Audrey Munson

Audrey Munson Re-Appears

Well, she doesn't really re-appear, but both the New York Times and Gothamist featured Munson in stories this week.  What prompted those stories is that Andrea Geyer, a German artist living in New York, has published Queen of the Artist's Studio, a book about Munson and is trying to raise money to purchase a gravestone for her.

Although I have been taking photos of the many monuments for which Munson modeled, I obviously haven't  been very good at posting them here.  Maybe this new interest will encourage me.

Civic Fame

On top of the Municipal Building stands "Civic Fame" the largest sculptural piece in the city when it was built. It has been surpassed in size by the monstrosity at Union Square. The Municipal Building was built in 1913-14 to house the administrative offices needed after the five boroughs were consolidated in 1898 to form what we now know as New York City.

American Venus quotes a 1913 New York Sun article "Up on top of the Municipal Building stands the figure of "Civic Fame." Made by Adolph Weinman. There Miss Munson is again..." There is also a reprint of an unnamed newspaper or magazine of the period that states "Audrey Munson, Who Tops the Municipal Building as Civic Pride...". Let's assume the newspaper meant Fame instead of Pride.

However, in "Monuments and Masterpieces" written by Donald Martin Reynolds, an art history professor at Columbia University, in 1988 Reynolds says "The model for the figure of the sculpture was the New York woman who posed for Saint Gauden's Victor in Sherman's March to the Sea in Grand Army Plaza, Julia Baird, nicknamed "Dudie"." To frustrate matters Reynolds doesn't cite any sources for his information.

Whom should we believe, an art history professor or a contemporary newspaper account?

"Civic Fame" is on the cover of the excellent "The Art Commission and the Municipal Art Society Guide to Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture compiled by Margot Gayle and Michele Cohen in 1988. The statue is 25 feet tall and is made of copper over a steel frame. It was re-gilded for the American Bicentennial in 1976. On her right arm is a shield carved with the seal of the city. In her right hand is a laurel wreath signifying fame. In her left hand is a crown with five turrets, one for each city borough. To the eternal dismay of Brooklynites she stands facing west, with her back toward Brooklyn. In 1936 the left arm fell off and went through a 26th floor skylight. The statue was renovated again in 1991 as part of a building renovation.

The New York City website has a history of the sculpture and a couple of photos.
No photos, but Francis Morrone has an interesting article about civic sculptures in New York in an 1999 issue of City Journal.

The Fireman's Memorial

The Fireman's Memorial is a very moving memorial located at 100th and Riverside Drive. The memorial was constructed of pink marble in 1913 by Attilio Piccirilli. Piccirilli was one of six brothers who immigrated from Italy in 1867. The brothers, along with their father, were well known as stone carvers. From their Bronx studio they carved Daniel Chester French's famous statue for the Lincoln Memorial. Attilio, along with his brother Furio, was also highly regarded as a sculptor in his own right.

There are several parts to the memorial: two sculptures, a bas relief of firemen, a fountain and small reflecting pool, and a nearby plaque honoring firehorses. As far as I know Audrey Munson posed for women in both sculptures. In one sculpture, a woman comforts a small child while holding a fireman's helmet in her lap. In the second sculpture a very muscular woman holds the body of a dead fireman. A muscular woman is out of character for Munson who wrote "You can't be both athletic and beautiful! Escew all athletic exercises! Athletics over develop certain muscles..."

The Piccirilli's sculpted or carved several works for which Munson posed. Among them are the Maine Monument, by Attilio, and Daniel Chester French's Four Continents at the U. S. Customs House.

Discussion and more photos of the memorial from forgottendelights.com

Exhibit and signage to commemorate renowned Mott Haven sculptors article from the Bronx Times.

Teacher honors forgotten sculptors April 23, 2001 story about the Piccirilli's from the Bronx Beat.

Brief biography of Attilio Piccirilli from the National Sculpture Society.

Pokorny and Associates firm that recently restored the memorial.

At the Met

There are two sculptures by Daniel Chester French in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for which Audrey Munson posed. These are "Memory" and "Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial". "American Venus" incorrectly calls this latter "Victory Mourning".

"Memory", by Daniel Chester French.

Detail of "Memory".

The curious thing about "Memory" is that French began the work in 1886, before Audrey Munson was born. As the plaque (see below) next to the sculpture says, he revised the sculpture in 1909, when Munson was in New York.

The other Munson-modeled work by French in the Met is "Mourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial". The original was sculpted in 1907 and is in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord Massachusetts. The sculpture is commonly referred to as the "Melvin Memorial" as it commemorates the lives of Asa, John and Samuel Melvin, all members of Company K, First Massachusetts Heavy Artillery who died in the Civil War. The Melvin Memorial is considered one of the great war memorial sculptures in the United States.

More about Daniel Chester French
Lee Sandstead has a number of "Memory" photos
Douglas Yeo has more photos and information about Memory and the Melvin Memorial.
Melvin Memorial web site.

Pomona in the snow

"Pomona the Fountain of Abundance", by Karl Bitter atop the Pulitzer Fountain next to the Plaza Hotel at Grand Army Plaza (Fifth Avenue and 59th St). Bitter was hit by a car and died before the sculpture could be completed.

Pulitzer Fountain Description from the Central Park Conservancy.
NY Newsday description of the fountain.
Pulitzer Fountain - From the NYC Public Art Curriculum.

Unmarked Grave

Audrey Munson died in 1996. She was 105 years old. She had been committed to the Ogdensburg Psychiatric Institution in 1931 for what now are largely treatable diseases of depression and schizophrenia. Her parents divorced when Audrey was very young. After her parents died (Edgar is her father) she had no visitors for several decades before being rediscovered by a niece. Audrey Munson is buried in an unmarked grave in her father's plot in the New Haven, NY cemetery.

Ida and Isodor Straus Memorial

Although virtually forgotten today, Audrey Munson was a popular artist's model, muse, silent film actress, and newspaper columnist in the early 20th century. Munson and I come from the same hometown, Mexico, NY.

"American Venus: The Extraordinary Life of Audrey Munson Model and Muse" by Diane Rozas and Anita Bourne Gottehrer was published in 1999. The book describes Munson's long and tragic life and includes many vintage and contemporary photographs. Unfortunately the book also contains many factual and typographical errors.

I live in New York City, where there are many sculptures and statues for which Munson posed. On this website I hope to present some of my, admittedly amateur, photographs of her statues as well as any factual information I dig up about her.

Detail of "Memory" the Straus Memorial sculpture in Straus Park, 107th and Broadway. Augustus Lukeman (1871-1935) was the sculptor.

Looking south at "Memory" October 2003.

Tile artwork on the uptown side of the 86th St. station of the IRT. There's a series of tile works made by local students in the 1980s in this station. I need to go back and get details.

Ida and Isodor Straus were passengers on the Titanic on its maiden voyage. They died when Ida refused to board a lifeboat without her husband. At the time Mr. Straus was the owner of Macy's.

Thousands mourn at Straus memorial - article from the May 12, 1912 New York Times describing the memorial services for the Straus's.
Straus Park is Dedicated - article from the April 15, 1915 Evening Sun newspaper reporting on the memorial's dedication ceremony
Friends of Straus Park