The Pickwickians

The Cultural Properties Collection, Smith House has several works of figurative sculpture by artist Grant Engard. Engard grew up in Birmingham and received both a Bachelor of Arts in 1965 and Master of Fine Arts in 1967 from Wayne State University. As a student with access to the university foundry, Engard focused on sculpting small human figures cast in bronze. But without access to a foundry after graduation, Engard transitioned to the medium of fiberglass. Establishing a studio in Stormville, a small community near Poughkeepsie, New York, Engard’s practice expanded to printmaking and other two-dimensional media.

Engard maintained connections with Michigan, including gallery representation at several local establishments in Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills. Myhaven's guestbook records visits not only from Engard, but also several visits from his parents, an indicator of Melvyn and Sara Smith’s expansive hospitality. The Smiths kept track of his career, clipping newspaper articles on the artist’s work and saving flyers from exhibitions.

This sculpture is titled “The Pickwickians,” after the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. The exaggerated features of the three figures are characteristic of Engard’s style. A flyer in the Smith Papers states that “caricature is very much a part of Engard’s work. In his newer works the face becomes more and more the center of the piece.”

Nina Blomfield
2021-2023 Decorative Arts Trust Marie Zimmermann Collections Fellow
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
June 2023