Gail Stiles Brown, a working artist from Texas, wrote to recommend a long look at Elisabet(h) Ney, an outrageous woman from the 19th-century. Why was she outrageous? Well, besides being an enormously talented (female!) sculptor, Elisabet basically did everything 180° differently than that which was expected of women. There are also two non-art things I find marvelous about her. First, when she finally deigned to marry, she did so on the conditions that (1) it remain their (she and her spouse, Edmund Montgomery) little secret and (2) she retain the use of her (now famous) maiden name. (They - with their two publicly different last names - had children, which must've caused some scandalous talk.) Secondly, she had a positive talent for making and keeping friends. She had so many, in fact, that after her death some of them banded together to keep her Austin studio open as a museum. To me, this speaks volumes for a person (male or female) - that he or she was a wonderful friend. I am grateful, Gail, that you made it possible for me to "meet" Elisabet, and hope that others will make her colorful acquaintance, as well. Thanks!

Today in Art History:

• Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (French Neo-Classical painter), died in 1867