Elisabet Ney Museum

Austin

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A German-born sculptor and spirited trailblazer, Elisabet Ney lived in Austin in the early 1880s, and her former studio is now one of the oldest museums in Texas. Filled with more than 100 works of art, including busts and statues of political figures, the castlelike building made from rough-hewn stone is reason enough to visit. Look for the hidden door on the 2nd floor.

Three of Ney's better-known works reside in the state capitol, but the artist considered her greatest legacy to be a sculpture of Lady Macbeth. The Smithsonian owns the original, but you can see a replica of it here.

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