Erwin Frey


Erwin Frey was an American sculptor and educator best remembered for his George Armstrong Custer memorial.

Early life

Frey was born in Lima, Ohio, where his father, an immigrant former cabinet-maker’s apprentice from Switzerland moved after first settling in Pittsburgh.
He later studied at Lima College for a year then began his sculpture studies with Ohio sculpture Clement Barnhorn at the Cincinnati Art Academy. While in Cincinnati he worked at the Rookwood Pottery Company. He then moved the New York where he studied at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design and at the Art Students League with James Earle Fraser. He helped Fraser enlarge his works used at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. This was followed by a sojourn to Paris where he studied at the Julian Academy with Henri Bouchard and Paul Landowski.

Later life

Frey returned from Paris in 1923 to accept a position at the Columbus Art School
Frey was “Sculptor-in-residence” and a professor at The Ohio State University from 1925 to 1961.

Selected works