Speed
(1921); cast 1922
Medium
silver-plated bronze
Measurements
19.3 × 30.4 × 20.4 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with funds donated by the Nicole Chow Foundation, 2017
© The Estate of Harriet Whitney Frishmuth
Gallery location
Mid 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Nude female dancers, sea nymphs and athletes, cast as both life-size and smaller bronze versions, became the mainstay of Harriet Frishmuth’s art in the United States prior to the Second World War, bringing her tremendous popularity and financial success. Most of Frishmuth’s fluid and graceful bronze sculptures of dancing women were inspired by herfriendship with the Slovenian-born dancer Desha Delteil. Symbolising modernity as a sleek female form, Speed became an iconic symbol of a progressive and hopeful United States in the pre-Depression period.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
New York, New York, United States; Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Inscription
cast l.c.: HARRIET W. FRISHMUTH / DESIGN PATENTED 1922 ©
cast in right side l.c.: GORHAM CO FOUNDERS / QBQB
Accession Number
2017.1256
Department
International Sculpture