Courtesy of the Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation

Chaim Gross 1904-1991

Chaim Gross was a printmaker and sculptor most well known for his use of the direct-carving method and the influence of African sculpture on his work. Born in Austria-Hungary, Gross immigrated to New York City in 1921 and studied at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the Art Students League of New York. In the late 1930s, the Treasury Department commissioned him to create several sculptures for federal buildings. After World War II, Gross began to explore new techniques and subjects, some in reaction to the Holocaust. A professor of printmaking and sculpture at several schools, including the New School for Social Research in New York, Gross served as president of the Sculptors Guild of America.