Chaim Gross

American, b. Austro-Hungarian, 1904 - 1991

(not assigned)New York, New York

SchoolModern art

Biography(b Wolow, Austria-Hungary [now Poland], 17 March 1904; d 1991).
American sculptor, draughtsman, painter and printmaker of Austro-Hungarian birth. After studying art in Budapest and Vienna, he settled in the USA in 1921, continuing his studies in New York at the Educational Alliance Art School and the Art Students League. He produced a large number of works in different media, including stone and bronze sculptures, pen-and-ink drawings and watercolours, but he was noted above all for sculptures in wood such as Two Sisters (1956; New York, Mr and Mrs Lewis Garlick priv. col., see 1977 exh. cat., p. 4). He never treated or disguised the surface of wood but respected its basic texture and grain; until the early 1960s he favoured the solid masses of direct carvings in which he exploited the qualities of rare tropical woods and colourful stones. Much of his subject-matter was derived from popular art forms, including the circus, Jewish traditions and holidays, which he recalled from his early years in the Austrian countryside. In later works such as Happy Children No. 1 (1968; New York, Forum Gal.), sand-cast in bronze from maquettes modelled in plaster, he adopted light, airy forms. (Source: No author, "Chaim Gross," The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, (Oxford University Press, Accessed May 21, 2004), http://www.groveart.com)

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