"A Good Life" Bronze Sculpture by Sculptor Joy Beckner | Classical realism, from hounds to humans

In the Spring of 1996, though her health was failing, our dear Anna posed on her back in her bed through about two-thirds of this clay. She appeared to be comfortable, though she had heart and bladder problems. Anna died during the early hours of May 7. Through tears, I did the hardest thing I have ever done. I completed a front foot and a back foot. I worked on one side of her face and by 5 o'clock I could do no more. I buried my friend in the grave my husband, Brian, had dug earlier in the day.

For three weeks, I could not go into my studio. May 31, 1996 was the Dachshund Club of St. Louis Specialty Show. At the invitation of my dachshund anatomy mentor, Judge Weldon Long, I took Dreaming of Tomatœs, and told breeders I was looking for a new model -- a standard, smooth, mahogany bitch with a good head. I would show her only through my sculpture. Springfield, MO breeder, Rita Toombs, came to my rescue with a gorgeous, retired, spayed, show girl, Braaehaus Hometown Girl, call name, Lizzie. I told Brian all about her and the very next day we drove six hours to get her.

Two days after Lizzie came home, I started to finish A Good Life. I was particularly interested to see the differences between Anna and Lizzie, who is from the top Canadian breeder. The head evolved into Lizzie's head but the body is essentially Anna's. The necessity of using two models was a blessing. The piece could not have been as exciting otherwise! Friends kept saying what 'a good life' Anna had. Naming this piece was much easier than making it.

In October 1999, the National Sculpture Society, NSS, awarded A Good Life its Silver Medal and the John Cavanaugh Memorial Prize in its 66th Annual Exhibition. The American Women Artists awarded the 21" version their highest award in April 1999. A Good Life earned the Ellin P. Speyer Prize at the National Academy Museum's 173rd Annual Exhibition in NYC. As the 1997 Best in Show winner at the Art Show at the Dog Show, Wichita, KS, show sponsors purchased the first cast for its permanent home at The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, St. Louis, MO. The Pen & Brush, Inc., NYC, 51st Annual Sculpture Exhibition awarded A Good Life their highest award. In November 1997, The Dog Fanciers Club, Inc., NYC, awarded the third Best-in-Show at their 10th Annual Contemporary Dog Art Competition. In April 1999, the American Women Artists awarded the 21" version their highest award.

A Good Life, 25 1/2"L, number 1/20, was completed in bronze August 2, 1996. I modeled the 1:6 scale, 4 3/4"L version directly in wax from the life-sized version. In November 1999, I made the 1:6 scale version an edition limited to 99. Below the 60's, each is simply signed and numbered. A dog show judge commissioned the 21"L, life-sized "miniature."

2001
Ella Carouthers Dunnigan Gallery of Art, Bolivar, MO ~ Art of the Animal Kingdom V National Tour $

2000
Society of Animal Artists, Inc. ~ Annual Exhibition 2000
Audubon Artists of America, Inc., NYC ~ 58th Annual Exhibition
The Library of Hattiesburg, MS ~ National Small Sculpture Exhibition 2000 $

1999
American Women Artists, Taos, NM ~ Second National Competition
National Sculpture Society, NYC ~ 66th Annual Exhibition ~ Silver Medal &
Fine Arts Institute at the San Bernardino County Museum, Redlands, CA ~ 34th Annual Open International Exhibition

1998
National Academy Museum, New York, NY ~ 173rd Annual Exhibition
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club Inc., New York, NY ~ 102nd Annual Open Exhibition
National League of American Pen Women, Springdale, AK ~ 16th Annual Women's National Juried Art Exhibition
Hill Country Arts Foundation, Ingram, TX ~ Confluence 1998 ~ 26th Annual National Juried Painting & Sculpture Exhibition
Seaside Art Gallery, Nags Head, NC ~ 6th International Miniature Show
Washburn University, Topeka, KS ~ Third Annual Sculpture Exhibition

1997
The Pen & Brush, New York, NY ~ 51st Annual Sculpture Exhibition
Art Show at the Dog Show, Wichita, KS ~ 11th Annual Exhibition$
Dog Fanciers Club, Inc., New York, NY ~ 10th Annual Dog Art Competition
Chambersburg Council for the Arts, Chambersburg, PA ~ 13th Annual Exhibition of Miniature Art
Arts Center of the Ozarks, Springdale, AK ~ 3rd Annual Artists of Northwest Arkansas Fall Regional Exhibition
St. Louis Artists' Guild, Clayton, MO ~ 84th Annual Sculpture Exhibition
Artists' Atelier of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA ~ National Miniature Show
=Award =Best-in-Show $=Purchase Award

1999 Photo & remarks in Wildlife Art, Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo; Taos News, Taos, NM: Ladue News, Ladue, MO. Remarks in Southwest Art.

1998 Photo & remarks in Canine Images, Premier Issue; Dachshund Review, Cover of Winter issue, Dog Fancy & Dog World, March issues

1997 Photo & remarks in Wildlife Art, Art Revue, The Equine Image, AKC Gazette, Dachshund Review, and Sirius, the magazine of The American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, St. Louis, MO

"Top dog! A Good Life, a bronze by Joy Kroeger Beckner of Chesterfield, MO, earned Best-in-Show and the first-place award for sculpture at the Art Show at the Dog Show. Nearly 300 artists entered 653 works in the 11th annual show, the nation's premier, juried, fine-arts competition devoted to canine art." Wichita Eagle, April 1997

"Joy Kroeger Beckner's 'Best-in-Show' bronze dachshund (exemplifies) compositional vivacity." Dr. Novalene Ross, Chief Curator, Wichita Art Museum.

"I was especially taken with the magnificent bronze sculpture of a dachshund. Titled A Good Life, this Best-in-Show winner, will have a prominent place at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog, St. Louis, MO."
Ronald H. Menaker, Director of The American Kennel Club.