Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

(1880-1980)

Crest of the Wave 21in high (53.3cm high), on a 5/8in high (1.6cm high) black Belgian marble base

Footnotes

Literature
National Academy of Design, One Hundred-First Annual Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1926, no. 216, another example listed.
National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, Thirty Sixth Annual Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1926, p. 23, no. 14, another example listed.
The Gorham Company, Bronze Division, Famous Small Bronzes: A Representative Exhibit Selected from the Works of Noted Contemporary Sculptors, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1928, pp. 12-13, another example illustrated.
"Flower Show Colors Rival Rainbow Hues," The Chattanooga Times, May 10, 1928, vol. LIX, no. 148, p. 6, another example listed.
"Given High Honor," Decatur Evening Herald, May 6, 1929, p. 9, another example illustrated.
"Given High Honor," Decatur Herald, May 7, 1929, p. 11, another example illustrated.
L. Campbell, "With the Women of Today," Pasadena Post, May 13, 1929, vol. 10, no. 218, p. 11, another example illustrated.
L. Campbell, "With the Women of Today," Hamilton Evening Journal, May 14, 1929, vol. 43, no. 123, p. 8, another example illustrated.
"Given High Honor," Sapulpa Herald, June 29, 1929, vol. XV, no. 254, p. 4, another example illustrated.
Grand Central Art Galleries Incorporated, 1938, New York, 1938, p. 75, another example illustrated.
"Bronze Dancing Figures Will Go On Display Here," New York Herald Tribune, April 9, 1946, vol. CV, no. 36,304, p. 26, another example listed.
C.N. Aronson, Sculptured Hyacinths, New York, 1973, pp. 158-61, 212, another example illustrated.
The Magazine Antiques, March 1985, vol. CXXVII, p. 538, another example illustrated.
M. Forrest, Art Bronzes, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1988, p. 310, another example illustrated.
J. Conner, J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, p. 39.
P.H. Falk, A.A. Bien, The Annual Exhibition Record of the National Academy of Design: 1901-1950, Madison, Connecticut, 1990, p. 212, another example listed.
K. Ahrens, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth: Small Bronzes, exhibition catalogue, Athens, Ohio, 2001, pp. 8-9, 52-55, 71, no. 21, 22, other examples illustrated.
L.D. Rosenfeld, A Century of American Sculpture: The Roman Bronze Works Foundry, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2002, pp. 226, 228, no. VI-103, another example illustrated.
J. Conner, L.R. Lehmbeck, T. Tolles, F.L. Hohmann III, Captured Motion, The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth: A Catalogue of Works, New York, 2006, pp. 37, 48, 78n79, 79n80, 80, 85, 85n96, 86, 90-91, 97, 102-03, 178-79, 250, 277, another example illustrated.
The Magazine Antiques, July/August 2019, vol. CLXXXVI, no. 4, p. 13, another example illustrated.

Other examples of this version of Crest of the Wave are found in the collections of DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, Maryland.

Crest of the Wave magnificently demonstrates Harriet Frishmuth's prized abilities as a modeler of the female form and reveals her powers of ingenuity. The present version is believed to have been designed as a study for the larger version originally commissioned for Frank J. Hogan (1877-1944) of Washington, D.C. as a fountain. Hogan dictated the design to a certain extant, requesting that Frishmuth bestow Crest of the Wave with the same exuberance as Joy of the Waters (Joie de l'eau) originally conceived in 1917. He asked Frishmuth in a letter dated January 5, 1926 that the work be given the same energetic spirit and that it be piped "to have the body played upon by water at all times when the fountain is in use." (as quoted in J. Conner, L.R. Lehmbeck, T. Tolles, F.L. Hohmann III, Captured Motion, The Sculpture of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth: A Catalogue of Works, New York, 2006, p. 37) Frishmuth employed her favorite model, Desha Delteil (née Podgorska, 1900-1980), and the two worked together to arrive at a lively, skipping pose. She beautifully captures this in the present work and models the figure with the appearance of moving freely in space. Frishmuth strategically positioned both her legs and arms to heighten the curve of the body as she glances down toward the wave that she strides. In comparison to Joy of the Waters (Joie de l'eau), Frishmuth has lightened the base to free the figure from gravity. With its recognizable, beloved Frishmuth trademarks, Crest of the Wave resides in her oeuvre alongside her works, The Vine and Joy of the Waters (Joie de l'eau) in the degree of its popularity and commercial success.