William gropper biography

William Gropper was born in New York's Lower East Side in 1897. He was the first of six children to parents who earned small wages working in sweatshops. At the age of fourteen, Gropper left school to help support his family.

While carrying bolts of cloth for his deliveries, Gropper began to draw on scraps of paper, sidewalks and walls.

William gropper biography wikipedia

A passerby saw some of these drawings and invited Gropper to attend a life-drawing class at the Ferrer School. He studied there for three years from 1912 to 1915, attending classes taught by Robert Henri and George Bellows.

From 1915 to 1918 Gropper attended the New York School of Fine and Applied Art part-time on scholarship. Gropper also won a scholarship to the National Academy of Design, but remained as a student for only a short time; the rigid and systematic institution conflicted with Gropper's belief in the personal nature of art.

At the New York School of Fine and Applied Art, Gropper earned several prizes.

One of these prizes was for his c