Emma Stebbins

Emma Stebbins (September 1, 1815 – October 25, 1882) was an American sculptor and the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City. She is best known for her work Angel of the Waters, the centerpiece of the Bethesda Fountain, located on the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park.

Biography

Early life Stebbins was born on September 1, 1815, in New York City, one of nine children of John L. Stebbins, a wealthy banker, and his wife, Mary Largin. Her family encouraged her interest in the arts.

Hosmer introduced Stebbins to some of her future teachers including John Gibson and Paul Akers.

Stebbins lived at 20 West 16th Street in New York City for the last six years of her life. Stebbins spent nearly the rest of her life writing Cushman's biography, Charlotte Cushman: Her Letters and Memories of Her Life, and died on October 25, 1882, from lung disease. She was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. an exhibition of "fourteen sculptures, the exhibition features archival material including photographs that document lost marble sculptures and plaster studies that Stebbins never realized in stone or bronze." The exhibit was curated by Karli Wurzelbacher, who also wrote the exhibition catalog .

Gallery