Adam Ney

Johann Adam Ney (born March 3, 1800 in Bambiderstroff ; † October 21, 1879 in Münster ) was a German sculptor .

life and work

Today, Johann Adam Ney stands out from the crowd of many unknown sculptors of the 19th century, especially as the father of the artist Elisabet Ney . She rarely mentioned him to her biographer. Johann Adam Ney, who came from a traditional stonecutter family from Bambiderstroff in Lorraine , left his homeland at a young age. He settled down as a sculptor in the Westphalian Münster and became a well-respected artist in the region. Evidence of the work of Adam Ney can only be incomplete, as there are no sources that prove that Ney earned a considerable part of his money by erecting tombstones and other gravestone decorations for private individuals.

Johann Adam Ney created this cross in Werne in 1842

Role model for Elisabet Ney

He was certainly a role model for his daughter in the persistent search for orders. The unconventional, eye-catching appearance of the father with a wild beard, a hat with a tassel and an unusual jacket probably inspired Elisabet Ney to wear clothes that her mother sewed for her when she was growing up. She will later use this preference for self-styling and as part of her artist image.

literature

• Katharina Tiemann: The unrecognized sculptor Johann Adam Ney in Münster - artist and idiosyncratic role model . In: Barbara Rommé (Ed.): Elisabet Ney. Mistress of her art. Sculptor in Europe and America . Wienand et al., Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-87909-945-0 , (exhibition catalog: Stadtmuseum Münster).
• Eugen Müller-Münster: Elisabeth Ney. The strange life fates of Elisabeth Ney and Edmund Montgomery (1833–1907) . Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1931.
• Bride Neill Taylor: Elisabet Ney. Sculptor . The Devin-Adair Co., New York NY 1916.