1934

Who was Cornelia Chapin?

Cornelia Van Auken Chapin was born in 1893 at Waterford, near New London, Connecticut. She was the youngest child of Lindley Hoffman and Cornelia Garrison (Van Auken) Chapin. CC spent her childhood in New York City, where she attended private schools. Her interests included book collecting, dramatics, and aeronautics; she became one of the first women to receive her pilot's license. In the early 1920's, CC decided that sculpture was her main interest and studied with Gail Sherman Corbett. In 1930, she began to exhibit her work, and in 1934 she studied in Paris as the only pupil of Mateo Hernandez. From Hernandez CC learned the art of direct carving, and from that time on, all of her exhibited works were carved directly from life in stone and wood, without making preliminary models or sketches. Cornelia Chapin is noted for her stone models of birds and animals, although in later years she added human figures to her repertoire. She exhibited in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maine, and Paris; lectured informally at museums and schools on "Carving Direct From Life, Some Tales and Tools"; and was accepted as a member of the National Academy of Design in 1945. CC was also the only foreign and only woman sculptor elected to the Societaire Salon d'Automne, Paris (in 1936), and she won numerous awards and prizes for her sculptures during the 1930's and 1940's.

So what happens next Carol? Another 12 months of photos? It has been very enjoyable, and although I didn't come on board until fairly late into the project it has been a pleasure to help with! Three cheers for Carol!

Hear Hear

Hear hear

Really enjoyed seeing your postings---hope it doesn't stop there! It wouldn't have to match the date; but surely when details are volunteered it greatly adds to the history of the image and where it was taken - for posterity!!

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/resel/] Colin [http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellster//] Wendy: Strongly Agree. By the way quite a few of the men appear in both photos. Perhaps Brylcreem should be added as a tag!

Mussolini sent a congratulatory message to the fliers and said he hoped to see them for the Pentecost celebrations when they would be accorded a national welcome. The fliers received a huge welcome here, doing social rounds and meeting the de Valera led Cabinet. Up to 15 mechanics had to fashion parts from scrap metal to repair the under-carriage and it was two weeks before the plane took from Moy. Alas, they came down again, this time in Wales, when the engine failed. Another two weeks passed before the 'Mona Lisa' was repaired again. Commodore Pond, who was now at the end of his tether, made the sensational claim that their plane had been vandalised! It is now known if they got that national welcome promised by Mussolini. Incidentally, Lieut. Sabelli sported the Italian Facist badge. - D. O'Shaughnessy.

denisoshaughnessy How marvellous! And what a picture of not only early aviation, but Thirties politics... Thank you!

Very interresting!

I found a picture of the aircraft at Floyd Bennett Field, New York (near the present JFK Airport) and it can be seen that it is a substantial enough machine. It is a Bellanca J-300 and this photo was taken by Rudy Arnold, an aviation photographer from the 1920s to the 1950s. sirismm.si.edu/nasmtop/NASM/7a/NASM-7A03451~A.jpg

Irish251 Gorgeous to see the full machine, as the ditch in our photo, while adding to the drama, obscures so much of the plane...