Lot 53: Madeleine Park (American, 1891-1960)

Count Camillo Sebregondi's Young Chow Ko-Ko Signed "MADELEINE PARK" on the reverse. Bronze sculpture, height 7 3/4 in. (19.6 cm), presented on a black marble stand. Condition: Wear to surface, loose on stand. Exhibitions: National Sculpture Society Exhibition, Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940. N.B. The lot is accompanied by the catalog of the aforementioned exhibition, where this sculpture is reproduced and listed as number 89. The piece was also exhibited at the Studio Guild in 1939 and won first prize at the 1958 National Academy of Design Annual Exhibition. Born in Mt. Kisco, New York, on July 19, 1891, Madeline Fish Park often played with the family pets, which may account for her ease in sculpting them later in life. Her desire to sculpt animals led her to study under the best sculptor in the field, A. Phimister Proctor. From Proctor she learned her greatest lesson "Don't copy others. Do it from life." Because of this advice, Park became a regular at the circus where she sculpted wild animals for Ringling Brothers, and took commissions to sculpt champion show dogs and horses. On a purchasing trip to India, she bought a panther named Brutus, which she kept as a pet. Park's work has been widely exhibited, including shows at the National Academy of Design and the Whitney Museum National Sculpture Society Exhibition. Park won many awards throughout her career including the Mrs. William K Vanderbilt Prize (1940), the Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize (1954), and the National Academy of Design Honorable Mention (1958).