NORFOLK, Va. — If you’ve been to the Chrysler Museum of Art, you’ve seen the work of Anna Hyatt Huntington.
Her sculpture The Torch Bearers greets visitors just outside the museum's entrance. The statue was gifted to the city of Norfolk in 1957.
Born in 1876, Anna Hyatt Huntington was one of the most famous American women sculptors of the twentieth century. At a time when very few women could support themselves as artists, Huntington had a thriving career.
And her work can be seen today in New York, San Francisco, Madrid and across Hampton Roads.
In fact, in 1930, Anna and her husband founded The Mariner's Museum and Park in Newport News.
Her sculptures of four stone lions can be seen along the nearby Lions Bridge, which borders the James River. And her monument, Conquering the Wild, overlooks Mariner's Lake.
This is part of a series of Women's History Month stories 13News Now is featuring in March to celebrate some of the women who have had an impact on the Hampton Roads region.