Timeline

1887

Born Zorach Samovich in Eurbick, Lithuania

1893

Samovich family immigrates to Cleveland, Ohio; family adopts “Finkelstein” as new surname

1908 - 1910

Moves to New York to study art at the National Academy of Design

1910 - 1911

Travels to Paris and enrolls at La Palette, an art school; at La Palette meets future wife and artist, Marguerite Thompson; he and Marguerite participate in group exhibition at Salon d’Automne, Paris; William returns to Cleveland

1912

Moves to New York and marries Marguerite; they adopt surname of “Zorach” (William’s original given name)

1913

Participates in the groundbreaking Armory Show, New York, an important exhibition that brings modern European art to America; summers in Chappaqua, New York, 1913-1914

1915 - 1916

Joint exhibition with Marguerite at Daniel Gallery, New York

1916

Participates in “The Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters” at Anderson Galleries, New York; summers in art colony of Provincetown, Massachusetts where he and Margeurite paint and design scenery for the Provincetown Players; continues to summer in Provincetown during 1921, 1922 and 1923

1917 - 1919

Included in group show at Society of Independent Artists, New York; his interest in sculpture yields his first carving; summers in New Hampshire and works on tapestries with Marguerite, 1918; rekindles friendship with John Marin; summers in Maine, 1919

1920

Travels with Marguerite to California; sketches and paints at Yosemite National Park

1921 - 1922

Exhibits in group show at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia; joint exhibition with Marguerite at Dayton Museum of Art, Ohio, 1922

1927

Exhibits work at Edith Halpert’s Downtown Gallery, New York (frequently shows there until gallery closes in 1967); joint exhibition with wife at Provincetown Art Association; included in group exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago (regularly exhibits there until 1951)

1929 - 1930

Starts teaching at the Art Students League, New York, continuing until 1960; included in annual group exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and again in 1934, 1939 to 1942

1932

Group exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1933 - 1934

Group exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Downtown Gallery

1937

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, purchases granite sculpture

1938

Helps to spearhead The Sculptors’ Guild, an organization that fosters young sculptors and assists them in exhibiting their work

1943

Downtown Gallery, solo exhibition of sculptures made from marble and granite; receives favorable reviews

1945 - 1946

Solo exhibition, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts; visiting artist (with Marguerite) at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine; joint exhibition with Marguerite at California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco

1948

Retrospective at Art Students League in honor of his 21st year of teaching at the League

1952

Metropolitan Museum of Art purchases sculpture

1959

Retrospective at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

1966

Dies in Bath, Maine, on November 15th

1968

Marguerite Zorach dies in New York on June 27th