1917 - 2010
Kaz studied with the sculptor Samuel Cashwan in Detroit, Michigan, and at the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts. He continued his studies in New York at the Cooper Union, the Art Students League, and with Aaron Ben Schmuel. He specializes in small bronze figures, often with their subject matter taken from literature, music, and the theatre. Examples of his work are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Grey Art Gallery, New York University, among others. His public sculpture commissions have included the ark doors, menorah, and reliefs for the Temple Beth Emeth in Albany, New York.
He has won numerous honors including an award in the "Wings for Victory" Competition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1942. In 1955 he won first prize in the United Nations competition for a sixty foot sculpture to be erected in front of the UN General Assembly Building, New York. In 1989, he won the Saltus Gold Medal at the Annual Exhibition at the National Academy of Design.
Kaz has had several solo exhibitions in New York including at the Downtown Gallery in 1939, the Associated American Artists Galleries in 1946, Grand Central Moderns in 1954 and 1957, and at Joan Avnet Gallery, Great Neck, in 1965. He has also been in group shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 1955 and 1961 in addition to Whitney Annual Exhibitions in 1938, and 1942-1952; at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1937 and 1941; and at National Academy of Design, New York Annual Exhibitions in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981, and 1986.
He is a founding member of the Sculptors Guild, Audubon Artists, and the Allied Artists of America; and a fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
He has won numerous honors including an award in the "Wings for Victory" Competition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1942. In 1955 he won first prize in the United Nations competition for a sixty foot sculpture to be erected in front of the UN General Assembly Building, New York. In 1989, he won the Saltus Gold Medal at the Annual Exhibition at the National Academy of Design.
Kaz has had several solo exhibitions in New York including at the Downtown Gallery in 1939, the Associated American Artists Galleries in 1946, Grand Central Moderns in 1954 and 1957, and at Joan Avnet Gallery, Great Neck, in 1965. He has also been in group shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 1955 and 1961 in addition to Whitney Annual Exhibitions in 1938, and 1942-1952; at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1937 and 1941; and at National Academy of Design, New York Annual Exhibitions in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1981, and 1986.
He is a founding member of the Sculptors Guild, Audubon Artists, and the Allied Artists of America; and a fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
