"Kahlenbergerdorf" by Max Pollak, Czech-Amer., (1886-1970)

Max Pollak, Czech.-Amer., (1886-1970), Kahlenburgerdorf, Color Etching and Aquatint, ca. 1910-20, Ed. 250, 13 x 12-1/4, a ghost of mat line and inconspicuous bump crease left margin center edge and lower right corner tip, signed, titled and numbered in pencil, on thick, cream laid watermarked paper. Born in Prague and raised in Vienna, Max Pollak studied painting and printmaking under Unger and Schmutzer after 1902 at the Vienna Academy of Art. In 1912 he traveled Europe to paint, then emigrated to America in 1927, creating suites of color aquatints of New York City, Detroit and Cincinnati. In 1938 Pollak and his wife settled in San Francisco which remained his base, and subject of many prints though he continued to travel and make prints of Mexico and South America.  His fine color prints are distinguished by their beautiful color harmonies and painterly use of aquatint; retaining a spontaneous freshness of brushwork to create texture and atmosphere. His many portrait and dancer studies, as well as his  well known cityscapes can still exhibit traces of his early Secessionist style. Here we even sense a hint of Egon Schiele's bravura style in this striking Austrian view.