Chaim Gross in his Studio

An Abstract Sculptor

Chaim Gross (1904-1991) began his art studies in Vienna during World War I, before moving to America and studying at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the Art Students League of New York in 1921. He is best known for his sculptures, in which he carved wood into the smooth contours of the human body. After World War II, he began to show an interest in Jewish subjects for the first time. He produced sculptures of joyous mothers, children, and circuses, inspired from his Hasidic roots, where he was taught: "only in his childlike happiness is man nearest to God." Gross served as the President of the Sculptors Guild of America, and his work is displayed at numerous museums throughout the country, including a special exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.