Anna Hyatt Huntington

Anna Hyatt Huntington mainly produced heroic equestrian statues and specialized in sculptures of animals, especially pets, but also wildlife. As the youngest daughter of a zoologist she developed an early interest in animals, mainly horses. Rather casually, she also painted landscapes. Her mother drew sketches for her husband’s publications and painted landscapes in her leisure time. Nevertheless, Huntington’s first career goal was to be a violinist, until, in 1895, her sister asked her to model a group of dogs. The success of this work encouraged the sisters to work closely together. In 1895 Anna began to study sculpture, first in Boston and then in New York. In 1900 she had her first exhibition in Boston and completed her first major work, two German mastiffs from blue granite. In 1902, she went to New York City and studied under Hermon Atkins MacNeil at the Art Students League. During this time she lived and worked with Abastenia St. Leger Eberle. Together they went to Europe and toured England, Italy and France until 1911. For her equestrian statue of Jeanne d’Arc for the French city of Blois she was honored as a Knight of the Legion d’Honneur.

At the age of 47 years, Anna Hyatt married the wealthy philanthropist Archer Milton Huntington. In 1930 he bought a site near the city of Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. There, the couple founded the Brookgreen Sculpture Garden, the first of its kind in the US. In 1932 they moved to Virginia and opened the Mariners’ Museum, today one of the largest maritime museums worldwide. After her husband’s death she continued to work until her death at age 97, although she had developed tuberculosis in 1927.

About a dozen copies of the approximately 2.50 m tall bronze statue Diana, actually Diana of the Chase, sculptured in 1922, are in various places, including: Brookgreen Garden, the Huntington Library & Botanical Garden in Pasadena, the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland. However, there are versions in different sizes and materials and slight variations (e.g. with and without a dog).