Lot 84: Helen Farnsworth Mears , American 1873-1916 ideal head bronze, dark brown patina

signed and dated: .HELEN.FARNSWORTH.MEARS.FECIT.1912, inscribed: ©1916.MARY.MEARS, stamped: GORHAMCO. FOUNDERS QAIS GAC and inscribed 78)7P in black ink on the underside bronze, dark brown patina

measurements note 29cm., 11½in.

Helen Fansworth Mears was born into a family of talented women in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Her mother, Mary Elizabeth Mears, was a poet and playwright and her sister Mary was a novelist. Helen's sculptural interests were evident from an early age and were fostered by an aunt who left her a legacy to fund her studies. Helen used the money to study at the Chicago Art Institute. Her first great success came with her Genius of Wisconsin, exhibited at the Chicago Exposition of 1893. The sculpture was noted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Mears became his first female assistant. In 1896 Mear's had the opportunity to travel to Paris, where she studied under Alexandre Charpentier and Frederick William MacMonnies. She exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1897. She completed an Italian tour before returning to America to settle in New York with her sister Mary. Mears completed a number of important public works including the statue of Frances E. Willard for the Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol, Washington.

The present small-scale bronze is typical of Mears' more intimate studies. The model dates to 1914 but was not cast until after the sculptor's death in 1916. The sculptor's sister, Mary Mears, was devoted to promoting Helen's sculpture and it is her name which appears on the second inscription. Mary arranged a number of posthumous exhibitions for her sister's work between 1916 and 1920, including shows at the Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Brooklyn Museum.

RELATED LITERATURE
Opitz, pp. 268-9; Tolles, pp.541-3