Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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 at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and for two years with Cuno von Uechtritz-Steinkirch in Berlin. She returned to the United States and studied at the Art Students League of New York under Gutzon Borglum and Hermon Atkins MacNeil. While in New York, she worked as an assistant to the sculptor Karl Bitter, and performed dissections at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.{{cite web |url=http://www.aristos.org/editors/recommen.htm#Harriet%20Whitney%20Frishmuth |title=Aristos.org - Recommended Links |publisher= |access-date=January 29, 2017}}

File:Sniffen Court E36 cloudy jeh.jpg

Her first commissioned piece was a bas-relief for the New York County Medical Society in 1910. She also modeled ashtrays, bookends, and small figures for the Gorham Manufacturing Company. Her career grew steadily, and she became well known for her beautiful renderings of females in bronze, particularly dancers (Desha Delteil 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa59.htm |title=Small Bronzes by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880 - 1980) |publisher= |access-date=January 29, 2017}} She also taught; among her pupils were Maude Sherwood Jewett{{cite book |author=Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein |title=American women sculptors: a history of women working in three dimensions |url=https://archive.org/details/americanwomenscu0000rubi |url-access=registration |year=1990 |publisher=G.K. Hall |isbn=978-0-8161-8732-4}} and Eleanor Mary Mellon.{{cite book |author1=Jules Heller |author2=Nancy G. Heller |title=North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AYxmAgAAQBAJ&pg=PR11 |date=December 19, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-63882-5}}

Her work was exhibited at the National Academy of Design, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, the Salon in Paris, the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939–1940) and the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors. She also exhibited with the Philadelphia Ten, the renowned group of women artists. She had a studio at Sniffen Court in New York City.[http://www.fineoldart.com/browse_by_essay.html?essay=275 "Harriet Frismuth"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903205526/http://www.fineoldart.com/browse_by_essay.html?essay=275 |date=2017-09-03 }} on the Fine Old Art website One of her last exhibitions was in 1929, though she remained active in the art world for decades afterwards. The Great Depression affected her livelihood; she closed her New York studio in the 1930s, and returned to Philadelphia. She died in 1980 in Waterbury, Connecticut.

File:Speed - Harriet Frishmuth.jpg

Frishmuth scorned modern art 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, 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/921810 |title=Harriet Whitney Frishmuth |work=Olympedia |access-date=August 8, 2020}}

Her papers and a great number of drawings are held at Syracuse University.{{cite web |url=http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/f/frishmuth_hw.htm |title=Harriet Whitney Frishmuth Papers An inventory of her papers at Syracuse University |publisher= |access-date=January 29, 2017}}

File:Harriet W. Frishmuth (1880-1980) tombstone.jpg]]

She is buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.{{cite web |title=Harriet Whitney Frishmuth |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/harriet-whitney-frishmuth?id=ALOVOodl |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=2 January 2025}}

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.Thayer Tolles, ‘“Art as the true expression of life”: Harriet Whitney Frishmuth to 1940’, in Janis Conner et al., Captured Motion: The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Hohmann Holdings LLC, New York, 2006, p. 28.

