Village Street

Max Pollak

A nostalgic glimpse by Pollak into a small Czechoslavakia village in winter, around 1907. Two figures walk in the snowy street. In the background looms the steeple of the local cathedral. Though he left Czechoslavakia as a baby, he returned as a young adult to record the local landscape and villages in his many etchings. These were never formally "editioned" and were pulled as proofs only.

Pollak, in order to get the delicate drypoint lines to print well, collaged a thin sheet of white oriental paper the size of the plate to a heavier sheet of wove paper. This allowed the optimal printing quality but also added the ability for the viewer to handle the work. The "color" of the snow is this thin paper, whereas the margins are the heavier "support sheet."

This impression has a red "FPC" stamp in the lower margin, indicating it was from the personal collection of the artist's late widow, Freidl Pollak.