Chaim Gross (March 17, 1904 - May 5, 1991) Chaim Gross has been honored as one of the century's greatest sculptors of bronze and wood. Gross was born in Kolomea, Austria in 1904, and after surviving a turbulent boyhood in Eastern Europe, he immigrated to New York City in 1921. His art studies began at the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Vienna shortly before he moved to the United States, where it continued at the Educational Alliance Art School and at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design where he studied with Elie Nadelman and at the Art Students League of New York, with Robert Laurent. Gross began exhibiting both his sculpture and graphic art in 1935, and was one of 250 sculptors who exhibited in the 3rd Sculpture International held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summer of 1949. Gross was a professor of printmaking and sculpture at both the Educational Alliance and the New School for Social Research in New York City, as well as a member of Artists Equity, the Federation of Modern Painters and Sculptors, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He served as President of the Sculptors Guild of America. For more than six decades he was acclaimed internationally as a sculptor of wood and bronze, as well as an enchanting painter and drawer. Mr. Gross passed away in 1991. Primarily, Gross was a practitioner of the direct carving method, with the majority of his work being carved from wood. Works by Chaim Gross can be found in major museums and private collections throughout the United States. His pieces are almost entirely a celebration of the human figure. No matter what the material, or perhaps because of it, the viewer is undoubtedly moved by these joyful physical expressions of mothers and children at play or acrobats and tumblers in mid-air. Remarkably, this sculptor is able to create out of the heaviest, densest and hardest of materials, works that seem to distill from life its light, cheerful, and even humorous essence. Like many other important American artists, Gross credited the material and moral support of the federal art programs with enabling him to succeed as an artist. His work is included in the permanent collections of many museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Balancing, 1967 Mr. Chaim Gross has been honored as one of the century's greatest sculptors of bronze and wood. Gross was born in Kolomea, Austria in 1904, and after surviving a turbulent boyhood in Eastern Europe, he immigrated to New York City in 1921, where he taught and studied at the Educational Alliance Art School. For more than six decades he was acclaimed internationally as a sculptor of wood and bronze, as well as an enchanting painter and drawer. Mr. Gross passed away in 1991. His pieces are almost entirely a celebration of the human figure. No matter what the material, or perhaps because of it, the viewer is undoubtedly moved by these joyful physical expressions of mothers and children at play or acrobats and tumblers in mid-air. Remarkably, this sculptor is able to create out of the heaviest, densest and hardest of materials, works that seem to distill from life its light, cheerful, and even humorous essence. The bronze sculpture, Balancing Baby, is an excellent example of this lighthearted, joyous feeling found in his art. The two figures seem ready to take flight and their gaiety seems strong enough to break the physical constraints gravity has placed upon them. The sculpture is signed by the artist on the base. Like many other important American artists, Gross credited the material and moral support of the federal art programs with enabling him to succeed as an artist. His work is included in the permanent collections of many museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.