Chaim Gross
Happy Mother, 1958
Cast bronze
Wichita State University Purchase with Student Government Association funds
Happy Mother marries two of the artist’s abiding interests: bodies in motion and the relationship between mothers and children. Gross frequently depicted extreme and energetic movement, often in studies of circus performers. His sculptures present us with acrobats, ballet dancers, bareback riders, and other athletes. He also returned regularly to the theme of motherhood, a subject with a rich art historical background, from religious images of the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ to Mary Cassatt’s tender depictions of women bathing their children. When you look at Happy Mother, think about Gross’s interest in gesture.
While you investigate the sculpture, examine the figures’ proportions, body style, and surface. This is one of the artist’s early experiments in bronze; Gross is best known as a wood carver. He was born in Austria to a family of lumbermen who whittled in their spare time. He also studied under Elie Nadelman, another wood carver. Gross also admired both folk art and African sculpture, the influence of which is seen in much of his work.