Artist Highlight:

Leon Kroll & Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

Leon Kroll (American, 1884–1974), Untitled (Nude Stepping into the Water), c. 1919

Oil on panel, 18 1/2 H. x 15 5/8 W. inches, signed lower right: Leon Kroll

Leon Kroll, an American painter and native New Yorker, studied painting at the Art Students League of New York under John Henry Twachtman and at the Academie Julian in Paris under Jean-Paul Laurens. An associate of Ashcan School artists such as John Sloan and Robert Henri, Kroll preferred lush pastoral scenes over their dark and gritty cityscapes. He was greatly influenced by Paul Cezanne, and was known for his landscapes and nudes, two subjects he synthesizes in the present piece. Kroll successfully captures an innocence found between the clothless woman and her natural surroundings, a tender moment of solitude.

Harriet Frishmuth (American, 1880-1980), Curiosity (Centerpiece Flower Holder)

Modeled and cast 1921, bronze, dark brown & green patina 10 1/4 H. x 8 7/8 W. x 4 1/8 D. inches

Signed and dated (left side of base): ⓒ 1921 / HARRIET W. FRISHMUTH

Foundry mark (rear of base, left): IDEAL CASTING CO. PROV. RI

Edition of three castings, all executed at the Ideal Casting Company, Providence, Rhode Island

Philadelphia-born sculptor Harriet Frishmuth trained in Paris with Auguste Rodin and at the Art Students League in New York with Gutzon Borglum. She was based in New York City and known for her decorative bronzes and garden sculpture such as this, of supple and dynamic young women with a sense of vigor and joy. A piece full of life and youthful energy, Curiosity depicts two girls nudging one another as they look down with surprise to see a frog staring back at them. The athletic bodies of these figures are full of playfulness and vitality, modeled after Desha, a dancer who frequently posed for Frishmuth. The naturalistic rock and earth base has several holes in it in which flowers are meant to rest, with their stems sitting between the arms of the girls to create a lovely centerpiece. The sculpture was cast at Ideal Casting Company, unusual because Frishmuth only cast there twice, in 1921 and 1922. This piece is also quite rare, with only three ever cast.

*The artworks featured in this email are subject to prior sale.

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