Chaim Gross

Born in 1902 in what was then Austria (present-day Ukraine), Chaim 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 show 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’s 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.