19th, 20th & 21st Century Fine Prints
707-546-7352 · fax 707-546-7924 · web: www.annexgalleries.com · email: artannex@aol.com
New York: Washington Arch by Max Pollak
New York: Washington Arch
Max Pollak
New York: Washington Arch
Max Pollak
1886 - 1970 (biography)Max Pollak was commissioned by author Theodore Dreiser to do a series of eight color etchings of New York which were then reproduced in his book "My City", published in 1929 by Horace Liveright. This image of the Washington Arch was not used for the book but was published by Rudolf Lesch Fine Arts, New York. Pollak printed a number of the works while in his Austria, where he was brought up.
Though the edition for the New York images was anticipated as 150 Pollak did not finish the whole edition, the stock market crashed the next year, 1929, when Dreiser's book was published, and the economic practicality of printing a full edition disappeared.
The Washington Arch is located in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. The marble arch was designed by Stanford White and dedicated in 1895 honoring George Washington. The arch is situated in Washington Square Park and the nearby fountain predates it by forty-three years. The skyscraper is an apartment building located at One Fifth Avenue.