Los Angeles
County
Biographies
JULIA
BRACKEN WENDT
Southern California prides itself on
the development of art which has accompanied the growth of commerce, industry
and business enterprises, and among those individuals who have created this
cultural and artistic phase of progress a very prominent figure is that of
Julia Bracken Wendt, of Los Angeles, who, as a sculptress, and as an artistic
creator with native talents, has achieved national repute. It is difficult to describe in the space
available for this biography the monumental work this woman has done in one of
the most difficult of the arts, but her works and creations stand in themselves
as proof of the inspired and beautiful conceptions and interpretations she has
achieved.
Julia Bracken Wendt was born in
picturesque Apple River, Illinois, on the 11th day of June in the
year 1871, and is the daughter of Andrew and Mary (Bracken) Wendt. From early girlhood she manifested artistic
inclinations, and in 1887 began her studies in the Chicago Art Institute and in
the Lorado Taft Institute, where she was a student
until 1892. She took active part in the
decoration of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1892, during which service
she produced the work “Illinois Welcoming the Nations,” which was an
outstanding product of Mrs. Wendt’s creative mind. This was afterward presented to the state of
Illinois by the Women’s Exposition Board.
Mrs. Wendt was the recipient of the first sculpture prize offered in
Chicago in 1898. In 1904, she was
appointed on the sculptor’s staff of the St. Louis Exposition, and in 1905 she
won a first prize in sculpture given by the Municipal Art League of
Chicago. A gold medal was given to Mrs.
Wendt at the San Diego Exposition in 1915, and in 1918 she received the Mrs. W.
P. Harrison prize in Los Angeles. She
also received the Grand Prize awarded at the San Diego Exposition. In 1917, she was honored with the Clarence S.
Black prize offered by the California Art Club and in 1922 she won the Mrs.
Keith Spaulding prize donated by the Chicago Art Institute. At the Pan-American Exposition she was given
the Second Balch Purchase and in 1926 received the Ranger Fund Purchase prize.
In many of the more prominent
permanent collections of art in the country Mrs. Wendt is represented. The large group “Art, Science and History”
which stands in Exposition Park in Los Angeles is one of her masterpieces and
other works of notable character are the memorial fountain for the New Ebell
Club; the memorial for the Hollywood High School; and the memorial relief of
Lord Lister for the John Murphy Memorial Hospital in Chicago, also the memorial
tablet for Red Cross Ambulance Corps No. 1, in Pasadena. Many busts of prominent individuals have been
created by Mrs. Wendt, including such men as Charles D. Willard, Edward B.
Butler, Charles F. Summis, Frank Daggett, Judge
William Rhodes Hervey, Percy M. Weidner, Charles S. Walton, the Very Rev. Dean
William McCormick, and John Steven McGroarty. Mrs. Wendt is a member of the American
Federation of Artists, the Chicago Society of Artists, the California Art Club,
the Friday Morning Club (honorary), the Browning Club (honorary) and the
California History and Landmarks Club.
On June 22, 1906, in the city of
Chicago, Julia Bracken became the wife of William Wendt, who was born in
Germany February 20, 1865, and is one of the foremost painters in American
art. Many honors have been achieved by
Mr. Wendt during his career and his canvases hang in many of the largest
galleries both in America and abroad.
Transcribed
by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: California of the South
Vol. V, by John Steven McGroarty, Pages 371-372,
Clarke Publ., Chicago, Los Angeles, Indianapolis. 1933.
© 2012 V.
Gerald Iaquinta.
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