- 61
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth 1880 - 1980
Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 USD
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Description
- Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
- Joy of the Waters
- inscribed Harriet W. Frishmuth S.C./© 1920 and Roman Bronze Works Inc. N.Y.
- bronze
- height: 61 inches (154.9 cm)
Provenance
Estate of Eugene Sussel, Maryland, 1989
Gallerie Maurice, Chicago, Illinois (sold: Sotheby's New York, September 23, 1993, lot 138, illustrated)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale
Gallerie Maurice, Chicago, Illinois (sold: Sotheby's New York, September 23, 1993, lot 138, illustrated)
Acquired by the present owner at the above sale
Literature
Charles A. Aaronson, Sculptured Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 26, 107-09, 206, illustration of another example
Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 38, 40-42, 190, illustration of another example p. 37
Janis Conner, Frank Hohmann, Leah Rosenblatt Lehmbeck, Thayer Tolles et al., Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, A Catalogue of Works, New York, 2006, no. 1917:3, pp. 28, 66, 79n80, 86, 200, 277-78, illustration of another example p. 236
Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 38, 40-42, 190, illustration of another example p. 37
Janis Conner, Frank Hohmann, Leah Rosenblatt Lehmbeck, Thayer Tolles et al., Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, A Catalogue of Works, New York, 2006, no. 1917:3, pp. 28, 66, 79n80, 86, 200, 277-78, illustration of another example p. 236
Catalogue Note
First modeled in 1917, Joy of the Waters arose from Harriet Whitney Frishmuth’s request for her model, Desha Delteil, to imagine how she would react if a cold ripple of water touched her foot while standing barefoot on a rock. Frishmuth captures the figure’s seemingly levitating pose with arms thrown upward, knee raised, and face animated as she balances upon a rock surrounded by water. Conceived in 1917 and initially cast in 1920, the present example is from an edition of forty-four. Frishmuth submitted Joy of the Waters to the 1925 Women’s World Fair in Chicago, held in April at the American Exposition Palace. The event attracted more than 160,000 visitors and showcased women’s accomplishments in art, literature, and science. As a result, the present work quickly became one of Frishmuth’s most well-known sculptures. Other examples are found in the permanent collections of the Dayton Art Institute, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Best known for her captivating bronzes of female nudes in large and small formats, Frishmuth was one of the most successful American sculptors of the early twentieth century. She maintained a studio in the charming half-street mews known as Sniffen Court in the Murray Hill neighborhood of New York City where her fellow sculptor Malvina Hoffman also lived and worked. Both women preferred professional dancers as models and their grace and athleticism translated fittingly into Frishmuth’s active and expressive sculptures. She felt that, “the unrestrained freedom of a figure’s pose was an expression of life within” (Janis Connor, et. al., Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, New York, 2006, p. 28).
Best known for her captivating bronzes of female nudes in large and small formats, Frishmuth was one of the most successful American sculptors of the early twentieth century. She maintained a studio in the charming half-street mews known as Sniffen Court in the Murray Hill neighborhood of New York City where her fellow sculptor Malvina Hoffman also lived and worked. Both women preferred professional dancers as models and their grace and athleticism translated fittingly into Frishmuth’s active and expressive sculptures. She felt that, “the unrestrained freedom of a figure’s pose was an expression of life within” (Janis Connor, et. al., Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, New York, 2006, p. 28).