Cornelia Chapin home movies, Paris studio and zoo, 1934-1936

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Cornelia Chapin home movies, Paris studio and zoo, 1934-1936

Amateur footage of Cornelia Chapin and her teacher Mateo Hernandez in their Paris sculpture studio, and at the zoo, found in the Marion Sanford and Cornelia Chapin papers at the Archives of American Art. 6 film reels, 16mm, black and white, silent. Footage mainly depicts Chapin and Hernandez working at their studio, demonstrating the direct carving method of sculpture, and Chapin and others at the zoo, working and viewing the animals. Zoo footage may have been shot at the Bois de Vincennes or the Bois de Boulogne, both in Paris, and both of which Chapin is known to have frequented. Reel 6 of 6 (the final 3 minutes) shows Hernandez and Chapin with a bear cub acquired as a model for Chapin's sculpture. Funding for the preservation of the Cornelia Chapin home movies was provided by the National Film Preservation Foundation.

45 min 58 sec

Smithsonian archives art american history