Angela Gregory
Encyclopedia
Angela Gregory was an American sculptor
and professor of art. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana
, Gregory has been called the doyenne of Louisiana sculpture. Her mother, Selina Bres Gregory, was an artist who studied at Newcomb College in New Orleans with William and Ellsworth Woodward
. Her father, William B. Gregory, was an engineering professor at Tulane University
. Angela was interested in art from an early age and began her career in the late 1920s. She became one of the few women of her era to be recognized nationally in a field generally dominated by men.
. As a child, Gregory was inspired by the story her mother told her about watching stonecutters carve an angel on the exterior of the Newcomb Chapel. “She used to tell me she loved to hear the sound of the tapping on [the stone]…Well, I was determined to do stone cutting.”
’s New York
studio in 1924, Angela Gregory graduated from Newcomb in 1925 with a Bachelor of Arts in design. She was awarded a year’s scholarship to the Paris
branch of the Parsons School of Fine and Applied Arts
to study illustrative advertising. Her real purpose in going to Paris, however, was to study stone cutting with the noted French sculptor, Antoine Bourdelle
. Bourdelle had been a praticien in the studio of Auguste Rodin
for many years before establishing his own studio in Paris in a cluster of buildings located on what was then Impasse du Maine. Today the buildings house the Musée Bourdelle
on Rue Antoine Bourdelle.
Gregory studied for two years, 1926-1928, with Bourdelle, the only American admitted as a student to his private studios. She also took classes from him at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Early on, she asked Bourdelle what it would cost to study with him in his private studios. He replied, “I am an artist, not a businessman.” He refused any payment.
In Bourdelle’s studios, she carved a limestone copy of the fifteenth-century Beauvais Head of Christ under his tutelage. The day she finished the Head, Bourdelle handed her the keys to his studio. Gregory’s sculpture was exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries
in Paris in 1928.
While studying in Bourdelle’s studio, Gregory met and became lifelong friends with Joseph Campbell
. In a letter to her father, she wrote of Campbell: “He’s a very nice boy — clean, open face — and rather unusual in that he doesn’t drink and doesn’t smoke. He declines very graciously — each time. It was indeed amusing to dance with a 20th century youth who has enthusiasm and zest, and talks heatedly about religions and 'what’s beauty?'" Gregory sculpted a portrait bust of Campbell in the studio and as she worked the clay, the Master would occasionally step in to provide a critique and a philosophical discourse on the nature of art. The two young people were both deeply affected and influenced by the words of the Master.
Gregory also reconnected Campbell with Krishnamurti
, who was posing for a portrait bust for Bourdelle at the time. Meeting Krishna again and attending one of his lectures at the Theosophical Society with Gregory was an important turning point in Campbell’s life.
. There was nothing. I thought I would go out of my mind. But after a while I realized that if you don’t have it inside you, it doesn’t matter if you are here or in Paris.” She set up her own studio at the rear of her parent’s home on Pine Street. There, she worked for more than 50 years.
Her first major commission was at the young age of 25 and was for the architectural sculpture on the façade of the New Orleans Criminal District Courts Building. Upon completion, news reached as far as New York; the headline in the September 25, 1930 issue of the New York Sun read: Prison Walls Made Less Grim by Girl Sculptor, Who at 25 Executes Many Important Commissions.
In 1931, Gregory worked on a team of sculptors who executed historical panels for the façade of a new state capitol building in Baton Rouge built during the administrations of Governor Huey Long
. Other work from this period includes a head of Aesculapius on the Hutchinson Memorial Building in Tulane Medical Center
, sculpture for Tulane University’s McAlister Auditorium and many portrait busts. From 1934 to 1937 Gregory taught ceramics at Newcomb College and later was an artist-in-residence and sculpture professor there.
Gregory was involved in federal arts programs during the Depression. As part of that work, she created a monumental bust of John McDonough
that was installed in Duncan Plaza in New Orleans. In 1941, she became state supervisor of the Federal Works Progress Administration
arts program in Louisiana.
During World War II
she served as an assistant architectural engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans and designed camouflage. Later in that time period she served as women’s counselor for Pendleton Shipyards, and as a consultant to the Celotex Corporation. After the war she returned to sculpture. Commissions included bas-relief murals for the Louisiana National Bank in Baton Rouge. She also restored sculptures on New Orleans’ Gallier Hall.
In the 1950s, she devoted five years to the creation and casting of the bronze Bienville
Monument, which stood outside the New Orleans train station on Loyola Avenue for many years. It now stands in a small park near the French Quarter
, at the intersection of Decatur and Conti Streets. The monument portrays the first French governor and founder of New Orleans, a priest, and an Indian. Gregory spent two years in France supervising the casting of the monument.
Gregory was a professor and sculptor-in-residence for two decades at the St. Mary’s Dominican College
in New Orleans, and was named professor emerita when she retired in 1976. During her years at Dominican, she created a series of aluminum and walnut panels tracing the life of Pope John XXIII at the Dominican College library. Other work of that era included a statue of St. Louis for the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Notre Dame Seminary, and a statue of St. Fiacre
in the garden of Christ Church Cathedral. In the early 1960s, she sculpted the monument to Henry Watkins Allen in Port Allen, Louisiana. Gregory is often credited with being one of the few women sculptors of her era to complete three public monuments.
Gregory’s Pine Street studio was a “meeting place for musicians, diplomats, distinguished guests from France, writers like close friend Thornton Wilder
, and actors like Kirk Douglas
, whose wedding reception was in her studio.”
Lamantia continues: “Her collaborations with architects can only be hinted at in a gallery display, yet are necessary to recognize in any assessment of her work since they represent an involvement inculcate in the broader objectives of the grand tradition.”
in Washington
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York. She is also represented in private collections and several museums. In 1982 she was named Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
by the French minister of culture. Tulane University and Newcomb College each named her outstanding alumna. At the time of her death she was one of the few women fellows of the National Sculpture Society
.
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and professor of art. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Gregory has been called the doyenne of Louisiana sculpture. Her mother, Selina Bres Gregory, was an artist who studied at Newcomb College in New Orleans with William and Ellsworth Woodward
William Woodward (artist)
William Woodward was a U.S. artist and educator, best known for his impressionist paintings of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States....
. Her father, William B. Gregory, was an engineering professor at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. Angela was interested in art from an early age and began her career in the late 1920s. She became one of the few women of her era to be recognized nationally in a field generally dominated by men.
Early life
Gregory said she made her first piece of sculpture when she was twelve years old, crafting a birdbath out of chicken wire, concrete, and a wastebasket. Her early influences included her mother, Selina Bres Gregory (1870—1953), who had been a student of Ellsworth Woodward at Newcomb College in New Orleans and was an early Newcomb potterNewcomb Pottery
Newcomb Pottery, also called Newcomb College Pottery, was a brand of American Arts & Crafts pottery produced from 1895 to 1940. The company grew out of the pottery program at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, the women's' college now associated with Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana...
. As a child, Gregory was inspired by the story her mother told her about watching stonecutters carve an angel on the exterior of the Newcomb Chapel. “She used to tell me she loved to hear the sound of the tapping on [the stone]…Well, I was determined to do stone cutting.”
Studying Art in Paris
After studying art with Ellsworth Woodward at Newcomb College in summer classes and later as a student in the Newcomb art school, and sculpture in Charles KeckCharles Keck
Charles Keck was an American sculptor, born in New York City. He studied in the National Academy of Design and Art Students League with Philip Martiny and was an assistant to Augustus Saint-Gaudens from 1893 to 1898. He also attended the American Academy in Rome. He is best known for his...
