March 26, 2015 – Evelyn Nesbit was the most sought-after model of the early 20th century, sitting for artists and illustrators before dominating the newly emerging fashion photography industry. Nesbit, born in Pennsylvania in 1884, began modeling in her early teens to support her family after the death of her father. The Nesbits moved to New York in 1900 to further her career, and Evelyn quickly became the most in-demand model in the city.
Her image proliferated in everything from magazines and newspapers to souvenirs and calendars. George Grey Barnard’s sculpture, Innocence, a Metropolitan Museum of Art fixture, was modeled after her. She appeared on Broadway and in movies.
Nesbit dated the famed architect and socialite, Stanford White, before marrying millionaire Harry Thaw. She testified at her husband’s sensational murder trial after he gunned down her former lover in a Madison Square Garden rooftop cabaret a year after their marriage.
Link: DailyMail
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