 About 1906 he began taking modeling lessons at the Cooper Union, and after two years began to study at the National Academy of Design with Leon Kroll, Ivan Olinsky, and Hermon Atkins MacNeil.In 1912 he entered the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, where he studied under Jo Davidson, Elie Nadelman, John Gregory and others.Maldarelli's classical training allowed him to obtain commissions for both garden decorations and architectural sculpture.