Corrado Giuseppe Parducci (March 10, 1900 – November 22, 1981) was an Italian-American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

ural

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early-20th century works.

Early life and education

Parducci was born in Buti, Italy, a small village near Pisa, and immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1904. At a young age, he was sponsored by heiress/sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney and sent to art school. He attended the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and Art Students League. His teachers included anatomist

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some ...

and sculptor

Albin Polasek Albin Polasek (February 14, 1879 – May 19, 1965) was a Czech-American sculptor and educator. He created more than 400 works during his career, 200 of which are displayed in the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Flori ...

.Barrie, Dennis (March 17, 1975
Corrado Parducci interview
''Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.'' Retrieved on July 24, 2009.

Training and career

Parducci was apprenticed to architectural sculptor

Ulysses Ricci Ulysses Anthony Ricci (1888–1960) was an American sculptor known primarily for his architectural sculpture. Born in New York City, Ricci was an apprentice at the Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Works in New Jersey from 1902 to 1906. He studied at ...

in 1917. While working for Ricci, and later while in the Anthony DiLorenzo studio, his work came to the attention of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

architect Albert Kahn. In 1924 Parducci traveled to Detroit to work for Kahn, only planning to stay for a few months. However, with the automotive industry booming in the 1920s, Parducci moved his family to Michigan and ended up spending the rest of his career working from Detroit. One of Parducci's known Detroit studios was located at Cass Ave. and Sibley St., but it has been demolished. Parducci's studio had tall windows which illuminated his work. Parducci's work can be found on many of the Detroit area's finest buildings including churches, schools, banks, hospitals and residences.Foot, Andrew (June 29, 2006
International Metropolis
. Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. ''Diehl & Diehl Archives'', photo inside Corrado Parducci's studio. Retrieved on July 24, 2009. His sculptures can be found in most major Michigan cities including

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

, Dearborn,

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

, Jackson,

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, Marquette,

Royal Oak The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which the future King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. C ...

, Saginaw, and Ypsilanti. By the end of his long and productive career, Parducci's efforts adorned about 600 buildings. The last commission Parducci completed was a portrait of architect Henry Hobson Richardson in a Romanesque setting that was carved on a lintel in the Senate chamber of the New York State Capitol in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

in 1980. Although Parducci worked in a variety of styles, notably Romanesque, Classical, Renaissance and even Aztec/Mayan/Pueblo Deco, it was his pioneering of the Greco Deco style for which he is best remembered.

Parducci's Detroit Masonic Temple lobby

Anthony Di Lorenzo, New York ornamentalist, held two contracts for interior decoration in the

Detroit Masonic Temple The Detroit Masonic Temple is the world's largest Masonic Temple. Located in the Cass Corridor of Detroit, Michigan, at 500 Temple Street, the building serves as a home to various masonic organizations including the York Rite Sovereign College ...

- #1 (Corrado Parducci) $13,160.00 and #2 for $9,680.00. Thomas Di Lorenzo's contract for interior decoration amounted to $59,074.00. Joe (Corrado) Parducci worked in the New York firm of Ricci, Ardolino and Di Lorenzo as a very young man. When the firm broke up, he stayed with DiLorenzo who was an ornamentalist and Parducci was the sculptor. Parducci met Albert Kahn in New York City who urged him to come to Detroit and work on two bank buildings on Griswold Street. Parducci came to Detroit to work for only a couple of months. Anthony DiLorenzo had some work here and Kahn wanted Parducci. He worked indirectly for Kahn through DiLorenzo. Other work came from Detroit architects

Donaldson & Meier Donaldson and Meier was an architectural firm based in Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1880 by John M. Donaldson (1854–1941) and Henry J. Meier (1858–1917), the firm produced a large and varied number of commissions in Detroit and so ...

Smith, Hinchman & Grylls SmithGroup is an international architectural, engineering and planning firm. Established in Detroit in 1853 by architect Sheldon Smith, SmithGroup is the longest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the United States that ...

, and

George D. Mason George DeWitt Mason (July 4, 1856 – June 3, 1948) was an American architect who practiced in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, in the latter part of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries. Biography George Mason was born in Syracuse, New Yo ...

