Mother and Child (study)

Media - 1968.154.153 - SAAM-1968.154.153_1 - 58184
Copied William Zorach, Mother and Child (study), ca. 1926, plaster, 6 182 122 38 in. (15.56.36.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar, 1968.154.153

Artwork Details

Title
Mother and Child (study)
Date
ca. 1926
Dimensions
6 182 122 38 in. (15.56.36.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Tessim Zorach and Dahlov Ipcar
Mediums
Mediums Description
plaster
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group — family — mother and child
  • Study — sculpture model
  • Figure group — family — nude
Object Number
1968.154.153

Artwork Description

William Zorach represented the bond between mother and child in different compositions. He often formed the figures with very little space between them, creating an inseparable unit in which the mother holds the child in a protective embrace. Zorach worked slowly and painstakingly on his monumental sculptures, often creating smaller studies of the subject. The final carving of Devotion was purchased by the Laurence Rockefellers, while Mother and Child (study) was made into a monumental stone carving that won the Art Institute of Chicago’s Logan Medal in 1931. Zorach spent three difficult years carving it, and afterwards said, “[It] is my finest piece of sculpture.”