William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the Arts in 1927. He was at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism.

He was the husband of Marguerite Thompson Zorach and father of Dahlov Ipcar, both artists in their own right.

Early life

Zorach Gorfinkel was born in 1889 into a Lithuanian Jewish family, the son of a barge owner, in Jurbarkas () in Lithuania (then a part of the Russian Empire). As the eighth of ten children, Zorach (then his given name) emigrated with his family to the United States in 1894. They settled in Cleveland, Ohio under the name "Finkelstein". In school, his first name was changed to "William" by a teacher. Zorach stayed in Ohio for almost 15 years pursuing his artistic endeavors. He apprenticed with a lithographer as a teenager and went on to study painting with Henry G. Keller in night school at the Cleveland School of Art from 1905 to 1907. In 1908, Zorach moved to New York in enroll in the National Academy of Design. In 1910, Zorach moved to Paris with Cleveland artist and lithographer, Elmer Brubeck, to continue his artistic training at the La Palette art school.

Career

While in Paris, Zorach met Marguerite Thompson (1887–1968), an art student and fellow American, whom he married on December 24, 1912, in New York City. The couple adopted his original given name, Zorach, as a common surname. Zorach and his wife returned to America where they continued to experiment with different media. Both William and Marguerite were heavily influenced by cubism and fauvism. They are credited as being among the premier artists to introduce European styles to American modernism. While Marguerite began to experiment with textiles and created large, fine art tapestries and hooked rugs, William began to experiment with sculpture, which would become his primary medium. He was also a member of the Provincetown Printers art colony in Massachusetts.

In 1923, the Zorach family purchased a farm on Georgetown Island, Maine where they resided, worked, and entertained guests.

Works

Zorach's works can be found in numerous private, corporate, and public collections across the country including such acclaimed locales as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, Radio City Music Hall, the Currier Museum of Art, Joslyn Art Museum, and the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, as well as numerous college and university collections. His work was also part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

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Image:Puma by Zorach.jpg|Puma, in the National Gallery of Art

File:Puma Azalea Garden Philly.JPG|Puma

File:William Zorach, Moses, 1952.JPG|Moses

File:Zorach medal.JPG|Dimitri Mitropoulos, International Music Competition Medal

File:Brooklyn Museum - Tree - Yosemite - William Zorach - overall.jpg|Brooklyn Museum - Tree - Yosemite - William Zorach - overall

File:Brooklyn Museum - Skiff in Waves (recto) and Figures in Landscape (verso) - Marguerite Thompson Zorach - framed.jpg|Brooklyn Museum - Skiff in Waves (recto) and Figures in Landscape (verso) - Marguerite Thompson Zorach - framed

File:Zorach - New Horizons.jpg|New Horizons. Bronze sculpture, 1951, approximately 42 inches high.

File:Floating Figure by William Zorach.jpg|William Zorach, Floating Figure. 1922. Bronze. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia.

File:New York Harbor.jpeg|New York Harbor (1923), The Phillips Collection

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References

  • Official website run by some of Zorach's grandchildren, dedicated to the work of their grandparents.
  • "To Be Modern: The Origins of Marguerite and William Zorach's Creative Partnership, 1911–1922", Jessica Nicoll, Portland Museum of Art
  • "Works of William Zorach" at the Wiscasset Bay Gallery
  • swope.org
  • ilovefiguresculpture.com
  • Biographies on art.com: short, long