. The first 8 months, 1924 to middle of 1925, Parducci worked under DiLorenzo. The Masonic Temple contracts were DiLorenzos' jobs until Parducci bought them out for $5,000.00. Parducci's lobby design was reportedly adapted from an old castle in Palermo, Sicily. Parducci did model the 5' bronze floor plaque depicting Strength, Truth and Beauty. He sculpted the two plaques in the stone walls of the interior stairs of the Scottish Rite entrance. These two are repeated in the lobby as plaster plaques.

List of buildings containing Parducci's art

* St. Thomas the Apostle Church (1923) * The Players (1925) * Buhl Building (1925) * The Park Shelton (1926) *

Trust Building (1926) *

Penobscot Building The Greater Penobscot Building, commonly known as the Penobscot Building, is a class-A office tower in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Constructed in 1928, the Art Deco building is located in the heart of the Detroit Financial District. The Penobsc ...

(1928) * Detroit Zoo Rackham Memorial Fountain * Webster Hall,

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

(Demolished in 1991) *

David Stott Building The David Stott Building is a 38 story high-rise apartment building with office space on floors 2-6 and retail space on the first floor. The "Stott" was originally built as a class-A office building located at 1150 Griswold Street (corner of Gri ...

(1929) *

(1926) * Wilson Theater, now Music Hall (1926) * Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (1927) * Lee Plaza (1929) * Fisher Building (1929) * Meadow Brook Hall (1929) *

Guardian Building The Guardian Building is a landmark skyscraper in the United States, located at 500 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan, within the Financial District. The Guardian is a class-A office building owned by Wayne County, Michigan and serves ...

(1929) *

Louisiana State Capitol The Louisiana State Capitol (french: Capitole de l'État de Louisiane) is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Louisiana and is located in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The capitol houses the chambers for the Louisiana Sta ...

(1929) * Shrine of the Little Flower (1930s-1940s) * Central Mutual Insurance Company Home Office (Van Wert, Ohio) (1931) * Detroit Federal Building (1934) *

St. Peter Cathedral (Marquette, Michigan) St. Peter Cathedral is a large Roman Catholic cathedral located on Baraga Avenue in Marquette, Michigan. As the mother church of the Diocese of Marquette, it is one of the most notable marks of Catholic presence in the Upper Peninsula. The cathe ...

(1938) *

Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies The Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, commonly known as the Rackham Graduate School, is the graduate school of the University of Michigan. Founded in 1912 with an endowment from Mary Rackham in 1935, the Rackham Graduate School is res ...

Building,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(1938) *

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Ca ...

(1940s-1950s) * Detroit Historical Museum (1951) * "The Shrine of the Holy Innocents" at

Queen of Heaven Cemetery Queen of Heaven Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Hillside, Illinois, a suburban community near Chicago. The cemetery is operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Queen of Heaven is located at Wolf and Roosevelt Roads, near the Eisenhower ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. (Memorial for the victims of the 1958

Our Lady of the Angels school fire On Monday, December 1, 1958, a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago, Illinois, shortly before classes were to be dismissed for the day. The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway. The elementary sch ...

). (c.1959) Our-Lady-Queen-of-Heaven

* Ann Arbor News Building, 1936 * Trinity Lutheran Church * Charles T. Fisher Residence * Alfred J. Fisher Residence * William A. Fisher Residence * Frank Couzens Residence * Stewart-Warner Speedometer Corporation Building * Kresge Building * Springwells Water Treatment Plant * Hudson Motor Car Factory (Demolished) * St. Aloysius Church * St. John's Seminary, now The Inn At St. Johns *

University of Detroit Mercy The University of Detroit Mercy is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 ...

* Standard Club of Chicago * Second National Bank of Saginaw * Kalamazoo Gazette Building,

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

* Kalamazoo County Building, Kalamazoo

References

External links

Parducci Society

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parducci, Corrado American architectural sculptors American male sculptors Art Deco sculptors Artists from Detroit 1900 births 1981 deaths Italian emigrants to the United States People from the Province of Pisa Art Students League of New York alumni 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists Sculptors from New York (state) Sculptors from Michigan Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (New York City) alumni