{{short description|American sculptor}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2018}} '''Roy Gussow''' (November 12, 1918 – February 11, 2011) was an American abstract sculptor known for his public pieces often crafted from polished stainless steel. Examples of his work can be found outside the Xerox building in Rochester, NY,<ref>{{Cite web |last=dkramer3@naz.edu |date=2015-11-04 |title=Jill Gussow's homage to the raucous crows of the South Wedge |url=https://talkerofthetown.com/2015/11/04/jill-gussows-homage-to-the-raucous-crows-of-the-south-wedge/ |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=Talker of the Town |language=en-US}}</ref> City Hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the New York City Family Court building in Manhattan, and the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |first=Dennis |last=Hevesi |title=Roy Gussow, Abstract Sculptor, Dies at 92 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/arts/design/21gussow.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries|work=The New York Times |date=February 20, 2011 |accessdate=6 March 2011}}</ref>
==Biography==
===Early life=== Gussow was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 12, 1918, to Abraham and Mildred Gussow.<ref name=nytimes/> He was one of three siblings.<ref name=nytimes/> Gussow was Jewish.<ref name=jta>{{cite news |first=Alan D.|last=Abbey|title=The Eulogizer: Art world deaths—leading painter, critic and sculptor |url=https://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/03/16/3086448/the-eulogizer-art-world-deaths-leading-painter-critic-and-sculptor|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=March 16, 2011 |accessdate=28 March 2011}}</ref> He enrolled at Farmingdale State College originally intending to pursue a career as a farmer, but switched majors and earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture in 1938.<ref name=nytimes/>
===Sculptor=== He joined the United States Army during World War II. Gussow met painter George Kachergis while serving in France.<ref name=nytimes/> Kachergis encouraged Gussow to enter the fields of art and design.<ref name=nytimes/> He enrolled at the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago following the end of World War II and studied under cubist sculptor Alexander Archipenko.<ref name=nytimes/> Archipenko took Gussow to Woodstock, New York, in 1946, where he attended summer school.<ref name=nytimes/> He met his future wife, Mary Maynard, while in Woodstock.<ref name=nytimes/>
Gussow taught sculpture and art at Bradley University in Illinois, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the North Carolina State University School of Design, now known as the College of Design, in Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as at The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name="Raimondi">{{Cite web |title=Ros Gussow |url=https://www.johnraimondi.com/roy-gussow |access-date=2026-03-11 |website=John Raimondi Gallery: Monumental Public Sculptor |language=en}}</ref> He returned to New York City, settling in Manhattan in 1962.<ref name=nytimes/> In 1964, Gussow moved to Long Island City, becoming one of the first artists to take up residence in what was then an industrial section of the Queens neighborhood. Gussow created both his home and sculpture studio inside a former silver plating factory.<ref name=nytimes/> He resided and worked in Long Island City for the rest of his life.
===Works=== Gussow assisted in the creation of ''Infinity'', an abstract sculpture, designed by Jose de Rivera, which was dedicated outside the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology, now called the National Museum of American History, in 1967. The piece is one of the first abstract sculptures to be placed at a major public building in Washington D.C.<ref name=nytimes/> The sculpture consists of a 16-foot long curved stainless steel ribbon placed atop a granite column.<ref name=nytimes/> The piece, which stands 24 feet tall, is located at the entrance to the museum facing the National Mall.<ref name=nytimes/>
In 1974, Gussow's "Three Forms 7-31-75" was dedicated outside of the New York City Family Court building at Lafayette and Leonard Streets in the Civic Center section of Lower Manhattan. The eight-feet tall sculpture, which has a mirror stainless steel finish like many of Russow's public works, stands on a two-foot base constructed of granite.<ref name=nytimes/> The sculpture was removed in 2010 for restoration.<ref name=nytimes/>
Gussow also created "Crystal," which was placed outside of city hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1983.<ref name=nytimes/> Gussow designed "Crystal" as six "wedge-shaped facets" which reflect clouds as they float over the city of Harrisburg.<ref name=nytimes/> This particular sculpture stands at seventeen feet tall.<ref name=nytimes/>
Some examples of Gussow's other public sculptures can be found at North Carolina State University, outside the Xerox building in Rochester, New York, and the Civic Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.<ref name=nytimes/> His smaller works are housed at prominent museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) and the Guggenheim Museum.<ref name=nytimes/>
Roy Gussow died of a heart attack in Queens, New York, on February 11, 2011, at the age of 92.<ref name=nytimes/> His wife, Mary, died in 2004.<ref name=nytimes/> He was survived by three daughters – Jill, Mimi and Olga – two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.<ref name=nytimes/> His daughter, Jill Gussow, is also an artist.<ref name=jta/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gussow, Roy}} Category:1918 births Category:2011 deaths Category:American abstract artists Category:American abstract sculptors Category:North Carolina State University faculty Category:Bradley University faculty Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Farmingdale State College alumni Category:Jewish American sculptors Category:Artists from Brooklyn Category:Artists from Queens, New York Category:20th-century American sculptors Category:20th-century American male artists Category:American male sculptors Category:Sculptors from New York (state) Category:21st-century American Jews