Greyhounds Playing

ca. 1916

Born Szent-Grót, Hungary, 1884; died Tappan-on-Hudson, New York, 1953

Through a rediscovery of ancient and unfamiliar non-Western art traditions, Diederich and other American sculptors in the early 20th century found models that to them seemed also to epitomize a thoroughly modern spirit, which embraced simplification and abstraction. These elegant playful greyhounds recall the lively arabesque designs in silhouette on ancient Greek vases, which Diederich greatly enjoyed and had mimicked in his own cut-paper forms from the time he was a small child.

Bronze on self-base

21 x 38 1/4 x 10 3/8 in. (53.4 x 97.2 x 26.4 cm)

Gift of Mrs. John C. Atwood, Jr.

33.620

Provenance: [Grand Central Art Galleries, New York]; purchased by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, probably with funds from donor, 1933

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryTacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art League, College of Puget Sound, 1955.

Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art League Gallery, Contemporary Sculpture, 1960.

Seattle, Washington, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Art of the Thirties: The Pacific Northwest, Apr. 1 - 30, 1972 (Portland, Oregon, Portland Art Museum, May 24 - June 25, 1972). Text by Martha Kingsbury. Cat. no. 198, pp. 22, 30, reproduced p. 76.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, American Art Deco and the Seattle Art Museum, May 4, 2006 - Jan. 22, 2007. No catalogue.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesAnnual Report of the Seattle Art Museum, formerly The Art Institute of Seattle, Twenty-eighth Year. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1933; p. 25.

Conner, Janis and Joel Rosenkranz. Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893-1939. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1989; pp. 23-24.

W. Hunt Diederich, 1884-1953. New York: D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc., [2005]; pp. 40-41 [dates work 1920].

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