’s New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
studio in 1924, Angela Gregory graduated from Newcomb in 1925 with a Bachelor of Arts in design. She was awarded a year’s scholarship to the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
branch of the Parsons School of Fine and Applied Arts
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
to study illustrative advertising. Her real purpose in going to Paris, however, was to study stone cutting with the noted French sculptor, Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle , originally Émile Antoine Bourdelle, was an influential and prolific French sculptor, painter, and teacher.-Career:...
. Bourdelle had been a praticien in the studio of Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
for many years before establishing his own studio in Paris in a cluster of buildings located on what was then Impasse du Maine. Today the buildings house the Musée Bourdelle
Musée Bourdelle
The Musée Bourdelle is an art museum located in the 15th arrondissement at 18, rue Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, France. It is open daily, except Mondays. The nearest métro stations are Falguière and Montparnasse – Bienvenüe....
on Rue Antoine Bourdelle.
Gregory studied for two years, 1926-1928, with Bourdelle, the only American admitted as a student to his private studios. She also took classes from him at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. Early on, she asked Bourdelle what it would cost to study with him in his private studios. He replied, “I am an artist, not a businessman.” He refused any payment.
In Bourdelle’s studios, she carved a limestone copy of the fifteenth-century Beauvais Head of Christ under his tutelage. The day she finished the Head, Bourdelle handed her the keys to his studio. Gregory’s sculpture was exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries
Salon des Tuileries
The Salon des Tuileries was an annual art exhibition for painting and sculpture, created June 14, 1923, co-founded by painter Albert Besnard, sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, architect Auguste Perret, and others....
in Paris in 1928.
While studying in Bourdelle’s studio, Gregory met and became lifelong friends with Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
. In a letter to her father, she wrote of Campbell: “He’s a very nice boy — clean, open face — and rather unusual in that he doesn’t drink and doesn’t smoke. He declines very graciously — each time. It was indeed amusing to dance with a 20th century youth who has enthusiasm and zest, and talks heatedly about religions and 'what’s beauty?'" Gregory sculpted a portrait bust of Campbell in the studio and as she worked the clay, the Master would occasionally step in to provide a critique and a philosophical discourse on the nature of art. The two young people were both deeply affected and influenced by the words of the Master.
Gregory also reconnected Campbell with Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti or , was a renowned writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society...
, who was posing for a portrait bust for Bourdelle at the time. Meeting Krishna again and attending one of his lectures at the Theosophical Society with Gregory was an important turning point in Campbell’s life.
Career
Gregory returned to New Orleans in 1928. The contrast with Paris was a shock: ”There was no music, no art. It was hot as HadesHades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
. There was nothing. I thought I would go out of my mind. But after a while I realized that if you don’t have it inside you, it doesn’t matter if you are here or in Paris.” She set up her own studio at the rear of her parent’s home on Pine Street. There, she worked for more than 50 years.
Her first major commission was at the young age of 25 and was for the architectural sculpture on the façade of the New Orleans Criminal District Courts Building. Upon completion, news reached as far as New York; the headline in the September 25, 1930 issue of the New York Sun read: Prison Walls Made Less Grim by Girl Sculptor, Who at 25 Executes Many Important Commissions.
In 1931, Gregory worked on a team of sculptors who executed historical panels for the façade of a new state capitol building in Baton Rouge built during the administrations of Governor Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
. Other work from this period includes a head of Aesculapius on the Hutchinson Memorial Building in Tulane Medical Center
Tulane Medical Center
The Tulane Medical Center is a hospital located in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Tulane Medical Center has centers covering nearly all major specialties of medicine, and is the primary teaching hospital for the Tulane University School of Medicine...
, sculpture for Tulane University’s McAlister Auditorium and many portrait busts. From 1934 to 1937 Gregory taught ceramics at Newcomb College and later was an artist-in-residence and sculpture professor there.
