Chaim Gross (1904-1991) - Abstract Human Forms - Watercolor On Paper - Original Artist Signed

Chaim Gross (1904 Austria–1991 USA) will always be remembered as one of the foremost American sculptors who practiced direct carving in wood. This installation of graphic works and sculptures in wood and bronze, executed between 1932 and 1976, celebrates his long, prolific career and the beneficent gift of his Acrobatic Performers from the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation.

Born in the Carpathian Mountains in Austrian Galicia, Gross was the son of a lumber merchant. He displayed an interest in drawing at an early age and throughout his life produced a prodigious number of graphic works, many of which were preparatory studies for his sculptures. After a turbulent nomadic existence caused by World War I, Gross immigrated to New York City in 1921. He first studied drawing in night classes at the Educational Alliance art school while working during the day as a delivery boy.

A friend’s remark that Gross’s drawings had a very sculptural quality provided the impetus to study this medium at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design, where he was briefly taught by Elie Nadelman. In 1927 he attended the Art Students League, receiving only two months of instruction in direct carving from Robert Laurent. That same year he quit his job in order to concentrate on art and to begin a teaching career in sculpture at the Educational Alliance, which would continue until 1989. In 1932, in the midst of the Depression, Gross had his first solo exhibition at The Gallery 144 in New York. Like many other artists, he benefited greatly from the support of the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project. In the late 1930s the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned him to execute several works for federal buildings; these helped to establish him as a major contemporary sculptor.

Exterior Dimensions: 13.25"x 17.25"
Interior Dimensions: 7.25"x10.25"

13.25" x 17.25"

18%

Jacob Herman | (203) 703-8762 | jacobherman83@gmail.com

Pickup Details

Jean Jacobs Gallery

New Canaan, CT, CT 06840

When to Pickup

Saturday, 11/7, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

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