Parducci Bio Sketch Born Under the Tuscan Sun Corrado Giuseppe Parducci – he preferred “Joe” – was born in 1900, one of 13 children. He came from Buti, a small mountain village near the River Arno, about 10 miles east of Pisa in Italy. Joe arrived in New York with his father when he was four. Corrado spent about 18 months in a Catholic orphanage while his father earned the money to bring the rest of the family to America. While only making it through the sixth grade in traditional schooling, the youngster’s artistic inclinations were brought to the attention of Harriet Payne Whitney, a philanthropist, who arranged scholarships to art schools for talented boys. He received a first-rate education in the arts from working professionals at the School of Beaux-Arts, and the Art Students League. From then on, there was no looking back. He was an accomplished sculptor by the age of 21. It was at this time that he met Albert Kahn, who frequently came to New York on business. The architect liked Parducci’s work and urged his employers to let him come to Detroit. Parducci was only supposed to be in Detroit for a “couple of months. Once here, however, the young sculptor found himself buried in work from nearly every architect in town: George D. Mason; Donaldson and Meyer; Smith, Hinchman and Grylls; to name but a few. The two months came and went. He quickly earned enough to buy out his contract, and go into business for himself. His wife, Rebecca, was soon by his side in Detroit. During the 1920s, Joe was the busiest architectural sculptor in Detroit, literally dominating the Motor City. After leaving his mark on such Downtown fixtures as the Penobscot, Buhl and Guardian Buildings, the building boom ground to a halt with the arrival of the Great Depression in October 1929. Parducci’s contracts dried up by 1932. What new construction there was didn’t include money for fancy extras like Joe’s specialty, architectural sculpting. Ironically, it was the Catholic Church that kept him working since the Church did spend money on architectural embellishments. It was ironic because Joe was indifferent, at best, about religion. Parducci spent the rest of his life in Detroit. Throughout his long and successful career Joe’s work became a part of more than 600 buildings, a remarkable accomplishment. Sadly, he signed none of his work and documented almost nothing during his career, which lasted almost until his death just prior to Thanksgiving Day in 1981. That’s because Joe believed the art should speak for itself, not the artist. His attitude speaks volumes about the man, yet may condemn him to the scrap heap of history in the long run. Already it has begun. A little more than 20 years after his death, the wrecking ball has relegated several of Parducci’s works to obscurity. We can only hope this modest attempt to make people aware of this magnificent artist will help encourage others to seek out and preserve his work. Sources Barzini, Luigi; Those Dreadful Tuscans The City University of New York DeGiusti, Sergio The Detroit Free Press The Detroit News Duggan, Christopher; A Concise History of Italy; 1994; Cambridge University Press In Italy Online Kvaran, Einar Michigan Society of Architects Parducci, Allen Smithsonian Archives of American Art United States Government, Central Intelligence Agency University of Central Florida Web Gallery of Art Wikipedia ??? – for verified Vanderbilt addition Read, Phyllis and Bernard Witlieb; The Book of Women’s Firsts: Breakthrough achievements of Over 1,000 American Women; Random House Reference, NYC, 1992 back to Springwells Public Art
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