age 16 by gertrude käsebier, ca. 1901with floral headband by rudolf eickemeyer jr., ca. 1901with hair up, ca. 1900dressed in toga with floral wreath in hairon bear skin rug by rudolf eickemeyer jr., 1902
the gibson girl/girl in the red velvet swing
evelyn nesbit (25 december 1884 - 17 january 1967) was born in tarentum near pittsburgh, pennsylvania.
during her adolescence she began modeling to help with her family's near poverty. in 1901, at the age of 16, she moved to new york with her mother. with her stunning beauty, she was soon an in demand artists' model. in 1901 as a chorus girl on broadway, she med architect stanford white - a notorious womanizer (he was 47, she was 16). there was a scandal regarding a red velvet swing that white had in his apartment....apparently he liked to watch naked girls while he pushed them in the swing. nesbit was given champagne one night and passed out...she recounted that she awoke in bed, nearly naked with white lying next to her, and that she "entered that room a virgin," but did not come out as one.
after white, nesbit was courted by a 19 year old john barrymore but he was deemed unsuitable as a match by her mother. she went on to marry harry kendall thaw (a cocaine addict & alleged sadist who liked to subject women to severe whippings) in 1905 when she was 20. they had one child, russell william thaw in 1910.
in june of 1906 nesbit & thaw saw stanford white at a restaurant and later in the audience at madison square garden. during the song "i could love a million girls" thaw fired three shots at close range killing white instantly. thaw was tried twice for the murder of stanford white and he pled temporary insanity & was incarcerated at the mattaeawan state hospital for the criminally insane in beacon, new york. thaws mother had made an arrangement with nesbit that if she testified that she had been raped by white she would receive a divorce and a million dollar settlement. she got the divorce but was cut off financially by his mother and never saw a cent.
nesbit had modest success as a vaudeville performer, silent film actress and cafe manager but her life was marred by suicide attempts. in 1916 she married her dancing partner, jack clifford but he left her in 1918. she divorced him in 1933.
she published two memoirs, the story of my life (1914) and prodigal days (1934). she lived quietly in new jersey and overcame suicide attempts, alcoholism & an addiction to morphine and in her later years taught classes in ceramics.
she died in a nursing home in santa monica, california on 17 january, 1967, at the age of 82. she is buried in culver city, california.