Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

American, 1880 - 1980

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Harriet Frishmuth was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1880. She moved to Europe at an early age with her mother and two sisters. She received most of her early schooling in Switzerland and was introduced to sculpture at the age of 19. Moving to Paris she inquired about art classes and the only one she could find open to women was a class taught by Auguste Rodin. She also studied under Gauguie and Injalbert and spent two years in Berlin as an assistant to Professor Cuno von Enchtritz.She returned to the United States and studied with Hermon MacNeil and Gutzon Borglum at the New York Art Students League and worked for a year in Weehawken, New Jersey, with Karl Bitter. For an understanding of anatomy, she studied dissection at the college of Physicians and Surgeons in New York for two years.Her career was an outstanding success. Her bronze sculptures were exhibited extensively and were in great demand by collectors.She was a member of the National Sculpture Society, Allied Artists of America, New York Municipal Art Society, American Federation of Arts, the Architectural League of New York and the National Arts Club. She was elected an Associate Member of the National Academy of Design in 1925 and a Member in 1929.Her sculpture was exhibited at the Paris Salon, the National Sculpture Society, Architectural League of New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Her work was shown at the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco, at the National Academy, with the Allied Artists of American and with the American Garden Club in Philadelphia. The list of the awards and metals she received for her work is extensive.In 1913 Frishmuth and her mother bought a converted stable at Sniffen Court in New York City. The area had been a large farm, owned by a family named Sniffen, and the huge stables were converted into dwellings. It is located at 152 East 36th Street and has been designated a historical landmark.Frishmuth is quoted as having said "I did my best work in my studio -home in Sniffin Court. l was there until 1937. " She moved to Philadelphia and only one commercially popular sculpture, "Daydreams," was done after the move.She died in 1980, her centennial year.Biography courtesy of Roughton Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/roughton
Harriet Frishmuth Sculpture