Mary Trimble Lawrence (1868 – 1945) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. She designed the

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

sculpture at the 1893

World's 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 ...

. Her married name was Mary Lawrence Tonetti.

Early life and education

Lawrence was born in 1868, in

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 ...

. She was from a prominent New York family whose ancestors included John Lawrence, mayor of New York City from 1673 to 1675, and 1691 to 1692; and the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

patriot, Captain James Lawrence who died after uttering the words, "Tell the men to fire faster! Don't give up the ship!" While in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

preparing for the

, sculptor

Augustus St. Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Irish-French family, and raised in New ...

recommended Lawrence, who had been his pupil at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

for the previous five years, for the creation of the monumental statue of

to be placed at the entrance of the Administration Building. Like many of the buildings at the Exposition, the statue was made of staff, a temporary building material, and no longer exists. Although some critics claimed that St. Gaudens, or his brother Louis, had in fact modelled the work, St. Gaudens himself debunked this by stating in his Reminiscences that Lawrence, "modeled and executed it and to her goes all the credit for the vitality and breadth of treatment which it revealed." St Gaudens biographer Bruce Wilkens relates that

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

objected to the prominent placement of the statue and arranged to have it moved to a spot near the train station. The architect

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the par ...

, a founding member of the prestigious architectural firm

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

and a widower, who had fallen in love with Lawrence in New York, had enough sway in Chicago to get the statue of Columbus returned to its former place. Lawrence never forgave Millet and is quoted as saying, "I could stamp on his face and grind it into the gravel until it bled."Wilkinson, Bruce, photographs by David Finn, ''Uncommon Clay: The Life and Works of Augustus Saint Gaudens'', Harcourt Brace Jonanvich, Publishers, San Diego 1985

Career

Following the end of the Exposition Lawrence served as an assistant to St Gaudens, helping him in the creation of the General John A. Logan monument that was bound for Grant Park in Chicago. Thereafter, she moved to Paris where she studied 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 ...

. There, in 1893, she met a young assistant to Frederick William Macmonnies, Francois ML Tonetti. They were married in 1900 in New York City. Saint Gaudens, when he heard about the wedding "broke down and wept" and bemoaned the loss of her artistic ability to a much less talented sculptor, saying that she would likely have "lots of festive children," but would produce no more significant art. Her first child, a son named Oliver, died at the age of thirteen days. Lawrence did produce a few more works after her marriage, such as two fountains she created with her husband for the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park–Front Park System, Delaware Park, extending ...

held in Buffalo, New York in 1901. In 1907, she contributed two statues, ''Venice'' and ''Spain'' - again in collaboration with her husband - to the parade of statues on the cornice of

Cass Gilbert Cass Gilbert (November 24, 1859 – May 17, 1934) was an American architect. An early proponent of Early skyscrapers, skyscrapers, his works include the Woolworth Building, the United States Supreme Court building, the state capitols of Minneso ...

's US Customs House. Lawrence Tonetti was one of the founders of New York's Cosmopolitan Club. As a supporter of the arts, she helped form an artists' colony at her ancestral home of Sneden's Landing, New York, now called

Palisades, New York Palisades, formerly known as Sneden's Landing (pronounced SNEE-dens), is a hamlet in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York, United States. The area referred to as Snedens Landing is located within the eastern portion of Palisad ...

.Savell, Isabell K. (1977). ''The Tonetti Years at Snedens Landing''. New York, NY: The Historical Society of Rockland County. p. 3. .

References

Sources

* Opitz, Glenn B., ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Apollo Books, Poughkeepsie, NY 1986 * Rubinstein, Charlotte Streifer, ''American Women Sculptors''. G.K.Hall & CO., Boston 1990 * Saint-Gaudens, Homer, editor, ''The Reminiscences of Augustus Saint-Gaudens'', Published by The Century, New York 1913 * ''New York Times''. "MRS. MARY L. TONETTI; Sculptor, Ex-Aide to St. Gaudens, Made Statue for Fair of '93," March 15, 1945, Section, p. 23.

External links

*Jeanne Rejaunier (granddaughter of Mary Lawrence Tonetti) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Mary 1868 births 1945 deaths 19th-century American sculptors 19th-century American women sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women sculptors Académie Julian alumni Art Students League of New York alumni People from Palisades, New York Sculptors from New York City Sculptors from New York (state)