The Poet: Lord Byron

TITLE: The Poet: Lord Byron
​ARTIST:  Marshall M. Fredericks
DATE: 1998
TYPE: Sculpture
MEDIA: Bronze
 
ABOUT: This is the last work that Fredericks completed before his death.  Designed in 1938, this sculpture clearly inspired by Rodin’s Balzac, strikes a shamelessly dramatic pose: head flung back with his hand on his forehead, heavy cloak partially pulled around his body with the other hand flying out to the side in back. Fredericks, in contrast to the symmetry that generally characterizes his designs, treated each side of the Byron figure in a different manner. Along its right side, the figure is closed and solid. The drop of the heavy cloak does not allow for the articulation of forms or even for any suggestion of the body beneath. Rather, the artist exploits the long, unbroken line of the cloak from the figure’s chin to the ground. In contrast, the figure’s left side is open and plastic with elbow and knee flung out at an angle from a nipped-in waist. 
 
​LOCATION: Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, Michigan