Elfriede Abbe

{{short description|American sculptor}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = Elfriede Abbe

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| birth_name = Elfriede Martha Abbe

| birth_date = February 6, 1919{{cite web|title=Legacy.com Obituary| website=Legacy.com |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bennington/obituary.aspx?pid=162453234#fbLoggedOut}}

| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|December 31, 2012|February 6, 1919}}

| death_place = Manchester, Vermont, U.S.

| nationality = American

| known_for = Sculpture
Engraving
Illustrator

| training = Cornell University

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Elfriede Martha Abbe (February 6, 1919 – December 31, 2012) was an American sculptor, wood engraver, and botanical illustrator, often displaying nature and simple country living inspired by her Upstate New York home. A self-publisher, Abbe created numerous hand-printed books, which she printed on a printing press in her studio.

Early life and education

File:Sixth Day by Elfriede Abbe.jpg

Abbe was born in Washington, D.C., in 1919.{{cite web| title=Artist biographies| publisher=Arizona Timebank| url=http://newlexicon.com/pa-timebank/support_us/cMarket%20Links/Abbe,%20Archambault,%20Brochard,%20Daghani,%20Fortier,%20Lemieux,%20Mazzucato,%20Povlich,%20Reitan,%20Saru,%20Sobossek.pdf| accessdate=June 13, 2011| url-status=dead| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823043833/http://newlexicon.com/pa-timebank/support_us/cMarket%20Links/Abbe%2C%20Archambault%2C%20Brochard%2C%20Daghani%2C%20Fortier%2C%20Lemieux%2C%20Mazzucato%2C%20Povlich%2C%20Reitan%2C%20Saru%2C%20Sobossek.pdf| archivedate=August 23, 2011}} She graduated from Cornell University in 1940,{{cite web | year=1996 | title=Elfriede Abbe work on exhibit at Cornell's Kroch Library | work=Cornell Chronicle | url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Feb96/Abbe.dg.html | accessdate=June 13, 2011}} earning a degree in architecture, and attended Syracuse University.

Career

Her statue The Hunter was featured at the 1939 New York World's Fair in New York City.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/LiveCulture/archives/2013/05/08/elfriede-abbe-1919-2012-a-short-appreciation-of-an-amazing-vt-artist|title = Elfriede Abbe (1919-2012): A Short Appreciation of an Amazing VT Artist}}

From 1942 until her retirement in 1974, she was an illustrator at Cornell University.

After retiring from Cornell, she lived and worked in Manchester, Vermont{{cite web|title=Elfriede Abbe |work=Printmaking |publisher=Frog Hollow |url=http://www.froghollow.org/artist/elfriede-abbe |accessdate=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723150932/http://www.froghollow.org/artist/elfriede-abbe |archivedate=July 23, 2011 }} until her death in 2012. During her retirement, she published on art and natural history, continuing to produce artwork throughout her life.

Notable awards

Notable collections

  • Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania{{cite web|title=Art |url=http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/hibd/departments/Art.shtml |website=Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation |publisher=Carnegie Mellon University |accessdate=June 28, 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20020702232431/http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/HIBD/Departments/Art.shtml |archivedate=July 2, 2002 }}
  • Cornell University, Ithaca, New York{{cite web|title=Guide to the Elfriede Abbe Papers, 1840–2010|url=http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMA01102.html|website=Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections|publisher=Cornell University Library|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City{{cite web|title=Garden spice and wild pot-herbs|url=http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1201701~S1|website=Watsonline|publisher=Thomas J. Watson Library The Catalog of the Libraries of The Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}{{cite web|title=Seven Irish Tales|url=http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1168221~S1|website=Thomas J. Watson Library|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}{{cite book|title=The city of Carcassonne|url=http://library.metmuseum.org/record=b1056812~S1|via=Thomas J. Watson Library|year = 1988|publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}
  • National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.{{cite web|title=Plants of Virgil's Georgics|url=http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.50171.html|website=National Gallery of Art|year=1962 |accessdate=June 28, 2014}}
  • New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, New York City{{cite web|title=snap dragon|url=http://www.nybg.org/library/botart/search.php?collnum=1&itemnum=21|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140629140137/http://www.nybg.org/library/botart/search.php?collnum=1&itemnum=21|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2014|website=Botanical Art Database|publisher=New York Botanical Garden|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}
  • Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts{{cite web|title=Liber amicorum : presented in honor of Ruth Mortimer, 1994|url=http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/232638012|website=Archivegrid|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}
  • Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut{{cite web|title=Fine Press|url=http://guides.library.yale.edu/content.php?pid=179680&sid=2060150|website=Yale University Library|publisher=Yale University|accessdate=June 28, 2014}}

Published works

  • Abbe, Elfriede. The Plants of Virgil's Georgics: Commentary and Woodcuts By Elfriede Abbe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1965. {{ISBN|0-8014-0001-5}}
  • Abbe, Elfriede. Seven Irish Tales. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1957.{{Cite book|title=Seven Irish tales|last=Abbe|first=Elfriede|date=January 1, 1957|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, NY|oclc = 823231182|language=English}}
  • Abbe, Elfriede. Mushrooms: Wood Engravings in Color. Elfriede Abbe, 1970.{{Cite book|title=Mushrooms: wood engravings in color.|last=Abbe|first=Elfriede|date=January 1, 1970|location=Elfriede Abbe|oclc = 3367729|language=English}}
  • Abbe, Elfriede. How Prints Are Made. Manchester, Vt.: South Vermont Art Center Press, 1971.{{Cite book|title=How prints are made.|last=Abbe|first=Elfriede|date=January 1, 1971|publisher=South Vermont Art Center Press|location=Manchester, Vt.|oclc = 606840921|language=English}}
  • Abbe, Elfriede. An Introduction to Hand-made Paper. Manchester, Vt.: Southern Vermont Art Center Press, 1972.{{Cite book|title=An introduction to hand-made paper.|last=Abbe|first=Elfriede|date=January 1, 1972|publisher=Southern Vermont Art Center Press|location=Manchester, Vt.|oclc = 5437260|language=English}}
  • Abbe, Elfriede. The Fern Herbal: Including the Ferns, the Horsetails, and the Club Mosses. Ithaca: Comstock, 1981.{{Cite book|title=The fern herbal including the ferns, the horsetails and the club mosses|last=Abbe|first=Elfriede|date=January 1, 1981|publisher=Comstock Publ.|location=Ithaca [u.a.|oclc = 311589972|language=English}}

References

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