William Zorach

Lithuanian-born artist William Zorach (b. Zorach Gorfinkel) immigrated to the United States as a young child, growing up in Cleveland, where, as a teen, he took a job at a commercial lithography firm to help support his family. Zorach attended night classes at the Cleveland School of Art before moving to New York City to attend the National Academy of Design and then to Paris to study painting. He eventually abandoned painting to focus on his sculpture, carving wood and stone into modern, simplified human figures. Throughout his career he received commissions for public sculptures across the United States. He also taught for more than thirty years at New York’s Art Students League.