Gregory was involved in federal arts programs during the Depression. As part of that work, she created a monumental bust of John McDonough
John McDonough
John J. McDonough was a politician and businessman from Georgia, USA.-Background:He was the son of an Irish-born immigrant. He received his education in Atlanta's public schools and graduated from the St. Francis Xavier College in New York City...
that was installed in Duncan Plaza in New Orleans. In 1941, she became state supervisor of the Federal Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
arts program in Louisiana.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
she served as an assistant architectural engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans and designed camouflage. Later in that time period she served as women’s counselor for Pendleton Shipyards, and as a consultant to the Celotex Corporation. After the war she returned to sculpture. Commissions included bas-relief murals for the Louisiana National Bank in Baton Rouge. She also restored sculptures on New Orleans’ Gallier Hall.
In the 1950s, she devoted five years to the creation and casting of the bronze Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienvillepronounce] was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during 1701-1743. He was a younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville...
Monument, which stood outside the New Orleans train station on Loyola Avenue for many years. It now stands in a small park near the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
, at the intersection of Decatur and Conti Streets. The monument portrays the first French governor and founder of New Orleans, a priest, and an Indian. Gregory spent two years in France supervising the casting of the monument.
Gregory was a professor and sculptor-in-residence for two decades at the St. Mary’s Dominican College
St. Mary’s Dominican College
St. Mary’s Dominican College was a liberal arts college for women in New Orleans.-History:The college was founded by the Dominican Sisters congregation of St. Mary. It developed out of St. Mary's Academy, which is currently called St. Mary's Dominican High School.St. Mary’s Dominican College was...
in New Orleans, and was named professor emerita when she retired in 1976. During her years at Dominican, she created a series of aluminum and walnut panels tracing the life of Pope John XXIII at the Dominican College library. Other work of that era included a statue of St. Louis for the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Notre Dame Seminary, and a statue of St. Fiacre
Fiacre
Saint Fiacre was born in Ireland in the seventh century. is an ancient pre-Christian name from Ireland. The meaning is uncertain, but the name may mean "battle king", or it may be a derivative of the word "raven"...
in the garden of Christ Church Cathedral. In the early 1960s, she sculpted the monument to Henry Watkins Allen in Port Allen, Louisiana. Gregory is often credited with being one of the few women sculptors of her era to complete three public monuments.
Gregory’s Pine Street studio was a “meeting place for musicians, diplomats, distinguished guests from France, writers like close friend Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
, and actors like Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, whose wedding reception was in her studio.”
Artistic Analysis
Writing in the catalogue for A Retrospective Exhibition, Angela Gregory, Newcomb 1925, and A Collection of the Works of Selina E. Bres Gregory, Newcomb, 1896, Tulane Professor James Lamantia wrote of Angela Gregory: “Eschewing the overbearing rush toward abstraction so characteristic of the second quarter of our century, she had consistently embraced the natural image. The strength of this key decision she molds with her own personality, carrying it beyond the obvious influence of Bourdelle.”Lamantia continues: “Her collaborations with architects can only be hinted at in a gallery display, yet are necessary to recognize in any assessment of her work since they represent an involvement inculcate in the broader objectives of the grand tradition.”
Artist’s Statement
In a statement written by Gregory in 1985 for her entry in Virginia Watson-Jones' survey book of Contemporary American Women Sculptors, Gregory explained: “In my portrait busts and monuments, I have attempted to maintain a strong tectonic quality while being primarily interested in portraying the sensitive, subtle quality of the individual.”Legacy
Gregory’s work has been exhibited at the Salon des Tuileries, at the National GalleryNational Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in New York. She is also represented in private collections and several museums. In 1982 she was named Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
by the French minister of culture. Tulane University and Newcomb College each named her outstanding alumna. At the time of her death she was one of the few women fellows of the National Sculpture Society
National Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...
.
External links
- http://www.lib.lsu.edu/soc/women/lawomen/gregory.html
- http://tulane.edu/alumni/taa-alumni-awards-distinguished-1988.cfm
- http://www.tulane.edu/~wc/text/pathfinders/LAwomen.html
- http://www.tulane.edu/~wc/randr/labios.html