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A nude, winged female figure stands with her arms outstretched.

A nude female figure stands on a rock, her weight on her left leg with her right leg bent slightly behind her. Her arms are loosely outstretched, her palms turned down toward the ground. Wrapped around her stomach and covering her groin and left leg is a swath of fabric, thin and delicate enough to still show the indentation of her navel. She has two large angelic, feathered wings on her back, which extend from the top of her head to her knees. She is gazing downward and her eyes appear to be closed. Her long hair waves around the right side of her head as if blown by the wind.

Gallery Text

A study for the Spencer Trask Memorial in Saratoga Springs, New York, this bronze reveals Daniel Chester French’s idealizing approach to commemorative sculpture. In 1913, Katrina Trask commissioned a memorial in the city’s Congress Park in honor of her late husband. French, celebrated for his ability to design civic sculpture that sat harmoniously in its context, proposed this winged female with a bowed head and gently outspread arms. Placed within a large limestone niche at the end of a rectangular reflecting pool, its form would have actively engaged with its architectural setting, responding to the semicircular walls surrounding it. Ultimately, French abandoned this design in favor of a more dynamic composition. He created several versions of this earlier proposal, however, which suggests his dedication to its artistic principles.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.1361
People
Daniel Chester French, American (Exeter, NH 1850 - 1931 Glendale, MA)
Title
Spirit of the Waters
Other Titles
Former Title: Fountain Figure: A Winged Female
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1914
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/229985

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2130, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Pre–Raphaelites and Their Legacy
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Technique
Cast
Dimensions
82.6 x 63.5 x 31.8 cm (32 1/2 x 25 x 12 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: back of base: D.C. French 1914
  • inscription: on base: Roman Bronze Works NY

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Purchased by Grenville L. Winthrop, 1914, bequest; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1943.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1361
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Publication History

  • Margaret French Cresson, Daniel Chester French, W. W. Norton & Company (New York, NY, 1947)
  • H. Wade White, "Nineteenth Century American Sculpture at Harvard, a Glance at the Collection", Harvard Library Bulletin (Cambridge, MA, October 1970), vol. XVIII, no. 4, p. 365
  • Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, Peter G. Huenink, Earl A. Powell III, Harry Z. Rand, and Nanette C. Sexton, American Art at Harvard, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), cat. 124, ill.
  • Michael Richman, Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor, exh. cat., National Trust for Historic Preservation / Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1976), pp. 139-140, ill.

Exhibition History

  • Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, [Unknown venue, Stockbridge MA], Stockbridge, 01/01/1914 - 12/31/1914
  • American Art at Harvard, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/19/1972 - 06/18/1972
  • Daniel Chester French: An American Sculptor, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 09/30/1977 - 11/30/1977
  • For Students of Art and Lovers of Beauty: Highlights from the Collection of Grenville L. Winthrop, Harvard University Art Museums, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/16/2004
  • 32Q: 2130 19th Century, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu