Play Days
Artist
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
(American, 1880 - 1980)
Date1923
MediumBronze
DimensionsOverall: 21 1/2 × 6 1/2 inches (54.61 × 16.51 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Elizabeth A. Hull
Object numberF96-38/2
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 217
Collections
DescriptionMade of bronze with dark green patina and lighter green areas, the sculpture depicts a nude young woman. She stands, with her weight resting on the toes of her proper right foot, upon a small, circular platform in a basin containing four frogs. She teasingly nudges one of the frogs with her toes. She looks down at the frog and smiles slightly. Her hair is pulled up, with tendrils on top of her head and at the nape of her neck.Gallery LabelIn their utter playfulness and exuberance, the sculptures of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth perfectly capture the ebullient spirit of the 1920s. After rigorous training in both Paris and New York, the Philadelphia-born artist became celebrated for garden sculptures of youthful, lithe female dancers in energetic poses. This composition's delicate sense of balance and the expression of impish delight made it one of Frishmuth's most admired designs. Madeleine Parker, a 13-year-old dance student and protégée of screen actress Gloria Swanson, posed for the piece.
Frishmuth produced Play Days in two sizes-the smaller, seen here, for the table or conservatory, the larger as a fountain for the garden.
Frishmuth produced Play Days in two sizes-the smaller, seen here, for the table or conservatory, the larger as a fountain for the garden.
Elizabeth
A. Hull, Ridgefield, Connecticut;
to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., 1996.
Julie
Aronson, “American Sculptures Enhance Collection,” Newsletter (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art), Summer 1997, 1–2 (repro.).
“Bronze Beauty,” Kansas City Star, July 26, 1997, C2 (repro.).
Janis Connor, Leah Rosenblatt Lehmbeck and Thayer Tolles, Captured Motion: the Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, A Catalogue of Works (New York: Hohmann Holdings, 2006).
Copyright© Estate of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
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