Tuesday, May 10, 2011

bust of Schopenhauer



This bust of Schopenhauer was sculpted by Elisabet Ney, who was a very interesting person in her own right. German by birth, she and her Scottish physician husband emigrated to Texas. There is an Elisabet Ney Elementary School in Lake Jackson, Texas named after her.

According to Wiki:
After the elderly Schopenhauer sat for a sculpture portrait by Elisabet Ney, he told Richard Wagner's friend Malwida von Meysenbug, "I have not yet spoken my last word about women. I believe that if a woman succeeds in withdrawing from the mass, or rather raising herself above the mass, she grows ceaselessly and more than a man."[35]


Ney was waaaay ahead of her time:
She refused to use her husband's name, often denied she was even married, and once remarked:[1][2][15]

"Women are fools to be bothered with housework. Look at me: I sleep in a hammock which requires no making up. I break an egg and sip it raw. I make lemonade in a glass, and then rinse it, and my housework is done for the day."

She wore pants and rode her horses astride as men did. Ney liked to fashion her own clothes, which, in addition to the slacks, included boots and a black artist frock coat.[4]