American, 1921 - 2019
Frudakis's parents were Greek and from the island of Crete. He began his study art at the age of thirteen at the Greenwich Workshop in New York, and received his first of many prizes from that institution in 1939. He then spent two year in study at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, New York. Active service with the American army in Europe during World War II preceded a period of five years of continued study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, which awarded him its Cresson Traveling Fellowship in 1947. In 1949 he received a Tiffany Foundation scholarship, and the following year won the Prix de Rome, providing for study at the American Academy in Rome, 1950-52. He also served assistant to Paul Manship and to Jo Davidson.
The commission that established Frudakis's national reputation was that for the over life-size bust of John F. Kennedy, unveiled during the Democratic National Convention in 1964, and installed at Kennedy Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has designed a number of medals for the Franklin Mint, including the twelve-medal Life of Christ Series for the Catholic Commemorative Medal Society. Among his sculptural commissions are works for the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Dupont Corporation, the Rodale Electric Company, the Organic Gardening Publishing Company. Frudakis is also invested much time in teaching at various institutions, in classes given in his studio, and as a member of the Academy school faculty from 1969 into 1977.
Among his many awards are an impressive number conveyed by the Academy for works exhibited in its annual exhibitions: the Barnett Prize, 1948; the Proctor Prize, 1957; the Watrous Gold Medal, 1968; the Dessie Greer Prize, 1970; the Artists Fund Prize, 1975 and 1977; and the NAD Gold Medal, 1984.
Frudakis is also a Fellow of National Sculpture Society 1960. He maintains his studio in Philadelphia.
The commission that established Frudakis's national reputation was that for the over life-size bust of John F. Kennedy, unveiled during the Democratic National Convention in 1964, and installed at Kennedy Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He has designed a number of medals for the Franklin Mint, including the twelve-medal Life of Christ Series for the Catholic Commemorative Medal Society. Among his sculptural commissions are works for the Philadelphia Electric Company, the Dupont Corporation, the Rodale Electric Company, the Organic Gardening Publishing Company. Frudakis is also invested much time in teaching at various institutions, in classes given in his studio, and as a member of the Academy school faculty from 1969 into 1977.
Among his many awards are an impressive number conveyed by the Academy for works exhibited in its annual exhibitions: the Barnett Prize, 1948; the Proctor Prize, 1957; the Watrous Gold Medal, 1968; the Dessie Greer Prize, 1970; the Artists Fund Prize, 1975 and 1977; and the NAD Gold Medal, 1984.
Frudakis is also a Fellow of National Sculpture Society 1960. He maintains his studio in Philadelphia.
