Sculpting a Life is the first book-length biography of sculptor Chana Orloff (1888-1968), a major figure in the School of Paris, and a woman who contributed to the canon of modern art alongside Picasso, Modigliani and Chagall. Against the resonant backdrop of revolution, world wars, a global pandemic and forced migrations, Orloff’s sculptures embody themes of gender, displacement, exile, and belonging. 

Sculpting a Life tells the amazing story of a fiercely determined and ambitious woman who fled antisemitism in Ukraine, emigrated to Palestine with her family, then traveled to Paris to work in haute couture before becoming an internationally recognized artist. Stories from her unpublished memoir enrich this life story of courage, perseverance, and extraordinary artistic accomplishments that take us through the aftermath of the Holocaust when Orloff lived between Paris and Tel Aviv. Birnbaum brings new perspectives and understandings to Orloff’s multiple identities as a cosmopolitan émigré, woman, and Jew, and is a much needed intervention into the narrative of modern art. 

Paula J. Birnbaum is the Ann Getty Endowed Chair and Professor of Art History and Museum Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. Her research focuses on modern and contemporary art in relation to gender and sexuality, as well as institutional and social politics. She is the author of Chana Orloff: Between Paris and Tel Aviv (2023), Women Artists in Interwar France: Framing Femininities (2011, 2016), Essays on Women’s Artistic and Cultural Contributions 1919-1945 and many articles and book chapters. She is presently collaborating with the Musée Zadkine in Paris on an exhibition of Chana Orloff’s work, opening in November 2023.