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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW YORK
Lot 64
Harriet Whitney Frishmuth(1880-1980)The Bubble (Bubble Dance) 18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm.) high, on a 3/4 in. (1.9 cm.) high black marble base
18 November 2021, 14:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$25,312.50 inc. premium
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Harriet Whitney Frishmuth (1880-1980)
The Bubble (Bubble Dance)
inscribed 'HARRIET W FRISHMUTH / © / 1923' (along the base) and inscribed 'ROMAN BRONZE WORKS / N.Y.' (on the base)
bronze with brown patina
18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm.) high, on a 3/4 in. (1.9 cm.) high black marble base
Modeled in 1921.
inscribed 'HARRIET W FRISHMUTH / © / 1923' (along the base) and inscribed 'ROMAN BRONZE WORKS / N.Y.' (on the base)
bronze with brown patina
18 3/4 in. (47.6 cm.) high, on a 3/4 in. (1.9 cm.) high black marble base
Modeled in 1921.
Footnotes
Provenance
Sale, Grogan & Company, Boston, Massachusetts, April 19, 2009, lot 90.
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.
Literature
National Sculpture Society, Exhibition of American Sculpture, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1923, p. 331, another example listed.
National Academy of Design, Winter Exhibition, New York, 1923, p. 18, no. 304, another example listed.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 119th Annual Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1924, n.p., no. 517, another example listed.
Grand Central Art Galleries, Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Contributed by the Founders of the Galleries, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1924, n.p., no. 38, another example illustrated.
The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Catalogue of the Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings and Small Bronzes by American Artists, exhibition catalogue, Buffalo, New York, p. 25, no. 28, another example listed.
The Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, "Small Sculpture Included in the Eighteenth Annual Exhibition of Paintings and Small Bronzes by American Artists," Academy Notes, Buffalo, New York, vol. XIX, no. 1, January-June 1924, p. 60, another example listed.
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Inc., 69th Annual Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1966, n.p., no. 194, another example listed.
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Inc., Members Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1971, n.p., no. 106, another example listed.
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, Inc., Members Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, New York, 1974, n.p., no. 127, another example listed.
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. 33, 70, 102, 119n4, 164-65, 186, 242, 281, no. 1921:7, another example illustrated.
There are 13 known versions of The Bubble (Bubble Dance) of this size that were produced between 1922 and 1966, 9 of which, including the present work, were cast by Roman Bronze Works.
One of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth's most recognizable sculptures, The Bubble (Bubble Dance) exemplifies her masterful abilities as a modeler to capture the human form in the most dynamic of poses and is a triumph in sculptural engineering, as Frishmuth perfectly balances the weight of the sculpture on only the figure's right toes. The Bubble (Bubble Dance) was produced during Frishmuth's most productive period of the 1920s. Frishmuth employed her favorite model, Desha Delteil (née Podgorska, 1900-1980) and conceived the elongated pose with an arched back while Desha was playing with a ball in her Sniffen Court studio in New York. The title for this work originates from the title of Desha's popular solo performance known as "Bubble Dance," in which she used a large transparent ball as a prop. Frishmuth had each edition cast, including the present, appropriately fitted and sold with an iridescent glass ball blown by Tiffany Studios that would balance in the figure's hands.