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HARRIET WHITNEY FRISHMUTH
New York/Connecticut, 1880-1980
The Fisherman.
Figure seated beside a sundial. Signed and dated on base "Harriet W. Frishmuth 1912".
Bronze, height 11.5". Length 17".
Condition: The absence of a condition report does not imply an object is free of defects. All items may have normal signs of age and wear commensurate with their age; these issues will likely not be mentioned in the condition report. Please contact Eldred's
before the auction with any condition questions. Questions about condition will not be answered after purchase. Condition reports are provided as a courtesy, and we are not responsible for any errors or omissions.
Important note on frames: Frames are not guaranteed to be in the same condition as they are in the item photograph. Due to handling and shipping, many frames, especially antique ones, are prone to losses. If you have questions about the condition of a frame, please contact us prior to the auction.
- Provenance: Notes: Considered a "master of lyrical sculpture", Harriet Whitney Frishmuth was particularly drawn to the female form. Her favorite models were dancers, and her most well-known pieces feature lithe nudes. She was born in Philadelphia but spent much of her childhood in Dresden and Paris, studying at age 19 under Auguste Rodin. She later worked under Cuno von Euchtritz, Hermon MacNeil and Gutzon Borglum, and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Art Students League of New York. She opened her own studio in New York in 1908 and began receiving commissions for the Gorham Manufacturing Co. and the New York County Medical Society around 1910, mostly for utilitarian items like bookends, garden ornaments and park fountains. Her work was critically well-received, and her reputation grew steadily throughout the first decades of the 20th Century. At the height of her career, the women's rights movement escalated with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, in 1920. In response to her growing activism, Frishmuth joined the Philadelphia Ten, a group that promoted women as professional artists, not just hobbyists, through equal exhibition opportunities, salon-style forums, and access to models and instruction. Frishmuth was forced to leave New York and return to Philadelphia due to financial hardship during the Great Depression. She remained there the rest of her life, continuing to sculpt. Her work was included in exhibitions at the National Academy of Design, the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the Golden Gate International Exposition, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, among others, and is currently in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Dallas Museum of Art.
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