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Sculpture

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Dark wooden sculpture of two acrobat figures. One figure is lying down while the other figure stands on top of their legs. The standing figure is facing forward with their hands on their hips.

Two Acrobats, 1927

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation

Black and white photo of a wood sculpture depicting two dancers. The sculpture is of a man and a woman closely ballroom dancing together. The sculpture depicts the side profile of each figure.

Jazz, 1929

Private Collection
 

A black and white photo of a wood sculpture. The tall sculpture depicts multiple nude figures placed upon each other's shoulders.

Offspring, 1930

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation

Black and white photo of Chaim Gross with a sculpture. The wood sculpture depicts a nude woman figure laying on her side with a small child's head and body resting behind her on her hips and legs. Chaim Gross is standing behind the sculpture, resting his arms on it and looking straight ahead.

Chaim Gross with Happy Mother, 1931

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation
 

Wooden sculpture of two female figures. One figure is sitting and lifting up the other in a complex, abstract pose.

Acrobatic Dancers, 1932

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
 

Wooden sculpture of a woman with slightly bent knees and looking into the distance at an angle. Her hands are reaching above her head.

Tightrope Dancer, 1933

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation, on loan to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Black and white photo of a wooden sculpture. The sculpture depicts two female figures with one figure being lifted on the shoulder of the other.

Circus Girls, 1934

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation, on loan to the Huntington Museum, San Marino, CA

Two dark wooden sculptures. The sculptures are tall and thin, composed of stacked geometric forms.

The Lindbergh and Hauptmann Trial, 1934

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation

Stone sculpture. A simple face is carved into the rough, gray stone.

Lucretia, 1941, Lithium Stone

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC

Smooth wooden sculpture of a woman leaning forward. She is looking downward and holds a young child in her arms.

My Sister Sarah, Victim of Nazi Atrocities, 1947

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC

Black and white image of a sculpture in an outdoor setting. The sculpture depicts an abstract bird downward in flight, to feed smaller abstract birds reaching up at the base of the sculpture.

Birds Nest, 1957

Bronze

The Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation

Black and white photograph of a sculpture in the middle of a small pond. The sculpture depicts a figure holding itself up on one hand, while balancing smaller figures on its foot in mid-air.

Handstand, 1959
Bronze
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta

Green bronze sculpture in a park. The sculpture depicts a mother and child facing each other and playing.

Mother Playing, 1961

Bronze

Fordham University, Midtown Campus, NYC

Close-up image of a bronze sculpture, turned green, in front of a building. The sculpture depicts a large figure and a small figure performing acrobatic tricks inside a circular hoop. The sculpture has a rough texture.

Young Performers, 1973

Bronze

Pace University, Downtown Campus, NYC

Looking up at this outdoor bronze sculpture, which has turned green, three figures stand with outstretched arms. The figures seem to be balancing on one leg, each one in the middle of their own circular or diamond shaped frame.

The Performers

Bronze

University of Rhode Island

Black and white photograph of a sculpture in a park. The sculpture depicts several dancing figures leaping sideways through the air.

The Family, 1979

Bronze

Bleecker Street Park, NYC

Chaim Gross was primarily a practitioner of the direct carving method, with the majority of his work being carved from wood. The wood sculptures featured here are among his most important works. Other direct carvers in early 20th-century American art include William Zorach, Jose de Creeft, and Robert Laurent. Works by Chaim Gross can be found in major museums and private collections throughout the United States, with substantial holdings (27 sculptures) at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

In the 1950s Gross began to make more bronze sculptures alongside his wood and stone pieces, and in 1957 and 1959 he traveled to Rome to work with famed bronze foundries including the Nicci foundry. At the end of the decade Gross was working primarily in bronze, which allowed him to create open forms and large-scale works, as in the selection of outdoor bronze sculptures featured here. Gross's The Family, donated to New York City in 1991 in honor of Mayor Ed Koch, and installed at the Bleecker Street Park at 11th street, is now a fixture of Greenwich Village.