Gross's personal and professional correspondence constitutes a rich and substantive record of all aspects of his career and is with family members; friends and colleagues including many artists, architects, writers, and scholars; galleries, museums and other art institutions; synagogues and multiple Jewish philanthropic organizations; publishers; and educational institutions. The correspondence is primarily incoming with scattered outgoing letters from Gross and occasionally Renee Gross. There is often overlap between professional and personal correspondence as relationships with colleagues span many years and often developed a personal tone. Renee Gross's work with philanthropic organizations is also documented to some extent.
Correspondence with family includes five letters from Renee to Chaim Gross, a folder of letters from daughter Mimi Gross and Red Grooms, including eight illustrated letters written while traveling in Italy, Macedonia, Greece, and Yugoslavia in the 1960s, and letters from extended family members.
The series contains a significant amount of correspondence with artists including: twelve letters and cards from Eliot Elisofon containing accounts of his travels in Africa in 1972-1973; letters from Richard and Laurie Graham, recording their impressions of Italy and discussing Graham's success; and four letters from Milton and Cecille Hebald written from Italy, discussing Milton Hebald's work and Gross's work being cast at the Nicci Foundry. Letters and postcards from filmmaker Lewis Jacobs relate to the printing of Tree Trunk to Head and The Sculptor Speaks. Letters from photographer Arnold Newman include two from Florida in the early 1940s where Newman was establishing a portrait studio. Letters from Elias Newman and Moses Soyer include descriptions of their experiences as young students at the Educational Alliance Art School.
In addition to correspondence from artists in the named files, general correspondence files for each letter also house many social replies, postcards, and scattered business and personal letters from artists including: Philip Evergood, Eugenie Gershoy, Harry Glassgold, Louis Held, Edward and Jo Hopper, Mervin Jules, Maurice Kallis, Jacob Kainen's wife Ruth Kainen, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Robert Laurent, Michael Lawrence, Legh Myers, George Nobe, Elliot Offner, Abraham Rattner and Esther Gentle, Girolamo Piccoli, Charles Salerno, Satyajit Shergil, Mia Solow, May Stevens, Paul Suttman, Hans Va de Bovenkamp, Egon Weiner, Warren Wheelock, Jean Woodham, Hale Woodruff, Herbert and Laura Ziegler, and Marguerite and William Zorach.
Correspondence with architects, writers, and scholars include letters from Chaim Potok in his capacity as editor with the Jewish Publication Society of America, referencing the publication of The Book of Isaiah; letters from Jack C. Rich related to his published writings on sculpture; letters from Yiddish writer and poet Shea Tenenbaum; and a folder of letters from art historian Roberta K. Tarbell, who wrote the essay for Gross's 1977 retrospective at the Jewish Museum.
Correspondence with publishers documents the publication of books about Gross or featuring his work. Letters from Beechurst Press, Inc., include the contract for Fantasy Drawings in 1956; related correspondence with Indiana University includes letters from Alfred Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research referencing Gross's drawings included in the book and used in research at the institute. Correspondence with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., documents the publication of Chaim Gross by Frank Getlein (1974) and Chaim Gross: Watercolors and Drawings by Alfred Werner (1979).
Correspondence with noted book designer Abe Lerner, relates to design work Lerner did for publications containing artwork by Gross, primarily for the Jewish Publication Society of America, including The Book of Isaiah and a book on Gross's Ten Commandments. Correspondence with printer Marcel Salinas documents Salinas's assistance in the production of Gross's suite of lithographs for The Jewish Holidays in 1969.
Gross's work for the Works Progress Administration is documented through correspondence, contracts, payment vouchers, and related documentation. The Federal Art Project correspondence includes a copy of Gross's Government Services Administration transcript of employment up to September 1940 and letters relating to Gross's winning entry for the competition to execute artwork for the Post Office in Irwin, Pennsylvania. The Treasury Relief Art Project files document Gross's commissions for the Post Office Department building and the Apex Building in Washington, D. C. The files include scattered personal letters from Ed Rowan and Forbes Watson. The New York World's Fair (1939) folder contains a contract for Gross's work for the France Overseas and Finnish Buildings, and related correspondence and financial records. Also documented are Gross's participation in juries for national competitions and his work as a consultant for the selection of sculptors to execute work on federal buildings.
Correspondence with museums and galleries provides documentation of commissions and sales of Gross's artwork, many solo and group exhibitions in which he was represented, and multiple loans and gifts to various museums. These include Gross's 1977 retrospective at the Jewish Museum, exhibitions at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Correspondence with Bella Fishko and Forum Gallery documents Forum Gallery's representation of Gross's artwork from 1961 through the early 1980s and indicates the lucrative nature of Gross's exhibitions during that period. Letters include account statements, appraisals, records of sales and gifts of Gross's work, and copies of correspondence relating to loans of work for exhibitions at other galleries and museums.
Correspondence with Warren Robbins documents Robbins's efforts to engage the involvement of artists in establishing the Museum of African Art. Purchases of Gross's work in the early 1940s by museums as prominent as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, are also documented here, as are Gross's gifts and loans to both museums, his involvement with the Museum of Modern Art's education committee, and his loans from his personal collection to the National Gallery of Art's first exhibition of African art in 1970.
References to many commissions and projects appear throughout the series, including Gross's six bronze panels entitled Six Days of Creation for Temple Sharray Tefila in New York City, and his Ten Commandments for the sanctuary of the International Synagogue at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. Correspondence with Harold and Kitty Ruttenberg relates to commissions for Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh and others and is notable also in that it includes relatively frequent replies from Renee and Chaim Gross which provide details about events in their lives and Gross's career. Correspondence with the United Nations documents Gross's commissions for watercolors and serigraph prints reproduced in three first day covers and stamps issued for the United Nations.
Correspondence also documents Gross's work as an educator with the Educational Alliance, and with the New School for Social Research where Gross acted in various capacities, including as a teacher, donor, and jury member, and worked to support the school's plan to establish an expanded art center program with residential facilities to serve as a resource for the whole of New York City.
Gross's involvement in many societies and associations is also documented, including his donations to, and service on the board of trustees of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Provincetown Art Association; his election to associate and academician of the National Academy of Design; and his membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Correspondence with the Sculptor's Guild Inc., and with Fimi Samour, documents the guild's activities during the 1950s-early 1980s, including exhibitions, memberships, and financial status. Sculptors Guild correspondence includes letters from artist Renata Schwebel.
Arrangement:
Correspondence is arranged alphabetically. Individuals and organizations represented in five or more items are arranged in named files; others are arranged alphabetically in general files for each letter. Files for correspondents with no given surname, or whose names are illegible or unidentified, are arranged toward the end of the series, followed by condolence letters written to Renee Gross on the death of Chaim Gross.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Collection Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Collection Citation:
Chaim Gross papers, 1920-2004. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The Chaim Gross papers were processed with funding from the Shirley Gorelick Foundation.
