Abastenia St. Leger Eberle
| Abastenia St. Leger Eberle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 6, 1878 Webster City, Iowa, United States |
| Died | February 26, 1942 (aged 63) New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work |
Girl Skating (1907) White Slave (1913) |
| Movement |
Ashcan School New Sculpture Realism |
Abastenia St. Leger Eberle (April 6, 1878 – February 26, 1942) was an American sculptor. Her most famous piece The White Slave representing child prostitution caused controversy when exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show.
A native of Webster City, Iowa, her father was a doctor and her mother a musician. Her family later moved to Kansas, then Missouri, before settling in Canton, Ohio. She initially studied to become a professional musician, but her father noticed her talent for modeling. She received lessons from one of his patients before enrolling at the Art Students League in New York.
She achieved early success with her sculpture Men and Bull, created in collaboration with Anna Hyatt, which was shown at the 1904 exhibition of the Society of American Artists. In 1906 she was elected to the National Sculpture Society. In 1920, she was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician.
St. Leger Eberle worked in a style related to Art Nouveau and the New Sculpture movement. She produced mainly portrait sculpture and decorative work for fountains. Some of her work is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. However, she is best known for figurative works that combined realism with emphasis on the flow of drapery and movement.
The White Slave was exhibited at the 1913 Armory Show in New York, and caused "a storm of violent controversy" because of its shocking combination of contemporary realism and the nude. The sculpture represented child prostitution, which at the time was euphemistically called white slavery.
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