Jack Zajac

Jack Zajac is a Californian artist most associated with the Romantic Surrealist tradition. Born on December 13, 1929 in Youngstown, Ohio Zajac and his family moved to southern California in 1946. Zajac graduated from Kaiser Steel Mill high school and shortly moved on to Scripps College in Claremont, California. Throughout his career, Zajac has received a number of awards including a 1948 scholarship at the California State Fair student exhibition in Sacramento and was the recipient of the 1950 Purchase Prize at the Pasadena Art Museum. Zajac was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as a Rome Prize. He is a member of The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Academy of Design. He has been an Artist in Residence at the American Academy in Rome, Dartmouth College, and University of California, Santa Cruz. He has become most well-known for his sculptures in bronze and marble and his figurative paintings.

Text © Laguna Art Museum, 2019