'Pas de Deux'

Details

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)
'Pas de Deux'
inscribed 'Harriet W Frishmuth © 1921 (on the base)--stamped 'GORHAM CO FOUNDERS/Q BOS' (along the base)
bronze with brownish green patina
17½ in. (44.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Lillian Nassau, Ltd., New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Literature

C.N. Aronson, Sculptured Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 122-23, 202, 208, another example illustrated (as The Dancers).
J. Conner and J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 35, 40, another example illustrated (as The Dancers).
T. Tolles, ed., American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1865 and 1885, vol. II, New York, 2001, p. 641 (as The Dancers).

Lot Essay

Janis Conner and Joel Rosenkranz write, "Like many sculptors of her generation, including Malvina Hoffman, Abastenia St. Leger Eberle and Alfred Lenz, Frishmuth was stirred during the early twenties by the legendary personalities and romantic themes of modern and classical dance. Although her work derives from lyrical movement, Frishmuth created several small figures and groups that were specifically related to the dance...'The Dancers' (1921), posed by [Leon] Barté and Desha [Delteil], evokes a moment of physical exultation." (Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, p. 40)

Conceived in 1921 and alternatively called 'The Dancers,' the model was cast in an edition of 50.

This design will be included the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the works of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth.

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