Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier
base: 2 x 16 x 24 in. (5.1 x 40.6 x 61 cm)
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Chaim Gross was charged with representing the northernmost location served by the U.S. Postal Department in 1936. To create Alaska Snowshoe Mail Carrier, the sculptor turned to his childhood growing up in the Carpathian Mountains. As a child in Eastern Europe, Gross reminisced, “We had there six months of snow, and I remembered that the people were dressed a little bit like my figure – heavy, heavy clothes, sheepskins, and some other animal skins.” In addition to warm clothing, Gross’ figure holds a pair of snowshoes, an indispensable means of transportation for Alaska Natives (and mail carriers) in America’s largest state. The figure’s eyes are fixed forward and partially closed, as if guarding against the assault of blinding snow.
Born in 1902 in what was then Austria (present-day Ukraine), Gross began pursuing art at the age of 14 and studied in Budapest and Vienna before moving to the United States. Once established in New York City, Gross attended the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the Art Students League and began to exhibit his work in group exhibitions. Throughout the 1930s, Gross was active in the Works Progress Administration, teaching art and completing sculpture commissions for government buildings. In 1974, Gross’ work was celebrated with a solo exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1984 and continued sculpting until his death in 1991.
