Oral history interview with Chaim Gross, 1981 May 26- 27

Collection Information

Size: 2 Sound cassettes, Sounding recording; 49 Pages, Transcript

Summary: An interview of Chaim Gross conducted 1981 May 26-27, by Milton Wolf Brown, for the Archives of American Art.

Gross speaks of his early background and youth in Austria; his family's experiences when the Russian Army invaded Austria in 1914; his experiences in a refugee camp; escaping to Vienna and to Budapest; being imprisoned in Budapest and sent back to Austria; immigrating to the United States in 1921; his education at the Educational Alliance and the Beaux Arts Institute; teaching himself wood carving; selling his first works; coming to work for the WPA and later for the Treasury Department's Section of Fine Arts; meeting and marrying his wife Renée; influences, and sculptors whose work he admires; Judaic themes in his work; his art collection; and the changes in American culture during Franklin Roosevelt's presidency.

Biographical/Historical Note

Chaim Gross (1904-1991) was a sculptor from New York, N.Y.

Provenance

These interviews are part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others.

Language Note

English .

Funding

Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service. Funding for this interview was provided by the Wyeth Endowment for American Art.