is a standing figure missing its head wearing traditional garments with almost no body parts exposed. The piece has been described as a subtle handling of the layered fabrics' lines and folds. Caparn later said it became a major influence in shaping her approach to art. After graduating from high school, she spent two years as a student in Bryn Mawr College where an art history course in ancient Greek sculpture captured her attention. Her realization that a four-year liberal arts education was not for her coincided with a minor crisis in the life of her older sister, Anne. Despite the stock market crash of 1929, their mother found money enough for the two sisters to spend a year in Paris. Once there, Caparn began studies under an animal sculptor, Édouard Navellier, at the École Artistique des Animaux. She later recalled that the school maintained a menagerie including a wild boar. The boar, she said, was tame in comparison with a savage goose that was also present. Returning home at the end of 1930 she took a further two and a half years of instruction from the avant-garde sculptor Alexander Archipenko in his school in Manhattan. She sculpted human torsos during this period but soon realized that she preferred animal forms. She began going to the Bronx Zoo and for the next two years made many drawings of animals. Caparn later credited two women with the guidance and financial aid she needed to complete her studies and embark on a career as a professional sculptor. The first was Elizabeth Alexander, widow of the painter John White Alexander. Elizabeth Alexander helped make Caparn's time in Paris "the most wonderful year in the world" by giving her and her sister a place to live, by finding studio space for her to work in, by arranging for her to study with Navellier, and, later, by encouraging her to attend classes with Archipenko. The second woman was Lee Wood Haggin (1856–1934). Like Alexander, Lee Wood Haggin was a wealthy widow whose philanthropy contributed to New York culture in general and to artists in particular. Both women were connected to the MacDowell Club. Haggin was its founder and leading financial supporter and Alexander was active in its affairs. They were both residents of Onteora, the private community where Caparn was born. Caparn later said of Haggin, "Mrs. Haggin helped me a great deal, simply because