Eugenie Shonnard

Career

Shonnard began her art studies at the New York School of Applied Design for Women where she studied with Alphonse Mucha and at the Art Students League where she studied with James Earle Fraser. In 1911 she moved to Paris where she studied with sculptors Antoine Bourdelle and Auguste Rodin. There she exhibited at the Paris Salons of 1912, 1913 and 1922. Shonnard also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1916, the Museum of Modern Art in 1933 and the 1939 New York World's Fair.

In 1926, Edgar L. Hewett, director of the School of American Research invited her to settle in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she was given studio space at the Museum of New Mexico. While in New Mexico she became well respected for her carvings of Pueblos. Her "Pueblo Indian with Bowl" sculpture was unanimously chosen represent New Mexico in the 1938 exhibition of sculpture at the Architectural League in New York. She had solo exhibitions at the New Mexico Museum of Art in 1928, 1937 and 1954 and at the Roswell Museum and Art Center in 1969. In May 1954 she was awarded an honorary fellowship in fine arts by the School of American Research and Museum of New Mexico.

Shonnard was an early proponent of the "direct carving" style of creating sculpture.

Shonnard was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and the National Sculpture Society and exhibited at their 1923 and 1929 exhibitions. In 1939 she created wood panels—Indians and Cattle—for the U.S. Court House and Post Office in Waco, Texas, through the Section of Painting and Sculpture.

Personal life

Shonnard was the daughter of Civil War Major Frederic Shonnard of the 6th New York Heavy Artillery Regiment, and Eugenie Smyth Shonnard, a descendant of Declaration of Independence signatory Francis Lewis. On July 26, 1933 she married E. Gordon Ludlam.

Works

Works by Shonnard can be found in: