The Vine

Harriet Whitney Frishmuth

This Sculpture called The vine shows a women stretching as if she herself is a vine.It was sculpted in the 1920s by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth.   The sculpture is 3  dimensional the light hits it from above as she is leaning back reaching out like a vine. In the early twentieth century, sculptures of dancing women were producedthey were inspired by the success of dancers Isadora Duncan, Loïe Fuller, and Anna Pavlova. Frishmuth often turned to dancers for her the themes of these sculptures and paid these women to pose for her with dance poses. Just like in the picture taken of one shown, this statue balances on tiptoe in the middle of a performance, a grapevine suspended in her hands. Bunches of grapes lie at the her feet.  The statue is made out of bronze though the metal looks old and weared out it adds the feeling of light from above. The artwork looks in motion the women is in mid dance leaning back all elegantly. "The idea of launching your body back, without seeing, is liberating but also terrifying" said by Francesca Harper, a dancer. I agree because the women looks liberated without a care in the world just like a vine, Growing and stretching. "One of the dancers said she held this pose for twenty-five minutes and, honestly, I don't know how anyone could do that" said by Thayer Tolles. That sounds painful but it shows the dedication to create these artworks.