Saturday 8 November 2014

Max Pollak: portraits of Albert M. Bender and Monroe Emanuel Deutsch identified.


Albert M. Bender
 (1866-1941)



was also known as "the best known Jew in San Francisco" in the 1930's, he was the leading patron of the Arts in San Francisco in the 1920-30's. Born in Dublin as the son of Rabbi Philip and Augusta Bender, both from Germany he'd  emigrated to the US in 1881 made his fortune as an insurance broker. With his wealth he helped launch the career of many artists including Ansel Adams (and probably also Max Pollak). He had a significant impact on the cultural development of the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. 


Dr. Leon Kolb
(1890 -  )



was born in Vietnam in 1890, studied medicine and settled in San Francisco in 1937. He worked as a Professor of Pharmacology at the Stanford School of Medicine, and he wrote several novels. However, his great passion, which he shared with his wife Hilda, was prints by artists well known and unknown from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. The Kolbs collected thousands of prints by print masters such as Francesco Bartolozzi, Albrecht Durer, Martin Engelbrecht, Jan Wierix, William Hogarth, Anthony van Dyck, Lucan van Leyden, Bernard Picart, and Martin de Vos.


Monroe E. Deutsch
 (1879-1955) 


Monroe Emanuel Deutsch, professor of classics and Vice-President and provost of the University of California, was born in 1879 of a Jewish family in San Francisco. An excellent student, he graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, and then worked his way through the University of California, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1902 and his Master's Degree in 1903. He first taught for a year in the Mission High School in San Francisco, and later in the Berkeley High School where he remained until 1907, when he became an assistant in Greek at the University of California and worked for his doctorate. This he received in 1911. He attained full professorship in Latin in 1922.

Pollak and his wife Friedl moved to San Francisco in 1938.

Within 24 hours after publication reader Tom has send the solution for this portrait, thank you 
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Judge and Mrs. Max C. Shloss 


(1941) Max Schloss was a noted San Francisco judge. I could not find any biographical data.

Max Pollak and his wife Friedl moved to San Francisco in 1938. Most, maybe all portraits I've found so far all seem to be of persons of German origin, even those created after emigrating in 1926 to America and before: the Vienna portraits. It seems to me all Pollaks portraits are of Jewish people. Remarkable.    

These last portraits were found in the database of the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums and shared here for friendly, educational and non commercial use only. 

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