Tom's Life Bits

Harriet Frishmuth is perhaps most well known for her sensitive rendering of lithe female forms in extended poses. Dancers were her favorite models. Her most important model was the noted dancer Desha, who was known among artists for her ability to hold difficult poses. Frishmuth was one of many American and European artists who flocked to Paris in the early part of the twentieth century to study at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts. The term Beaux-Arts style is often used to describe the complex Parisian-influenced art of the period.

Frishmuth often modeled her subjects both as over life-size versions and as small bronzes. Perhaps her finest masterpiece is The Vine, an over life-size bronze in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Two small versions of The Vine from the collections of Yale University Art Gallery and Brookgreen Gardens are on display in the Kennedy Museum of Art exhibition.

Two important developments affecting the work of Beaux-Arts sculptors were the revival of interest in Renaissance art and the popularity of bronze statuary to decorate the gardens of wealthy estates. Frishmuth's large bronzes often became focal points for elaborate garden settings. Her small bronzes were avidly sought after by private collectors and by museums.

The last two major exhibitions of Frishmuth's work were in New York City in 1929, although she remained active in the art world for decades afterwards. She was finally forced to give up sculpting after she tore the ligaments of her shoulder in a fall. She died in Connecticut over New Year's in 1980, at the age of 99. The Kennedy Museum exhibition is a major retrospective showing of her work that brings together for the first time the finest of her small sculptures from the peak decades of her long career.

Dancers 1921

The New York Academy of Medicine Medal, 1931

Harriet Frishmuth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 17, 1880. She studied briefly with Rodin at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, for two years with Euchtriz in Berlin, and at the Art Students League of New York under Gutzon Borglum and Hermon Atkins MacNeil. While in New York she worked as an assistant to the sculptor Karl Bitter and performed dissections at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Her first commissioned piece was in 1910 from the New York County Medical Society who commissioned her to do a bas-relief. She also modeled ashtrays, bookends, and small figures for Gorham; these early pieces are highly sought after by collectors. Her career grew steadily and she became well-known for her beautiful renderings of females in bronze, particularly dancers (Desha Delteil frequently modeled for her). Her small bronzes were sought after by private collectors and by museums, and her large bronzes often found a central place in elaborate garden settings. Her work was exhibited at the National Academy of Design, the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939-1940) and the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. One of her last exhibits was in New York City in 1929; although she remained active in the art world for decades afterwards, the Great Depression affected her livelihood and she closed her New York studio in the 1930s and returned to Philadelphia. She died in Connecticut in 1980, at the age of 99.

Harriet Frishmuth scorned modern art and was quite outspoken on the subject, calling it “spiritless” (she was equally outspoken in her dislike of the word “sculptress”). She received a number of recognitions and honors over the course of her career: the St. Gaudens prize (while still a student), several awards from the National Academy of Design, a prize from the Grand Central Art Galleries, an honorable mention from the Golden Gate International Exposition and the Joan of Arc Silver Medal from the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. “The Vine” (1923), a larger-than-life-size bronze considered one of her finest pieces, is in the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

One of Harriet Frishmuth's first and most popular garden fountains, Joy of the Waters depicts, in dancelike movement, the figure's reaction to having her toes splashed with cold water. Frishmuth's skillful rendering of the female physique is especially evident in the subtle definition of the figure's muscles and ribs. The girl's springing, energetic step, joyful expression, and animated hair create an exuberant mood and suggest that she may be a water sprite.

Frishmuth made two versions of Joy of the Waters: the 63 1/2-inch size, of which there were more than 60 bronze castings,and a smaller, 46-inch fountain, created in 1920, of which there were more than 40 castings. The model for this 1917 bronze was a Belgian girl named Janette Ransome. When Frishmuth made the second version of the subject, she used her favorite model, the dancer Desha Delteil. Both bronzes were among Frishmuth's most popular works, especially during the 1920s, a period of heightened vogue in America for garden sculpture and fountains.

The beginning of the 20th century saw a number of women (among them Frishmuth, Anna Hyatt Huntington, and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney) successfully pursue careers as sculptors, a field that had traditionally been considered masculine. Born in Philadelphia, Frishmuth briefly studied with Rodin in Paris around 1900 from whom she said she learned two important things:

1. First, always look at the silhouette of a subject and be guided by it.
2. Second, remember that movement is the transition from one attitude to another. It is a bit of what was and a bit of what is to be.

Frishmuth later studied at the Art Students League in New York before setting up her own studio about 1908. Throughout her career, she was especially interested in depicting stylized movement, especially of the female figure, as exemplified by Joy of the Waters.