Annex Galleries - Santa Rosa - Max Pollak: Past Impressions, Through the Eyes of Printmakers

The Annex Galleries has been sending a series of e-mail announcements intended to re-introduce printmakers who worked in the last century, many without national recognition.

We feel each of these printmakers brought a creative and unique glimpse of the world through the medium they worked in. Due to the lack of communication at the time, transportation expenses, and regional considerations, it was difficult to market their artwork and gain recognition, unlike their counterparts today who have access to the world via the Internet.

Throughout history and into most of the 20th century, the print world had been centered in major metropolitan areas and critics were unheard of in most communities; despite this many printmakers worked in seclusion and obscurity throughout the country. Their isolation offered a fertile and creative environment for many who were able to develop their own unique visual language without concern of being "marketable." Today we are able to make these artists' lives and works available to an international audience.

We are presenting these works as: Past Impressions, Through the Eyes of Printmakers.  

Here is our third offering:

Max Pollak, painter and printmaker, was born in Prague, Czechoslavakia on February 27, 

1886, but was raised in Vienna where he later studied painting and etching at the Vienna Academy of Art under Willliam Unger and Ferdinand Schmutzer. In 1910, Pollak earned the Prix de Rome for his etchings, a first for an etcher. In 1912, he traveled to France and Holland to study and paint. During the first World War, Pollak was appointed painter of the Austrian Army. After spending three years in Paris, he immigrated to the United States in 1927, eventually settling in San Francisco.

Pollak's graphic oeuvre is comprised of over 500 prints, which included images from his travels in Europe, America, and South America. It also included many portraits and images of dancers. Much of Pollak's work was confiscated during World War II by the Nazis and is presumed lost.  

While in New York, a chance meeting led to Pollak's being commissioned by author Theodore Dreiser to do a series of eight etchings of New York to illustrate his book, My City, published in 1929.   

Pollak's work won numerous awards, including the Prix de Rome, the Chicago Society of Etchers award in 1942, and the California Society of Etchers award in 1942, 1944, and 1945. Pollak exhibited at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939 and had numerous solo exhibitions, including a 1928 show in New York, a 1940 show at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, and a 1973 exhibition at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara.

Pollak was a member of the Chicago Society of Etchers and the California Society of Etchers, and his work is represented in the Oakland Museum of California, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the de Young Memorial Museum, the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, and the British Museum.

Max Pollak died in Sausalito, California in May of 1970.

All the prints and drawings shown are available for purchase. 

Holland 1911; drypoint and roulette engraving in a purple/black ink; 5-3/8 x 6-3/16" platemark; pencil signed in the lower right; one of eight impressions; pencil titled in the lower left corner; printed on a crisp, antique-white wove paper.    $400.00   This is an early print depicting a canal in Holland and a bridge, about to open (or close). Pollak used a roulette wheel to achieve the subtle shading and contrasts it with deftly drawn drypoint. A touch of purple added to the black ink gives the print a sense of a foggy day in summer.

Austrian Village, Winter circa 1920; drawing in graphite with traces of pastel; 13-7/8 x 18-1/8" image; initialed in pencil in the lower right; drawn on a cream wove paper. $250.00 A drawing from Pollak's native Austria: a sketch of a village in the winter snow. The artist added some figures at the right with a touch of color to warm them up.

New York: View from South Street 1928; color etching & aquatint; 12-1/2 x 11-1/2" platemark; signed in pencil in the lower right; editioned 25/150; pencil titled in the lower left; printed on a cream laid Van Gelder Zonen paper. $1,200.00 Pollak was commissioned by author Theodore Dreiser to do a series of eight etchings of New York to illustrate his book My City which was published in 1929.  This was the second image from the series.

San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf (fragment) about 1945, color aquatint and soft ground etching; 13-15/16 x 5" image; pencil signed in the lower right; proof; printed on a Japanese hosho paper.    $350.00 This is a unique proof, printed from the left side of a large print titled Fisherman's Wharf. Pollak may have been proving colors or the bite of the acid. In any case, he decided it was good enough to sign.

New York: Washington Arch 1928; color etching and aquatint; 13 x 11-3/8" platemark; pencil signed in the lower right; pencil titled in the lower left; editioned 24/150; printed on cream, laid Van Gelder paper; illustrated as plate 88 in Etchings of Today, Holme, 1929. $1,500.00 Pollak was commission by Theodore Dreiser to do a series of eight etchings of New York  to Illustrate My City which was published in 1929. This image of Washington Square Arch was not used. Washington Square is located in lower Manhatten at the confluence of 5th Avenue, Waverly Place, W. 4th Street, and MacDougal Street. This view, the subject of numerous artists over the years, looks through the Washington Arch up 5th Avenue. Number One, 5th Avenue looms in the background.