id: 124992
accession number: 1946.433
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1946.433
updated: 2024-03-26 01:58:04.122000
The Digger, 1926. Max Kalish (American, 1891–1945). Bronze; overall: 37.2 x 17.2 x 18.5 cm (14 5/8 x 6 3/4 x 7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Friends of the Artist 1946.433
title: The Digger
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1926
creation date earliest: 1926
creation date latest: 1926
current location:
creditline: Gift of Friends of the Artist
copyright:
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culture: America, Ohio, Cleveland
technique: bronze
department: American Painting and Sculpture
collection: American - Sculpture
type: Sculpture
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catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Max Kalish (American, 1891–1945) - sculptor
Born in Valozin, Lithuania, Max Kalish immigrated with his family to Cleveland in 1898. Shortly after their arrival they changed the family name from Kalichik to Kalish. At the age of 15 he won a scholarship from the Cleveland School of Art and studied sculpture under Herman Matzen. In 1910 Kalish enrolled in the National Academy of Design in New York. After returning to Cleveland in early 1912, he briefly shared a studio with William Zorach. Kalish traveled to Europe in 1912–13, studying at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie Colarossi in Paris, and exhibiting in the Paris Salon (1913). He worked as a sculptor for the Panama-Specific Exposition in San Francisco, 1913–14, returning to Cleveland the following year. His first solo exhibition was at Korner & Wood Galleries in Cleveland (1916). He served in the army during World War I. In 1921 he began creating bronze sculptures devoted to the theme of labor and completed the last in 1938. In 1923 Cleveland school children collected small change to fund the casting of Kalish’s large-scale monument to Abraham Lincoln, which was installed in front of the School Administration Building. During the 1920s his sculptures appeared in solo shows in Cleveland and New York. He participated in the annual May Shows at the Cleveland Museum of Art (1924–30) as well as the annuals of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and the Art Institute of Chicago. In the late 1920s he began a series of marble figures that were exhibited at the Grand Central Art Galleries in New York. By 1933 he had moved to New York, where he established a private school for teaching sculpture techniques. Kalish died in New York.
"Transformations in Cleveland Art" (CMA, 1996), p. 231
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measurements: Overall: 37.2 x 17.2 x 18.5 cm (14 5/8 x 6 3/4 x 7 5/16 in.)
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inscription: Signed back of base: "M KALISH '26"; foundry seal on rear illegible: "Paris (?)"
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Introduction to Sculpture
opening date: 1952-02-05T05:00:00
Introduction to Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 5-March 2, 1952).
title: Cleveland Art Comes of Age: 1919-1940
opening date: 1989-06-28T04:00:00
Cleveland Art Comes of Age: 1919-1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 28-September 10, 1989).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
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PROVENANCE
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
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IMAGES