The Fine Art of [Harriet Whitney Frishmuth]// 09.30.2026

On tiptoe, the figure in Harriet Whitney Frishmuth’s The Vine, stretches out in a dramatic backbend, holding a grapevine between her extended hands. The nude body mirrors the living vine in its taut form. With head tilted back and neck exposed, the posture appears to be one of ecstasy—perhaps an allusion to the revelers of Dionysus, the god of wine. 

At a young age, Frishmuth’s mother took her to Europe, where she attended school in Paris and became proficient in several languages. At nineteen, she enrolled at the short-lived Académie Rodin, where she (the only American known to have studied there) took a sculpture modeling class. Twice a week Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) visited the class to critique student work. Later, Frishmuth wouldn’t call herself a student of Rodin since she trained with him so briefly, but her mature sculptures clearly demonstrate the renowned sculptor’s influence on her work in their implied movement and expressive form.  

Upon returning to New York, she continued her studies at the Art Students League. Although her teachers encouraged her to open her own studio, the artist, sometimes described as self-effacing, chose instead to spend two more years studying anatomy and dissection at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Like the Renaissance sculptors before her, this scientific approach to the human form strongly informed her modeling skill. 

During the 1920s, Frishmuth drew inspiration from romantic themes and modern dance. A revolution in dance and shift away from stiff Victorian traditions throughout the decade inspired visual culture; artists depicted new choreography and dynamic poses, rendering famous dancers like Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) and Anna Pavlova (1881-1931). Dancer Renée Wilde posed for the original twelve-inch version of The Vine. The small bronze proved wildly popular—396 were cast before Frishmuth closed the edition. In 1923, two years after the original cast, she remodeled the work at more than six feet tall. For the over-life-size composition, she employed Desha Delteil of the Fokine Ballet. The artist first hired Desha for her studio class in 1916, and the dancer would become her primary model, posing for, according to Frishmuth, ninety percent of her major works. A photograph of Desha posing for The Vine exhibits her skill in holding a complicated pose as she balances on tiptoe, frozen in an impossible backbend. That same year, The Vine was awarded a prize from the National Academy of Design for the best work by a woman. 

Created shortly after American women won the right to vote, scholars have interpreted The Vine as a symbol of social freedom, autonomy, and breaking from traditional Victorian constraints. Frishmuth herself never married—still unusual for the 1920s. Regardless of her intent, her works celebrate women through their form and spirit. The success of The Vine eventually led Frishmuth to enlarge other small-scale works, including Crest of the Wave (1925). Frishmuth’s work can be seen in major public museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.