You may not know Enid Yandell’s name, but you certainly know her work.
Born in Louisville in 1869, Yandell studied sculpture in Cinncinnati and later New York and Paris. Among her mentors was Auguste Rodin, who you might know as the artist behind “The Thinker.”
Yandell’s work appeared in the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. It was after the World’s Fair that she received a commission from the Filson Historical Society to create a statue honoring Daniel Boone using the pioneer’s real hunting shirt + rifle. A cast of that statue still stands at the entrance to Cherokee Park today.
During and following World War I, Yandell turned from sculpting to humanitarian and educational work. While still living in Paris, she joined several organizations caring for war orphans + providing meals to out-of-work artists and their families.
“After the war there was no art. There was nothing but agony and sorrow and a great striving to help,” Yandell said of the First World War.
Later, she returned to the US and founded The Branstock School in Martha’s Vineyard in 1908. The school taught sculpture, along with ceramics, painting, printing, and more.
Yandell died in 1934 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in a family plot.
