Paul Howard Manship

(1885-1966)

Lyric Muse 12in (30.5cm) high with a 1in (2.5 cm) high marble base

Footnotes

Provenance
Conner • Rosenkranz, LLC, New York.
Acquired by the late owners from the above, August 14, 1986.

Literature
E. Lounsbery, "Lares and Penates: Recent Small Bronzes by American Sculptors and their Intimate Use," Arts & Decoration, April 1914, vol. 4, no. 6, p. 228, another example illustrated.
"Exhibitions at the Art Institute: Sculpture by Paul Manship-Paintings by Robert Henri," Fine Arts Journal, October 1915, p. 432, another example illustrated.
"Accessions: Bronzes by Paul Manship," Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art, March 1916, vol. X, no. 7, pp. 3, 5, another example listed.
"Bar Harbor Print Room," American Art News, October 14, 1916, vol. XV, no. 1, pp. 2, 7, another example illustrated.
A.E. Gallatin, "The Sculpture of Paul Manship," The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, October 1916, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 220-221, another example listed.
"Bronze Given by Dr. and Mrs. Walter Parker," Bulletin of the Detroit Museum of Art, November and December 1916, vol. XI, no. 2/3, p. 22, another example listed.
"'Allies of Sculpture' Exhibition," American Art News, December 8, 1917, vol. XVI, no. 9, p. 2, another example listed.
"Notable Gift to Detroit Museum," The American Magazine of Art, September, 1919, vol. 10, no. 11, p. 444, another example listed.
"Acquisitions, May 14 through June 12, 1942," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, August 1942, vol. XL, no. 240, p. 78, another example listed.
E. Murtha, Paul Manship, New York, 1957, pp. 11, 150, no. 19, pl. 4, another example illustrated.
Minnesota Museum of Art, Paul Manship: Changing Taste in America, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1985, p. 18, no. 9, another example illustrated.
J. Manship, Paul Manship, New York, 1989, pp. 26, 36-38, 45, pl. 26, another example illustrated.
H. Rand, Paul Manship, Wahington, D.C., 1989, pp. 26-27, 29, 32, 65, 192, fig. 14, another example illustrated.
S. Rather, Archaism, Modernism, and the Art of Paul Manship, Austin, Texas, 1993, another example illustrated on the cover.

According to art historian Edwin Murtha, Lyric Muse was produced in an edition size of fifteen (E. Murtha, Paul Manship, New York, 1957, p. 11). Other examples of Lyric Muse are found in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, The Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In Greek mythology, the nine goddesses that inspired creativity in literature, art, and the sciences were known as the Muses. The Muses are considered to be among the most beautiful and altruistic creations in mythology and two of the Muses are historically termed as being lyric. Erato, believed to be the Muse that Paul Manship has depicted in the present work, is often referred to as the Muse of both lyric and love poetry and is identified by her attribute the lyre, which Manship has included in her left hand. Lyric Muse was created during the Spring of the final year of Manship's studies at the American Academy in Rome and was one in a series of several small Greek-inspired sculptures that he completed that year. Manship never appeared to copy antiquity exactly, nor did he make references to specific works within the realm of antiquity. Instead, his works were often his own interpretations of these classical roots in the art historical canon and have been characterized as both convincing and animated in approach. The elements of Lyric Muse recall the artistic precedent identified in depictions of female figures in archaic Greek and Etruscan art. Manship's Muse has wide almond-shaped eyes, an open mouth suggesting song, and the curled strands of her hair carefully held in place by a fillet around her head fall gently over her shoulders. Though there is a clear dominant frontal view, Manship has modeled the work in the round rather than as a relief on a singular plane as is often found in archaic Greek and Etruscan art.