Mabel Harris Conkling (November 17, 1871 – October 11, 1966) was an American sculptor, and president of the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

from 1926 to 1928.

Early life

Mabel Viola Harris was born in

Boothbay, Maine Boothbay is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,003 at the 2020 census. It includes the neighborhoods of Back Narrows, Dover, Linekin, Oak Hill, Ocean Point, Spruce Shores, and the villages of East Boothbay and ...

, the daughter of Charles Thomas Harris and Orissa Edna Preble Harris. After graduating from Boothbay Harbor High School, She studied art in Paris, at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

, the

Académie Vitti The Académie Vitti was an art school in Paris, France. It was founded and operated by a family of Italian artists' models from the Valle di Comino to the south of Rome. The academy was progressive in its support for women artists, and gained a h ...

, the

Académie Carmen Académie Carmen, also known as Whistler's School, was a short-lived Parisian art school founded by James McNeill Whistler. It operated from 1898 to 1901. History The school opened in October 1898 in a large house and stable at No. 6 Passage St ...

, and the

Académie Colarossi The Académie Colarossi (1870–1930) was an art school in Paris founded in 1870 by the Italian model and sculptor Filippo Colarossi. It was originally located on the Île de la Cité, and it moved in 1879 to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the ...

. Among her instructors were

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French Academic art, academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classicism, classical subjects, with a ...

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (; 17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Ja ...

Luc-Olivier Merson Luc-Olivier Merson (21 May 1846 - 13 November 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator. He was also known for his postage stamp and currency designs. Biography Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France, he grew up in an arti ...

, and Frederick William MacMonnies. A 1904 portrait of Mabel Conkling by MacMonnies was called "the finest portrait MacMonnies has yet made."

Career

Mabel Harris Conkling's work was included in the

1900 Paris Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1900 (), better known in English as the 1900 Paris Exposition, was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from 14 April to 12 November 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate develop ...

, the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the 1908 Baltimore Sculpture Exhibition, at 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 ...

Harrisburg City Hall The Harrisburg City Hall, located at 110 E. Locust St., is the city hall serving Harrisburg, Illinois. Built in 1926–27, the building is the city's second city hall. The architectural firm of Harry E. Boyle and Co. designed the building in the C ...

, and many other shows. She specialized in public sculptures, including fountains, relief panels, trophies, and cemetery urns. She also made portrait busts in bronze, and bas relief medallions. A bas relief bronze portrait of

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

, by Mabel Conkling, is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. A bronze statue by Conkling was presented to theatre professional

Samuel Roxy Rothafel Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel (July 9, 1882 – January 13, 1936) was an American theatrical impresario and entrepreneur. He is noted for developing the lavish presentation of silent films in the deluxe movie palace theaters of the 1910s and 1 ...

in 1931, and a bronze loving cup by Conkling was presented to musician

Walter Damrosch Walter Johannes Damrosch (January 30, 1862December 22, 1950) was a Prussian-born American conductor and composer. He was the director of the New York Symphony Orchestra and conducted the world premiere performances of various works, including Aa ...

in 1933, both presentations by the New York Federation of Women's Clubs. Conkling was president of the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors from 1926 to 1928. She was still on the board when the organization changed its name to the

National Association of Women Artists The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

in 1941. Conkling was also president of the Maine Women's Club of New York.

Personal life

In 1901 Mabel Viola Harris married a fellow artist, David Paul Burleigh Conkling. They had two daughters, Pauline and Natalie. She was widowed in 1926, sold her four-story

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

residence and studio at 26 West 8th Street in 1940, and died in 1966, aged 94 years, in

Boothbay Harbor, Maine Boothbay Harbor is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,027 at the 2020 census. It includes the neighborhoods of Mount Pisgah, and Sprucewold, the Bayville and West Boothbay Harbor villages, and the Isle of Sp ...

."Mabel H. Conkling"
''New York Times'' (October 13, 1966): 45.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conkling, Mabel 1871 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American sculptors Artists from Maine National Association of Women Artists members Académie Julian alumni People from Boothbay, Maine 19th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors