The Elisabet Ney Museum is the historic home and studio of Elisabet Ney, a wildly iconoclastic German sculptor who moved to Austin in 1882. The museum enthusiastically celebrates her art, her history and her legacy through exhibitions and events for the whole family. The museum enjoys numerous historic designations and is a cornerstone of the Hyde Park National Register Historic Neighborhood. Admission is free.
About Us | Programs/Events/Services | Exhibits | Get Involved
The museum is open. Protocols pertaining to City of Austin COVID 19 directives will apply. Masks are encouraged.
Scroll below for links to find out more about:
- Elisabet Ney: Art For Humanity's Sake online exhibition
Art activities and programming - Online tours and other “Ney-ana”
- Museum Improvements Project
Stay Well and thank you!
SURSUM!
On Exhibit
The Elisabet Ney Museum houses the World’s largest collection of this remarkable woman’s work, spanning the 1850s through her death at the site in 1907, along with furnishings and ephemera. The Museum also exhibits contemporary artists in the building as well as on the grounds, much of which features a Historic Prairie Landscape Restoration that mimics what Miss Ney found when she purchased the property in 1882. For tours of the building and these collections, see below.
Come see our exhibit, "the Mother the Witch the Hysteric” Opening Reception by artist Annie May Johnston on Thursday, January 26, 2023.
ON VIEW FROM JANUARY 26 TO MARCH 5, 2023
Come experience the new exhibition at the Elisabet Ney Museum, the Mother the Witch the Hysteric by Annie May Johnston! The Museum continues to present local contemporary female identifying artists within the walls of Miss Ney’s former studio, Formosa. This spring, the Ney welcomes Johnston as she works in collaboration with Elisabet Ney’s striking sculpture of Lady Macbeth. Johnston’s unique printmaking practice employs new technologies alongside traditional processes. Considering gendered traits, the supernatural and pseudo-science, her new artwork combines images and interpretations of Lady Macbeth, Elisabet Ney, and herself. This exhibition is in partnership with PrintAustin, an artist-led nonprofit organization working to showcase traditional and contemporary approaches in printmaking.
Online Exhibitions
In ELISABET NEY: ART FOR HUMANITY’S SAKE, the Elisabet Ney Museum brings together over 80 pieces from our collections and puts them online! Enjoy the ultimate portrait of Elisabet via portions of our extensive collection portrayed in a way never before possible: online! Portrait and allegorical sculptures, studies, maquettes as well as archives, letters, photos, tools, personal effects—even clothing—are all displayed in this crisp, and useful, online exhibition. Casual fans to advanced researchers will find the data of great interest. You can even see things that are never visible to the public—items that are deep in our collections room!
Please visit the online exhibition here
For more information about these exhibitions, please visit our Exhibits page.
Online Programming
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Watch the Sixth First Annual and only Virtual Polkapocalypse 2020! This super favorite of visitors from all over the globe was held online in 2020, and featured Brave Combo, Piñata Protest, and many, many more in a three-hour Polkaxtravaganza! Check it out, recorded, by clicking here: Polkapocalypse 2020!
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For a video tour of the Elisabet Ney Museum’s main collection, given by Museum Site Coordinator Oliver Franklin, please click here: Elisabet Ney Museum Collection Tour
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For a video tour of the past Special Exhibition “Barbara Attwell: Rewylding”, please visitBarbara Atwell: Rewylding Exhibition
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See video tours of the Museum’s Native Prairie Historic Landscape restoration project, given by Mino Giunta, the Museum’s landscape specialist, please click here:
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See Springtime video by clicking here: Spring Tour
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See Fall video by clicking here: Fall Tour
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For a video demonstration of Plein Aire painting created by Baron Wilson of Austin Plein Aire Society using the Elisabet Ney Museum as a model, please click here: Plein Aire Demonstration
You can find more virtual activities and activity guides that you can engage with in your own home on our Programs, Events, and Services page.
Highlighted Events and Tours
The Elisabet Ney Museum engages over 25,000 visitors per year in tours, events, festivals, openings and lectures, the most popular being POLKAPOCALYPSE! Tours are suggested during open hours and upon request. For more information, visit our Programs, Events, and Services page.
Education
An early leader of the Texas Women’s Movement and a vigorous Civil Rights, education and arts advocate, Miss Ney was one of a kind. School groups get curriculum-aligned tours of the site ranging from Pre-K to High School, featuring art, history, science, and multi-disciplinary STEAM programming. For more information, visit our Programs, Events, and Services page.
Capital Improvement Project
The Elisabet Ney Museum will be undergoing some significant site upgrades in 2022-2023. For more information, please visit our Capital Improvement Project page.
Elisabet Ney Biography
Formosa Studio
In 1892, European portrait sculptress Elisabet Ney (1833-1907) purchased property in Austin, established a studio named Formosa and resumed her career as a noted sculptor of notables.
At Formosa, Ney sculpted legendary Texans, among them Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston. Ney also assembled at her American studio portraits of European notables, including King Ludwig II of Bavaria, Otto von Bismarck, Arthur Schopenhauer and Jacob Grimm rendered from life as a young artist in Europe.
From Studio to Museum
At the turn of the 19th century, Elisabet Ney’s studio became a gathering place for influential Texans drawn to “Miss Ney” and to the stimulating discussions of politics, art and philosophy that took place there. Following Ney’s death in 1907, her friends preserved the studio and its contents as the Elisabet Ney Museum and established the Texas Fine Arts Association dedicated to her memory.
About the Museum
The Elisabet Ney Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places based on its significance as the former American studio of Elisabet Ney. The museum is also a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation'sHistoric Artists’ Homes and Studios program. Unless otherwise indicated, the portraits and personal memorabilia in the Elisabet Ney Museum form the Elisabet Ney Collection of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin.