The Sculptor and the Jesuit

From left to right: Bettina Smith C'02, Mrs. Peter (Mylee) Smith, and Marina Shrady. Framed photo in center is of Frederick Shrady at work in his studio.

In May the Library held a dedication of the sculpture Martin Cyril D'Arcy, S. J. by the late Frederick Shrady. The sculpture is permanently on display in the Murray Room on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library.

Frederick C. Shrady (1907-1990) was born in New York and graduated from Oxford University in 1931. He moved to Paris, where he lived and worked as an artist for nine years in the Montparnasse district, surrounded by such luminaries as Picasso, Leger, Matisse and Andre Derain, who was his first mentor as well as a friend.

Following a brilliant career as a painter, with works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as well as museums in Paris, Lyons, Grenoble, Belgrade, and Zagreb, Mr. Shrady turned to sculpture. His first work in 1950 was the head of Martin C. D'Arcy, S.J., the famous English Jesuit and a good friend of the artist. The sculpture was immediately acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Now, thanks to the generosity of Shrady's daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Smith, and his granddaughter Bettina Smith C'02, Georgetown is honored to own a casting made from this famous sculpture, in memory of both Frederick Shrady and his wife Maria.

Frederick Shrady's Twelve Stations of the Cross can also be seen in the University's Dahlgren Chapel.