William Zorach

First Steps, Early 20th Century Bronze Sculpture, Cleveland School

1918

Born in 1887, by 1930, he was one of America’s premier 20th century sculptors and was honored with multiple commissions and exhibitions including at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and numerous others. He studied in New York City at the National Academy of Design and also in Paris under the mentoring of Jacques-Emile Blanche. It was in Paris in the first decade of the 20th century where Zorach’s path crossed with Marguerite, his soon to be wife. Both Marguerite and William were both represented in the landmark Armory Show of 1913. William continued to paint for the next two decades, but increasingly experimenting with sculpture. By the mid 20’s he was carving significant works in marble and stone. By the early 30’s, he abandoned painting entirely in favor of a new art form, sculpture. I t was in sculpture that Zorach found his true voice as an artist and achieved considerable success. “Sculpture, direct carving, was an expanding universe, a liberation and a natural form of expression to me.” Zorach stated. Museum Collections: Amon Carter Museum of American Art Arizona State University Art Museum Boca Raton Museum of Art Butler Institute of American Art Cleveland Artists Foundation Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Cornish Colony Museum Dallas Museum of Art Delaware Art Museum Edwin a Ulrich Museum of Art Farnsworth Art Museum Flint Institute of Arts Frederick R Weisman Art Museum Georgia Museum of Art Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art Jack S Blanton Museum of Art LaSalle University Art Museum Los Angeles County Museum of Art Lowe Art Museum Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum Memorial Art Gallery Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC Middlebury College Museum of Art Minneapolis Institute of Arts Mobile Museum of Art Museum of Fine Art-Boston Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Portland Museum of Art Smithsonian Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum of Art The Canton Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art-Ohio The Columbus Museum-Georgia The Cummer Museum Of Art & Gardens The Currier Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Newark Museum The Phillips Collection The Phillips Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art Whitney Museum of American Art Worcester Art Museum Yosemite Museum