Nathaniel Kaz (March 9, 1917 - December 13, 2010) was an American sculptor who was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. His parents were musicians and moved to Detroit when Kaz was young. It was in Detroit when he began his art studies with Samuel Cashwan. After moving to New York, Kaz continued his studies at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

where he was trained by

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New York for some ...

and

William Zorach William Zorach (February 28, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, and writer. He won the Logan Medal of the arts. He is notable for being at the forefront of American artists embracing cubism, as well as fo ...

.Opitz, Glenn B., ''Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors & Engravers'', Apollo Books, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1988 In 1988 he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the f ...

as an Associate member and became a full Academician in 1991. His son

Eric Kaz Eric Justin Kaz (born January 21, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter born in Brooklyn, New York. Besides his solo work, Kaz was a member of Blues Magoos for their fourth and fifth albums, ''Never Goin' Back to Georgia'' and ''Gulf Coast Bound ...

is a musician and songwriter.

Work

Sculptures by Kaz are on exhibition and can be found in the collections of: * Brooklyn Museum *

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

Pennsylvania Academy The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and Private university, private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

* Philadelphia Museum of Art *

New Britain Museum of American Art The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art. A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 200 ...

Binghamton University
Kaz also produced sculpture under the auspices of the

Federal Art Project The Federal Art Project (1935–1943) was a New Deal program to fund the visual arts in the United States. Under national director Holger Cahill, it was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administrati ...

. He was a founding member of the Sculptors Guild, along with

Chaim Gross Chaim Gross (March 17, 1902 – May 5, 1991) was an American sculptor and educator of Ukrainian Jewish origin. Childhood Gross was born to a Jewish family in Austrian Galicia, in the village of Wolowa (now known as Mizhhiria, Ukraine), in t ...

Paul Manship Paul Howard Manship (December 24, 1885 – January 28, 1966) was an American sculptor. He consistently created mythological pieces in a classical style, and was a major force in the Art Deco movement. He is well known for his large public com ...

, Jose de Creeft,

Herbert Ferber Herbert Ferber (1906 – 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionist, sculptor and painter, and a "driving force of the New York School." Background Herbert Ferber Silvers was born on April 30, 1906, in New York City. In 1923, he be ...

, and

Jose De Rivera Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galil ...

. Kaz exhibited at the 3rd Sculpture International held in Philadelphia in 1949 and is one of the sculptors in the 70 Sculptors photograph taken there.

Awards and accolades

Kaz has won and received multiple awards and accolades over the course of his life, including: Michigan Sculpture Prize, 1929; Section of Fine Arts Award, 1940; Artists for Victory award, 1942; Audubon Artists 6th Annual, 1947; Sculpture prize, Brooklyn Museum, 1948 and 1952; Alfred G.B. Steel Memorial Prize, 148th Annual exhibition at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1953. *1976 received the Award of Merit for his sculpture ''The Prophe''t exhibited at the

*1981 won the Silver Medal for creative sculpture at the Annual Audubon Artists *1983 won the Medal of Honor at the Annual Audubon Artists *1988 received the Margaret Hirsch Levine Memorial Award *1988 he was awarded the Agopoff Award in the 163rd Annual Exhibition In 2006, Kaz was awarded the National Sculpture Society's Gold Medal and Maurice B. Hexter Prize at the 73rd Annual Exhibition. He was also awarded in 2006, the Lifetime Achievement in Sculpture Award by Westchester County and the Sculptors' Guild. Kaz had been an instructor at the Art Students League for more than 50 years.

References

External links

Nathaniel Kaz sculpture ''Masquerade''
at Christie's
Kaz And Me In Tuscany
at Larry Frank Photo
National Sculpture Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaz, Nathaniel 1917 births 2010 deaths American sculptors Federal Art Project artists Sculptors Guild members