An iconic Marshall Fredericks sculpture known as “Boy and Bear” could go up for auction as the Northland Center mall prepares to liquidate by the middle of April.
The sculpture was commissioned by the J.L. Hudson Co. (now Macy’s) in the early 1950s.
Marilyn Wheaton, director of the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum, said “Boy and Bear” was part of a display campaign to attract families into the store.
Since Northland Center mall opened in 1954, the sculpture has stood outside the store.
“Boy and Bear” portrays a young child – cast in bronze and gold-plated – straddling a large smiling bear made of limestone.
The company also commissioned “Lion and Mouse” for display at its store at Eastland Center mall and the “Friendly Frog” for display at its store at the Genesee Valley Center mall in Flint.
“These were all big friendly animals that wouldn’t scare children,” Wheaton said. “Even the one of the lion, the most ferocious animal of the jungle … he wanted children to relate to them easily. The idea worked. The (sculpture) has been recognizable to shoppers for five decades now.”
However, as the Northland Center mall prepares to close and undergoes its own liquidation sale, Fredericks’ “Boy and Bear” could be sold to a private owner.
Wheaton said the acting mayor of Southfield is hoping to contest ownership of the sculpture to ensure it stays in the public eye.
“Everything Marshall Fredericks made was designed to make the public happy,” Wheaton added. “If it must go, I only hope the purchaser respects that original intent and places it in a public area.”
Wheaton noted this potential sale sheds light on what happens with every public work of art.
“It’s significant to realize that once the art is in the public domain, the artist or artist’s heirs have little say on what happens to it,” she said. “I’m sure the (Fredericks) thought the (sculpture) would be there forever.”
Regardless of whether “Boy and Bear” ends up with a private owner, the bronze cast will remain on campus and the original plaster mold will stay in the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum.
“The image is by no means disappearing,” Wheaton said.