are par ...

) *

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

, Los Angeles, California * as well as in numerous private collections

References

External links

*
Image of sculptor Julia Bracken Wendt and Mayor Frank Shaw next to a newly dedicated fountain that includes her work, Los Angeles, California, 1933.

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wendt, Julia 1870 births 1942 deaths Otis College of Art and Design faculty 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century American sculptors People from Jo Daviess County, Illinois American women academics 20th-century American women sculptors 19th-century American women sculptors