Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)

'Desha'

Details

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)
'Desha'
inscribed 'Harriet W Frishmuth 1927 ©' and stamped 'Gorham Co. Founders QFSK' (along the base)
bronze with brown patina
14 in. (35.6 cm.) high; on a black marble base, ½ in. (1.3 cm.) high

Provenance

By descent to the present owner.

Literature

C.N. Aronson, Sculptured Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 47-49, 174, 179, 213, another example illustrated.
The Gorham Company, Bronze Division, Famous Small Bronzes, New York, 1928, pp. 106-7, another example illustrated.
P.G. Proske, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, 1968 edition, p. 224.

Lot Essay

Desha Delteil (née Podgorska, 1900-1980) was the artist's most frequently used model. Arriving in America from Yugoslavia in 1914, Delteil danced with Michel Fokine's dance company. Delteil and Frishmuth were introduced in 1916 through Frances Grimes, a fellow sculptor who also used the dancer as a model. The lively pose exhibited here is typical of Desha's exuberance and talent as a dancer.

This work will be included in Leah Rosenblatt's forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth.

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