Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)

'Fantaisie'

Details

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)
'Fantaisie'
inscribed 'Harriet W. Frishmuth © 1922' and 'Amer. Art. Fdry. N.Y.' (along the edge of the base)
bronze with brown patina
10¼ in. (26 cm.) high, with a green marble base ¾ in. (1.9 cm.) high

Literature

C.N. Aronson, Sculptured Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 131, 209, another cast illustrated.
J. Conner and J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, New York, 1989, p. 39, another cast illustrated.

Lot Essay

Fantaisie, a rare bronze group of a Satyr and Nymph, depicting Frishmuth's favorite models, the dancers Desha and Leon Barté, was awarded the Elizabeth Watrous Gold Medal in 1922 by the National Academy of Design. Thought to have been cast in an edition of eight, it can be considered as a pendant to Rhapsody, a later bronze group of a satyr chasing a nymph, conceived in 1925.

Additional examples of the present work are in the collections of The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and the Sloane Collection, The Hermitage Foundation Museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

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