The Spirit of the City: Marshall Fredericks Sculpture in Detroit by Janna Jones (review)

Reviewed by: The Spirit of the City: Marshall Fredericks Sculpture in Detroit by Janna Jones Jeff Morrison Janna Jones, The Spirit of the City: Marshall Fredericks Sculpture in Detroit. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2023, Pp. 240. Bibliography. Index. Images. Notes. Paperback: $29.95. Hardcover: $49.95. In her introduction to The Spirit of the City: Marshall Fredericks Sculptures in Detroit, the author Jenna Jones states several goals. They include bringing critical attention to the work of an overlooked artist, exploring the architectural, temporal, and cultural context in which his works were originally placed, where they are now, and reminding readers of the need for maintenance and preservation of these sculptures and the buildings with which they are associated. To accomplish these goals, Jones takes a close look at eight of Fredericks' major works. As Jones explains, Marshall Fredericks (1908–1998) was an artist of the people, who created sculptures mainly for public spaces, meant to be encountered by people going about their daily business. His work was instantly accessible to the viewer, as Fredericks eschewed the abstract mode of many of his contemporaries for a straightforward and naturalistic approach, executed in an instantly recognizable style that was all his own. The eight pieces covered by this book are arranged in chronological order, beginning with Fredericks' first major commission, the Levi L. Barbour Memorial Fountain (1937) on Detroit's Belle Isle Park and ending with Freedom of the Human Spirit (1964, 1986) in downtown Birmingham. In between these two pieces, Jones examines the massive Victory Eagle on the exterior of the Veterans Memorial Building, the beloved The Boy and Bear (1954), created for Northland Mall, and the instantly recognizable The Spirit of Detroit (1958) at Detroit's Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, as well as lesser-known works like The Romance of Transportation (1951) from inside Detroit's old Union Station, The Making of Automobiles (1953) from the immensely popular Ford Rotunda, which was destroyed by fire in 1962, and The Ford Empire (1956) from the foyer of Ford Auditorium, which was demolished in 2011. In each chapter, Jones examines where Fredericks was in his life and career when the piece under discussion was created, the cultural and historical milieu in which he was operating, and the design, purpose and history of the building or setting with which each piece was associated. With insight and clarity, Jones explores what each sculpture meant to Fredericks at the time he created it as well as what each piece has come to represent to the people of the Detroit area. She also discusses the unfortunate accidents and poor decisions that have led to some of Fredericks' works being lost, compromised, hidden away, or damaged, while celebrating masterpieces like The Spirit of Detroit, which has been properly maintained and become a universally recognized symbol of the city and its people. [End Page 96] The text is accompanied by a selection of thirty-five well-chosen photos from the archives of the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University and the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library. They complement and enhance the text, showing Fredericks in his studio, close-ups of his work, and images of Fredericks' sculptures in context. The Spirit of the City is a thoughtful and interesting introduction to the work of an inspired and prolific artist with a worldwide reputation, who chose to make his home near Detroit and enhance the city with his unique artistic talents and vision. It is an accessible work of scholarship and insight that reminds the reader that public art can have multiple meanings, especially when seen through the lens of history. Well-researched and concisely written, Jones' book makes the case that we are all responsible for ensuring that public art and historic architecture are treated with respect and preserved for our own enjoyment, and for future generations to have the opportunity to find their own meaning in it and draw inspiration from it. Jeff Morrison Author, Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City (Wayne State University Press, 2019) and Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas (The University of Michigan Press, 2022).