Karpathian Village

 

Max Pollak

  1886 - 1970 (biography)

1918  

drypoint, printed chine colle 

11 3/4 x 6 5/8" platemark 

pencil, lower right 

not stated; presumed small 

pencil titled, lower left; pencil annotated "Carpathian village" along lower left sheet edge; Friedl Pollak Collection stamp in lower left sheet corner; stamped on verso, "Made in Austria" 

Listed on Sausalito list under Vienna, Heeres Museum section 

thin white wove collaged to heavy buff wove support sheet 

published 

artist 

22583 

SOLD

This image is one of a series of prints Pollak did of winter in the Czech Alps around 1920. To print this composition he collaged a sheet of thin white laid paper that would capture the delicate drypoint lines to a support sheet of cream wove that allowed the print to be handled. He allowed the center of the composition to be defined by the white paper and a few wispy horizontal drypoint lines, fences or ski trails, that create a sense of distance and height. At the sides of the image are trees, created using a lightly printed aquatint which allows white specks to show through, simulating snow on the branches. In the valley at the bottom is a snow-bound village, printed using drypoint. At the top Pollak inked the sky 'a la poupeé' to a silvery gray. These Karpathian (Carpathian) mountains are probably the Tatra range located in Pollak's native Czechoslavakia. They stretch through Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Romania. They are noted for their exceptional winter sports, especially skiing.