Trained in Italy
Four years in the Enzo Pasquini Sculpture Studio, Querceta, Italy.
Figure study with Maestra Signorina Nerina Simi , Florence, Italy 1980-1984
Fred X Brownstein creates contemporary figurative sculpture in marble and bronze. Fred lived and worked in Italy for sixteen years prior to moving to Vermont. During that time he was an apprentice in the sculpture studio of Enzo Pasquini in Querceta, Italy for four years (1976 -1980) learning the traditional Italian techniques for marble sculpture from two mentors: sculptor Sirio DeRanieri who was a fourth generation marble carver and Vincenzo Donati the “smodellatore”.
Vincenzo taught Fred to use the “machinetta” (pointing device) to transfer measurements 1:1 from a plaster model to make the final version in marble and the use of compasses for a ratio of enlargement when the work was to be a size greater than the model. Sirio generously gave his advice and instruction on the best methods of finishing the artwork including surface texture and details of faces, hands and drapery.
All Fred’s sculpture is first created in clay then molded and cast in plaster. The plaster sculpture serves as a model for either a final version in marble or bronze and Fred was fortunate to have the master mold maker or “formatore”, Sirio Navari teach him how to make molds and casts from his clay models.
Fred also worked in several of the bronze foundries in Pietrasanta learning the methods involved in casting and finishing bronze sculpture. Sculpture is drawing in three dimensions and in order to create figurative artwork one must learn to draw. Maestra Nerina Simi taught “seeing” through learning to draw still life, portrait and figure in her studio at #1 via Tripoli in Florence. And after meeting Signorina Simi through his wife Stella who was a student there, he was accepted in her class which he attended for four years traveling back and forth to Florence from the marble studio in Querceta each week from 1980-1984.
In 1984 Fred was awarded his first public commission to create a Monumento ai Caduti for the town of Stazzema, Italy which was installed in 1985. This was the Monument to the Fallen to commemorate the men from the town who died in the two World Wars. Since then he has completed a dozen public sculptures in addition to work commissioned by private clients.
Fred is a Fellow member of the National Sculpture Society, a professional member of the Stone Carvers Guild and member of the Salmagundi Club in New York City.
Fellow Member: National Sculpture Society
Professional Member: Stone Carvers Guild
Salmagundi Club New York, NY.
Education
Tulane University , New Orleans, LA. 1964-68
BFA San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco, CA 1970
Apprentice: Enzo Pasquini Studio Querceta, Italy 1976-1980
Nerina Simi Studio Florence, Italy 1980-1984
Selected Public Commissions:
MJCC Kiersky Athletic Fields Memphis , TN.
Comitato Civile Stazzemese Stazzema, Italy. Monumento ai Caduti
Triple Five Corporation Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Henry M. Seymour Library Indianola, MS.
The Taft School Watertown, CT.
Allan M. Levy Architects San Francisco, CA.
Fitton Center for Creative Arts Hamilton, OH.
Rogosin Institute New York, NY Portrait of Dr. Albert Rubin
Corner Health Center Ypsilanti, MI. Portrait of Dr. Raoul Weisman
Dellwood Cemetery Manchester, VT
Orange County Regional Medical Center Middletown, NY.
Portrait of Signorina Nerina Simi Stazzema, Italy
Selected solo exhibitions
The Garden Gallery Londonderry, VT. 2013-14
Chesterwood Museum Stockbridge MA. 2003
Southern Vermont Art Center Manchester, VT. 1993
Southern Vermont College Bennington, VT. 1992
Rhodes College Art Gallery Memphis, TN 1975
Selected group exhibitions
Exhibition honoring Maestra Nerina Simi
Villa Bertelli Forte dei Marmi , Italy 2022
Cape Cod Museum of Art Dennis, MA. 2022
Hiland Hall Gardens , North Bennington, VT. 2022
National Sculpture Society Chesterwood Museum Stockbridge, MA.
100th Anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial . Demonstration of Italian carving techniques for Daniel Chester French sculpture. 2022
Salmagundi Club 138th Annual Members Exhibition New York, NY.
(sculpture award ) 2022
Salmagundi Club Open Juried Exhibition New York, NY. 2021
Salmagundi Club “ Figuratively Speaking” New York, NY. 2020
San Francisco Art Institute Alumni Exhibition San Francisco, CA. 2019
Art Renewal Center 14th Annual Salon 2019
85th Annual Exhibition National Sculpture Society Brookgreen Gardens Pawleys Island, SC. 2018
Gli Allievi di Nera Simi Palazzo dell Cultura, Cardoso, Italy 2014
80th Annual Exhibition National Sculpture Society Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL. 2013
Sculpture for a New Century SUNY Newburgh, NY. 2012
North Bennington Art Park North Bennington, VT. 2011
Contemporary Sculpture at Chesterwood Museum Stockbridge, MA. 2002
Faculty Exhibition Lyme Academy of Fine Arts Old Lyme, CT. 2002 Drawings by Sculptors , National Sculpture Society New York, NY 2000
Fleischer Museum Masterworks of American Sculpture, Scottsdale, AZ. 1999
Grand Central Art Galleries New York, NY 1987- 1992
Cooperstown Art Association Cooperstown, NY 1998
Salmagundi Club Juried Exhibition New York, NY 1995
Salon de la Jeune Sculture , Paris, France . 1971
Guest Artist / Instructor
Collaboration with the National Gallery of Art and Art Institute of Chicago making a film on the sculpture techniques of Antonio Canova
for the exhibition “Canova Sketching in Clay” 2023. Washington, DC. and Chicago, IL.
Alfred University ,SUNY Alfred, NY.
Brookgreen Gardens Center for American Sculpture Pawleys Island, SC.
Brookhaven College Dallas, TX
Chesterwood Museum Stockbridge, MA
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA.
Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, NY.
Middlebury College Museum of Art Middlebury, VT.
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum South Hadley, MA.
Nipissing University, North Bay, ON Canada ( Carrara, Italy )
Scottsdale Artists School Scottsdale, AZ.
Smith College Museum of Art Northampton, MA.
Southwest Stoneworks , Sax Stone Carving Workshops, Riconada, NM.
Williams College Williamstown, MA.
Awards
Salmagundi Club Sculpture award :138th Annual Members Exhibition
80th Annual National Sculpture Society Exhibit : Pietro and Alfrieda Montana Prize
National Sculpture Society : Leonard J. Meiselman Memorial Award Cooperstown Art Association : Walter and Anna Burchan Prize Salmagundi Club: Domenico Facci Memorial Award
Faculty
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts Old Lyme, CT 1999-2005
Commission a Sculpture
Fred will prepare a proposal and walk you through every step of the process.