Fredda Brilliant Bronze Sculpture of Man's Face

Item Details

Fredda Brilliant (Polish, 1903 – 1999)
Untitled (man’s face)
Bronze sculpture on wood base
Signed in mold

Polish artist, Alfreda Brilliant, was born into a Jewish family in 1903. She quickly found her way into the arts as a young child when she created models of her fellow classmates. Though it was her family’s ties to Yiddish cultural and theatrical circles that brought Fredda Brilliant into her first career, acting. Brilliant’s family immigrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1924. There, Brilliant immersed herself in the artistic community and honed her acting skills. Only a few years later, Brilliant relocated to New York City to begin her acting career. Around this time, Brilliant met the English filmwriter, Herbert Marshall, whom she married in 1935. At the onset of World War II, Brilliant and her husband traveled the world with theatrical companies, working on multiple, politically-focused productions, including the socialist play Thunder Rock (1939). During the couple’s stint in England, Brilliant had put her sculptural work on hold, returning to it in the 1950s and 60s, when Brilliant and Marshall lived in India. Marshall produced government films, while Brilliant sculpted generations of Indian politicians. Noticing the lack of female representation in sculptures, Brilliant took it upon herself to create pieces representing influential women, including Indira Gandhi, the 3rd Prime Minister of India. After the 1960s, Brilliant and Marshall routinely moved between Brilliant’s studio in London, a barn studio in Woodmancote, and Illinois where Marshall taught as Professor of Soviet Film and Literature. By the time of her passing in 1999, Brilliant had sculpted figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali, President John F. Kennedy, ballerina Nadia Nerina, and film director Pera Atasheva. Brilliant also released multiple publications such as Biography in Bronze (1986) and Women in Power (1987). She lived as an artist and activist, visible in each medium she took to hand.

Condition

- scuffs and abrasions throughout.

Dimensions

Item #

ITMGC98094