Luella A. Varney Serrao

Luella A. Varney Serrao
Luella Varney as a young sculptor in Rome
Born
Luella A. Varney

(1863-08-11)August 11, 1863
Angola, New York
DiedDecember 26, 1948(1948-12-26) (aged 85)
Poughkeepsie, New York
NationalityAmerican
Known forSculpture
Spouse
Teodoro Serrao
​
​
(m. 1893; died 1907)​
ChildrenArthur Varney

Luella A. Varney Serrao (August 11, 1863 – December 26, 1948) was an American sculptor. She was known for her portraits of notable Americans.

Biography

Serrao née Varney was born on August 11th, 1863, in Angola, New York.[1] She moved to Cleveland as a young girl, where she studied at the Cleveland School of Art.[2] After high school she moved to Rome, Italy where she earned a degree from the University of Rome. In Rome she met the lawyer Teodoro Serrao whom she married there on February 12th, 1893.[3] They lived in Rome. Upon his death in 1907 she returned to Cleveland.[4][5]

Serrao created portraits of Susan B. Anthony, William Howard Brett,[6] Mary Baker Eddy, Julia Ward Howe, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain[5] and Henry Mower Rice.[7]

She exhibited her work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Institute of Chicago.[8]

Serrao exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts and The Woman's Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.[9]

Her work, “An Archbishop of Odessa” can be found in the Roman Catholic Church in Odessa, Russia.[10]

She died in 1948, aged 85.[11]

The movie director Arthur Varney was her son.[12]

  • Susan B. Anthony, c. 1884
    Susan B. Anthony, c. 1884
  • Mary Baker Eddy, c. 1889
    Mary Baker Eddy, c. 1889
  • Mark Twain, c. 1892
    Mark Twain, c. 1892
  • Henry Rice, c. 1910
    Henry Rice, c. 1910
  • William Howard Brett, c. 1918
    William Howard Brett, c. 1918

References

  1. ^ Ancestry.com, Luella Varney Serrao, U. S. Passport Application, 16 October 1920. Accessed 7 December 2024.
  2. ^ Petteys, Chris, “Dictionary of Women Artists: An international dictionary of women artists born before 1900”, G.K. Hall & Co., Boston, 1985 p. 639
  3. ^ Ancestry.com, Mr. Theodore Serrao, U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current. Accessed 7 December 2024.
  4. ^ "A portrait bust of Mary Baker Eddy" (PDF). Quarterly News - Longyear Museum and Historical Society. 28 (Fall/Winter): 430–432. 1991–92. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Madame Luella A. Varney Serrao Bust of Mary Baker Eddy". Mary Baker Eddy Library. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ^ "William Howard Brett, Marble Bust". cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  7. ^ Opitz 1986, p. 838.
  8. ^ "Luella Varney Serrao". AskArt. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ Nichols, K. L. "Women's Art at the World's Columbian Fair & Exposition, Chicago 1893". Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  10. ^ Opitz, Glenn B., ed. (1986). Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers. Poughkeepsie, NY: Apollo Books. p. 838.
  11. ^ Ancestry.com, Luella Serrao, New York, U.S., Death Index, 1948. Accessed 7 December 2024.
  12. ^ Robert Murphy (editor): Directors in British and Irish Cinema: A Reference Companion. British Film Institute, 2006.