• Joy of the Waters (1920), Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!1351~!0#focus |title=Joy of the Waters, (sculpture). |publisher=SIRIS |access-date=February 16, 2012}} Represented in first Woman's World's Fair of 1925.{{cite book |last=Gerdts |first=Abigail Booth |title=An American Collection: Paintings and Sculpture from the National Academy of Design |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TotIAQAAIAAJ |year=1989 |publisher=The Academy}}
• The Vine (1923), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!16944~!0#focus |title=The Vine, (sculpture). |publisher=Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=February 16, 2012}}
• Call of the Sea (1924), Brookgreen Gardens, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=132H410C98579.8989&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!21348~!4&ri=3&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Frishmuth,+Harriet+Whitney,+1880-1980,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=3 |title=Call of the Sea, (sculpture). |publisher=SIRIS |access-date=February 16, 2012}}
• Humoresque (1924), Farmington Community Library, Farmington Hills, Michigan.{{cite web |url=http://www.farmlib.org/library/artindex.html |title=Farmington Community Library Works of Art |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519053737/http://www.farmlib.org/library/artindex.html |archive-date=2012-05-19 }}
• Aspiration (1926), Rogers Tomb, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York.[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1332L1W9B6405.8199&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!427067~!63&ri=3&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Frishmuth,+Harriet+Whitney,+1880-1980,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=3#focus Aspiration] from SIRIS.
• Roses of Yesterday (1928), Rice and Gracelawn Cemetery, Elkhart, Indiana.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=132H410C98579.8989&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!334168~!19&ri=3&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Frishmuth,+Harriet+Whitney,+1880-1980,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=3 |title=Roses of Yesterday, (sculpture). |publisher=SIRIS |access-date=February 16, 2012}}
• Play Days (1925), Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Crest of the Wave (1929), Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1329I1231G64B.9151&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!2926~!0&ri=6&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=crest+of+the+wave+frishmuth&index=.GW&uindex=&aspect=Keyword&menu=search&ri=6 |title=The Crest of the Wave, (sculpture). | publisher=Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum |access-date=February 16, 2012}}
• Scherzo (1929), Bracken Library, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.{{cite web |url=http://ballstatelibrarynews.blogspot.com/2007/06/harriet-whitney-frishmuths-sculpture.html |title=Harriet Whitney Frishmuth's Sculpture Scherzo Helps Beautify Bracken Library and Expose Thousands of Students Daily to Fine Art |work=Ball State University |access-date=February 16, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!16950~!0#focus |title=(Scherzo), (sculpture). |publisher=Save Outdoor Sculpture, Indiana survey |year=1992 |access-date=February 16, 2012}}
• Aspiration (1933), Berwind Tomb, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{cite web |url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=132H410C98579.8989&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!307291~!17&ri=3&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Frishmuth,+Harriet+Whitney,+1880-1980,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=3 |title=Aspiration, (sculpture). |publisher=SIRIS |access-date=February 16, 2012}} A larger version of the 1926 bronze statue, carved from a single block of granite.
• Peter Pan (1936), New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut.[http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1332L1W9B6405.8199&profile=ariall&source=~!siartinventories&view=subscriptionsummary&uri=full=3100001~!296517~!71&ri=3&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ipp=20&spp=20&staffonly=&term=Frishmuth,+Harriet+Whitney,+1880-1980,+sculptor.&index=AUTHOR&uindex=&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=3#focus Peter Pan] from SIRIS.

File:Play Days Harriet Frishmuth 1925.jpg|Play Days (1925), Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

File:Harriet Frishmuth, The Vine (1923).png|The Vine (1923), Metropolitan Museum of Art, 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, St. Paul, Minnesota.

File:Crest at the Wave Harriet Frishmuth 1929.jpg|Detail, Crest at the Wave (1929) Como Park, Zoo, and Conservatory, Saint Paul, Minnesota

File:Berwind 1 LH Philly.JPG|Aspiration (1933), Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Harriet Frishmuth}}

• [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa59.htm Small bronze of two dancers by Frishmuth]
• [http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=135481X8B68K2.689&menu=search&aspect=subtab37&npp=50&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=ariallimg&ri=&term=&index=.GI&x=0&y=0&aspect=subtab37&term=Frishmuth&index=.AX&term=&index=.SI Works of Harriet Frishmuth] cataloged by the Smithsonian Institution
• [http://www.geh.org/ar/celeb/m197100450007_ful.html#topofimage photograph of Desha Deltiel posing for "The Vine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208000559/http://www.geh.org/ar/celeb/m197100450007_ful.html#topofimage |date=2006-12-08 }} (George Eastman House collections)
• [http://fineart.ha.com/common/auction/pricesrealized.php?src=&ID=&optGlobalSearch=&cboDenomination=All%3A&cboSaleNo=&txtSearch=frishmuth&cmdSearch=Search+Auction+Archives&hdnSearch=True&txtLotNo=&stage=1 Heritage Auction Prices Realized Archive (with photos and descriptions) for Harriet Frishmuth sculpture sold since October 2004]
• [http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/f/frishmuth_hw.htm Finding Aid to Harriet Whitney Frishmuth Papers, 1924-1977] at Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frishmuth, Harriet Whitney}}

Category:1880 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:20th-century American sculptors

Category:American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts

Category:Art Students League of New York alumni

Category:Artists from Philadelphia

Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)

Category:National Academy of Design members

Category:Sculptors from New York (state)

Category:Sculptors from Pennsylvania

Category:American lesbian artists

Category:Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics

Category:20th-century American women sculptors