"as valuable as government bonds, and dangerous"

May 9, 2016 8:09 AM

How America's First Supermodel Was Nearly Erased From History: The Sad Life of Audrey Munson - Miss Manhattan - Civic Fame - Queen Of The Artists' Studios - Descending Night[readme] who dies alone in an insane asylum.

And possibly the first woman to appear naked in a feature motion picture.

previously on Metafilter

posted by the man of twists and turns (6 comments total)

I love reading about early 20th C stars - this is fascinating and I cannot WAIT to read this book!!!!!
posted by Dressed to Kill at 8:46 AM on May 9, 2016

You beat me to it, but some additional links from my "maybe I should make this a metafilter post" folder:

The Sad Story Of Hollywood’s First Naked Lady, Audrey Munson

Columbus Circle: Two Statues, One Woman

Audrey Munson: Exposition Girl "by some estimates she was the model for more than 75 percent of the 1500 or more sculptures displayed at the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915"

Some photos of statues she modeled for around NY
posted by fings at 10:22 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

That excerpt was enough to make me download the book. It's interesting to me how people of each era just look like that era. I know it's a lot to do with styling and the folks who are chosen to be photographed and all, but she looks so quintessentially 19-teens and 1920s, it's astounding.
posted by xingcat at 11:08 AM on May 9, 2016

Ha! That last link that fings posted is to my photos*! Too bad I lost a bit of interest, got busy with other things. I recently learned that she probably wasn't the model for the Pomona statue between the Plaza Hotel and the Apple Store.

Some of the earlier (circa 2000) reporting on Munson wasn't very accurate, so I'm very interested in reading this new book.

*They were so small when I had a dial-up connection.
posted by plastic_animals at 11:10 AM on May 9, 2016 [2 favorites]

Such an interesting story; it reminds me quite a bit of Evelyn Nesbitt. Modeling, post-photography, is such a toxic business.
posted by orrnyereg at 11:17 AM on May 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

A few weeks ago, a friend told me about Audrey Munson. "I'm sure you have opinions about her," he said. But I'd never heard of her... but I quickly acquainted myself with her story. The absolute shit that she had to put up with, from the beginning to the end of her life-- up to the 1990s!-- was fucking appalling. The patriarchy consumed and spat out this talented, vibrant woman-- shades of Frances Farmer, really. It's all so disgusting and enraging.

Anyway, here's some additional links. There's a big article about her in Vogue.

There's also a fabulous article about her this month in Bust magazine.

And here's a sketch I did of Audrey recently.

It's awful she was locked away for most of her life, but I'm sure she'd be delighted to know that people are still talking about her a century later.
posted by suburbanbeatnik at 6:12 PM on May 9, 2016