Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (September 17, 1880 – January 1, 1980) was an American sculptor known for her works in bronze.

Life

She was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Her parents divorced when she was in her teens, and she moved to Europe with her mother and sisters, living there for eight years. She studied briefly with

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...

in Paris, and for two years with

Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch (3 July 1856, Breslau - 29 July 1908, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life Since his youth he had pursued art as a hobby, but did not decide to become a sculptor until he was twenty-one. The occasion was a figure ...

in Berlin. She returned to the United States and studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may st ...

under

Gutzon Borglum John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum (March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941) was an American sculptor best known for his work on Mount Rushmore. He is also associated with various other public works of art across the U.S., including Stone Mountain in Georg ...

and

Hermon Atkins MacNeil Hermon Atkins MacNeil (February 27, 1866 – October 2, 1947) was an American sculptor born in Everett, Massachusetts. He is known for designing the ''Standing Liberty'' quarter, struck by the Mint from 1916-1930; and for sculpting ''Justi ...

. While in New York, she worked as an assistant to the sculptor

Karl Bitter Karl Theodore Francis Bitter (December 6, 1867 – April 9, 1915) was an Austrian-born American sculptor best known for his architectural sculpture, memorials and residential work. Life and career The son of Carl and Henrietta Bitter, he was ...

, and performed dissections at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Sniffen Court E36 cloudy jeh

Her first commissioned piece was a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

for the

New York County Medical Society The New York County Medical Society is a professional membership organization for physicians who live or work in the Borough of Manhattan. As such, it is part of the larger network of medical organizations which includes the American Medical Ass ...

in 1910. She also modeled ashtrays, bookends, and small figures for the

Gorham Manufacturing Company The Gorham Manufacturing Company is one of the largest United States of America, American manufacturers of Sterling silver, sterling and silverplate and a foundry for bronze sculpture. History Gorham Silver was founded in Providence, Rhode Isl ...

. Her career grew steadily, and she became well known for her beautiful renderings of females in bronze, particularly dancers (

Desha Delteil Desha Delteil (March 18, 1899 – July 17, 1980) was a Slovenia-born dancer and artists' model. Biography She was born Desha Eva Podgoršek in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia), emigrated to the US with her sister ...

frequently modeled for her). Her small bronzes were sought by private collectors and museums alike, and her large bronzes often were placed in elaborate garden settings or as the centerpieces of fountains. She also taught; among her pupils were Maude Sherwood Jewett and Eleanor Mary Mellon. Her work was exhibited at the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...

, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 ...

(1939–1940) and the

National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors The National Association of Women Artists, Inc. (NAWA) is a United States organization, founded in 1889 to gain recognition for professional women fine artists in an era when that field was strongly male-oriented. It sponsors exhibitions, awards ...

. She also exhibited with the

Philadelphia Ten The Philadelphia Ten, also known as The Ten, was a group of American female artists who exhibited together from 1917 to 1945. The group, eventually numbering 30 painters and sculptors, exhibited annually in Philadelphia and later had traveling exh ...

, the renowned group of women artists. She had a studio at Sniffen Court in New York City. One of her last exhibitions was in 1929, though she remained active in the art world for decades afterwards. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

affected her livelihood; she closed her New York studio in the 1930s, and returned to Philadelphia. She died in 1980 in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 20 ...

Frishmuth scorned

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

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 Medal from the Art Students League of New York (while still a student), several awards from the National Academy of Design, a prize from the

Grand Central Art Galleries The Grand Central Art Galleries were the exhibition and administrative space of the nonprofit Painters and Sculptors Gallery Association, an artists' cooperative established in 1922 by Walter Leighton Clark together with John Singer Sargent, Ed ...

, 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. She was elected into the National Academy of Design in 1925 as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1929. Her work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

. Her papers and a great number of drawings are held at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

She is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. While Frishmuth was not open about her sexuality in press interviews of the day, archival records document that she was a lesbian, her partner Ruth Talcott having lived with her from the 1940s until Frishmuth’s death in 1980.

Selected works

*''Joy of the Waters'' (1920),

Grand Rapids Art Museum The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) is an art museum located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, with collections ranging from Renaissance to Modern Art and special collections on 19th and 20th-century European and American art. Its holdings ...

, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Represented in first Woman's World's Fair of 1925. *''The Vine'' (1923),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York City. *''Call of the Sea'' (1924),

Brookgreen Gardens Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in South Carolina. The property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails throu ...

, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina. *''Humoresque'' (1924), Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills, Michigan. *''Aspiration'' (1926), Rogers Tomb, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York. *''Roses of Yesterday'' (1928), Rice and Gracelawn Cemetery, Elkhart, Indiana. *''Play Days'' (1925)'','' Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota *''Crest of the Wave'' (1929), Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota. *''Scherzo'' (1929), Bracken Library,

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

, Muncie, Indiana. *''Aspiration'' (1933), Berwind Tomb, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A larger version of the 1926 bronze statue, carved from a single block of granite. *''Peter Pan'' (1936),

New Britain Museum of American Art The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art. A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 200 ...

, New Britain, Connecticut.Peter Pan
from SIRIS. File:Harriet Frishmuth, The Vine (1923).png, ''The Vine'' (1923),

, New York City. File:Statue titled Humoresque at Farmington Community Library Farmington Hills Michigan.JPG, ''Humoresque'' (1924), Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Image:Como Conservatory Center Garden.JPG, ''Crest of the Wave'' (1929),

Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory The Como Park Zoo and Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (or just Como Zoo and Conservatory) are located in Como Park at 1225 Estabrook Drive, Saint Paul, Minnesota. The park, zoo and conservatory are owned by the City of Saint Paul and are a divisi ...

, St. Paul, Minnesota. File:Berwind 1 LH Philly.JPG, ''Aspiration'' (1933), Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

References

External links

Small bronze of two dancers by Frishmuth

Works of Harriet Frishmuth
cataloged by the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

photograph of Desha Deltiel posing for "The Vine"
(George Eastman House collections)
Heritage Auction Prices Realized Archive (with photos and descriptions) for Harriet Frishmuth sculpture sold since October 2004

at Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries,

, Syracuse, NY {{DEFAULTSORT:Frishmuth, Harriet 1880 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American women artists American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts American women sculptors Art Students League of New York alumni Artists from Philadelphia Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) National Academy of Design members Sculptors from New York (state) Sculptors from Pennsylvania Lesbian artists Olympic competitors in art competitions