Abigail May Alcott Nieriker
Abigail May Alcott Nieriker American artist, July 16, 1840- December 29, 1879, known as the model for Amy in her sister Louisa May Alcott's book Little Women. Her family nickname was Abba.
Born in Concord, Massachusetts, she was the youngest of the four Alcott sisters. In Boston she studied art with William Morris Hunt and William Rimmer among others. She lent modelling tools to the young Daniel Chester French and encouraged him in his work.
Louisa's financial success in 1868 allowed May to study art in Paris, London and Rome. In 1877, her still life was chosen over Mary Cassatt's work to be exhibited in the Paris Salon. Her paintings were exhibited worldwide. John Ruskin praised her copies of Turner.
Married in 1878 to Ernest Nieriker, the couple lived in Meudon, a Parisian suburb.
She wrote a book Studying Art Abroad, and How to do it Cheaply in which she advised:
"There is no art world like Paris, no painters like the French, and no incentive to good work equal to that found in a Paris atelier,"
In 1879, she died six weeks after her daughter Lulu (Louisa May) was born. Her sister Louisa May brought up Lulu in Concord. Louisa May's last story was a parable written about Lulu. The story is included in a modern book The Uncollected Works of Louisa May Alcott which is illustrated by Abba's paintings and drawings.
Links
- [ISBN 0878464824] Erica E. Hirshler, A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston 1870-1940
- [ISBN 096553099X] The Uncollected Works of Louisa May Alcott