William Zorach

Born in Eurbick, Lithuania in 1887, Willam Zorach’s family moved to Cleveland Ohio in 1893. He studied art at New York’s National Academy of Design from 1908-1910. From New York, he traveled to Paris to study at La Palette where he met his future wife, the artist Marguerite Thompson. Following a group exhibition at the Salonne d’Automme, the Zorachs returned to New York where his work was included in the groundbreaking Armory Show of 1913. For the next forty years Zorach’s work was shown in major American galleries and by the ‘40’s began to be collected by major Museums including the Met in New York and The Art Institute of Chicago.

Zorach received a DFA from Bates College and taught at the Art Students League from 1929 to 1960. While he worked in many media, he is particularly noted for his watercolors of which he said, “There are things one does for the pure love of form and color, in the easy abandonment to the moods and fancies of the moment. These are my watercolors.” Zorach died in 1966.