Washington, Lincoln Memorial (with remarque)

Max Pollak

Before settling permanently in Northern California in 1938 Max and Freidl Pollak traveled across the United States and Max chronicled their journey in a number of color aquatints including New York, Washington, DC, Detroit, Michigan and Cincinatti, Ohio, New Mexico, etc.

This loose, impressionistic color aquatint is of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, with the reflecting pool fading away at the right of the composition. Beneath the image, still within the platemark, Pollak added a drypoint remarque of the Lincoln sculpture that is barely visible between the center columns of the Memorial. The artist adds a number of figures on the steps in order to create a scale for the architecture.

The Lincoln Memorial is located on the west end of the National Mall and the Reflecting Pool, across from the Washington Monument. The Memorial was designed by Henry Bacon and the marble sculpture was designed by Daniel C. French in 1920 and carved by the brothers Piccirilli.

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1922. Memorial Day was later shifted to the last Monday of the month to create a 3-day holiday.