Chaim Gross
Study for Sculpture of Nude Woman Balancing Baby
1949

Name: Study for Sculpture of Nude Woman Balancing Baby
Brand: Chaim Gross
Price: 1950 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Study for Sculpture of Nude Woman Balancing Baby, 1949, by Chaim Gross (1902-1991) Ink on paper 10 ½ x 7 ½ inches unframed (26.67 x 19.05 cm) 16 ½ x 13 ¾ inches framed (41.91 x 34.925 cm) Signed and dated on bottom right Description: Chaim Gross was a renowned New York-based sculpture artist who was particularly well known for his works in wood, stone, and bronze. His affiliation with the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) allowed his works to circulate across the country in the early nineteenth century. As a result, his sculptures have been displayed in the Federal Trade Commission Building and the France Overseas and Finnish Buildings at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. His works often mimic human forms in their overly rounded and incomplete shapes. In this piece, Chaim Gross is creating a study sketch in preparation for several sculptures he made called "Baby Balancing" and "Balancing". In the sketch, there is a woman in a candlestick pose with her right leg extended upwards upon which sits her child. Behind her right leg, her left leg is bent. She supports her hips by holding them up with her hands and her elbows firmly planted on the ground. A pillow also supports the mother's head as her hair plays out onto it. Both figures are nude.

Creator:

Chaim Gross (1904-1991, American)

Creation Year:

1949

Dimensions:

Height: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)Width: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)

Medium:

Paper,Ink,Pen

Movement & Style:

Modern

Period:

1940-1949

Condition:

Gallery Location:

New York, NY

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU163729484132

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Chaim Gross

Chaim Gross was one of the most important American sculptors of the 20th century. Along with other noted sculptors William Zorach and Jose de Creeft, Gross was primarily a practitioner of the direct carving method, and a majority of his work was carved from wood. Born in Ukraine in 1904, Gross studied at the art academy in Budapest under painter Béla Uitz, followed by art studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna. He immigrated to the United States with two of his brothers in 1921 and continued his studies at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design with Elie Nadelman and others, and the Art Students League with sculptor and direct carver Robert Laurent. He also attended the Educational Alliance Art School at the same time as Peter Blume, Adolph Gottlieb and Moses and Raphael Soyer. Thereafter, Gross began an illustrious career that included important public commissions via his work for the Works Progress Administration and solo and group shows at prestigious galleries and museums such as the Whitney and the Smithsonian. Gross was also recognized with a silver medal at the Exposition Universelle de 1937 in Paris and 1942 with a purchase prize at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Artists for Victory exhibition for his wood sculpture of famed circus performer Lillian Leitzel. Gross also had a long career as a professor of printmaking and sculpture at various institutions including the The New School for Social Research, Art Students League and New Art School (which Gross ran briefly with fellow artists Alexander Dobkin and Moses and Raphael Soyer). But he had his longest tenure of 50 years as a professor at his alma mater, the Educational Alliance Art School, where he taught Louise Nevelson in 1934 and helped guide her transition from painter to one of the most important female sculptors of her generation. Gross received multiple honorary doctorates in the 70s and 80s and his work can be found in major museums and private collections throughout the United States, with substantial holdings at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC. Gross died in 1991.