Marshall M. Fredericks. Photograph courtesy of Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Saginaw Valley State University.
“Marshall M. Fredericks was born of Scandinavian heritage in Rock Island, Illinois on January 31, 1908. His family moved to Florida for a short time and then settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up. He graduated from the Cleveland School of Art in 1930 and journeyed abroad on a fellowship to study with Carl Milles (1875-1955) in Sweden. After some months he studied in other academies and private studios in Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy, and traveled extensively in Europe and North Africa.
In 1932 he was invited by Carl Milles to join the staffs of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook and Kingswood Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, teaching there until he enlisted in the armed forces in 1942. In 1945 Fredericks was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel.
After World War II, the sculptor worked continuously on his numerous commissions for fountains, memorials, free-standing sculptures, reliefs, and portraits in bronze and other materials. Many of his works have spiritual intensity, lighthearted humor and a warm and gentle humanist spirit like that found in Fredericks himself.
Fredericks was the recipient of many American and foreign awards and decorations for his artistic and humanitarian achievements. He exhibited his work nationally and internationally; many of his sculptures are in national, civic, and private collections.
He resided in Birmingham, Michigan with his wife Rosalind Cooke until his death in April of 1998; they had five children and eight grandchildren. He also held studios at 4113 North Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak and on East Long Lake Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan until 1998. After his death the contents of his studios were gifted to the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University.”
Leaping Gazelle, 1936
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Levi L. Barbour Memorial Fountain, 1936
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Horace H. Rackham Memorial Educational Building, 1939-1942
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Victory Eagle, 1946-50
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
University of Michigan Administration Building, 1949
Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan (map)
Boy and Bear, 1954
Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan (map)
The Ford Empire, 1956
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Lion and Mouse, 1957
Harper Woods, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Night & Day Fountain, 1957
Port Huron, Saint Clair County, Michigan (map)
Spirit of Detroit, 1958
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Christ on the Cross, 1959
Indian River, Cheboygan County, Michigan (map)
Flying Pterodactyls, 1961
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan (map)
Fisher, Marcy Heller. The Outdoor Museum: the Magic of Michigan’s Marshall M. Fredericks. Detroit, MI : Wayne State University Press, 2001.
Fredericks, Suzanne P. Marshall M. Fredericks, Sculptor. University Center, MI: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Saginaw Valley State University, 2003.
“Marshall M. Fredericks (1908 – 1998),” Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, Saginaw Valley State University, accessed February 2, 2009.
Marshall M. Fredericks Scultpure Museum. Saginaw Valley State University.
