Own a Marshall Fredericks Bronze

Bronze castings of five of Marshall Fredericks’s most popular sculptures are available for purchase. These sculptures were cast in limited editions of 15 (7 of the Circus Clown) each after Mr. Fredericks’s death in 1998 to support the Museum.

Each sculpture is on a polished black marble base.  If you are interested in owning one of these exquisite bronzes, please call the Museum at 989-964-7125 or email the Museum at mfsm@svsu.edu.

Two Bears

Location: Michigan Public Library,
Sterling Heights, Michigan
Two Bears, 16 1/2″ x 14″ x 8″
$25,000 (4 available)

One of Fredericks’s most endearing sculptures, Two Bears, is a testament to the artist’s desire to make art that warms the heart and invites the participation of its viewers.

Fredericks once said of Two Bears, “I love animals of all kinds and I did the group, basically, for children. A child’s reaction to a sculpture is such an honest reaction; they see through anything that’s superficial.”

As the life-size Two Bears was installed at the Sterling Heights, Michigan Public Library, Fredericks told his audience of an important objective for this work. “When the noses of the bears are shiny,” he said, “I’ll know I have accomplished my goal.”

Often erroneously called Mother Bear and Baby, castings of Two Bears are also located at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina and Interlochen Center for the Arts in northern Michigan, where it has become a treasured monument for young musicians, parents and visitors.

Click Here to Purchase the Two Bears at the Museum Shop 

Boy and Bear

Location: Southfield Public Library,
Southfield, Michigan
Boy and Bear, 11″ x 11″ x 5 1/2″
$15,000 (4 available)

Marshall Fredericks’ credo was to bring happiness to others through his sculptures. In the early 1950s, shopping centers provided a promising and exciting new way to expand the number of people exposed to his art. The J.L. Hudson Company commissioned Fredericks to create “Boy and Bear” for the entrance to the Hudson’s store at the Northland Shopping Center in Southfield, MI. There his life-size “Boy and Bear” had enchanted millions of children and parents alike. At Northland, Fredericks’ massive bear offered a surprising ride for the innocent child sitting on its back. Perhaps his own small children were Fredericks’ inspiration for the boy’s happy countenance and confident posture.

In 2016, after the Northland Shopping Center closed, “Boy and Bear” was moved to a new home in the atrium of the Southfield Public Library in Southfield Michigan, where you can still visit it today.

Bronze castings of “Boy and Bear” are also located at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University near Saginaw, Michigan.

Click Here to Purchase the Boy and Bear at the Museum Shop

The Thinker

Location: Cranbrook Art Museum,
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
The Thinker, 13″ x 9″ x 9″
$12,000 (10 available)

A world traveler, Cranbrook Art Museum founder George G. Booth was deeply impressed with Rodin’s brooding “The Thinker,” found at the entrance of both the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Cleveland Art Museum,  Booth wanted a thinker for Cranbrook.  So as his museum came to completion in the 1930s, Booth approached Fredericks with a request to make a “Thinker” for its steps.

Naturally, Fredericks felt it was unthinkable to do Rodin’s sculpture over again in any form. So with his characteristic humor, he created a chimpanzee that appears to be thinking very deep thoughts. When The Thinker was presented to Booth, the elder gentleman studied it quietly for a few moments. Then, recognizing the idea and the quality of the sculpture, he commented that Fredericks’s chimp was probably thinking far more interesting thoughts than were humans.

Click Here to Purchase The Thinker at the Museum Shop

Siberian Ram

Location: Baldwin Public Library,
Birmingham, Michigan
Siberian Ram, 9″ x 8″ x 5 3/4″
$10,000 (9 available)

A rare example of Fredericks’s exceptional skill in stone carving is Siberian Ram, whose contained power and quiet dignity enhance the entrance of the Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham, Michigan. Bronze castings of Siberian Ram are located at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum.

One of Fredericks’s daughters remembers her father explaining to her a little about art, which certainly applies to Siberian Ram. “Monumental,” he told the young child, “is when a sculpture is majestic in any size.”

Click Here to Purchase the Siberian Ram from the Museum Shop