Vahdah Gara

Max Pollak

The subject of this portrait, Vahdah Gara, was born Renee Smith in Akron, Ohio on April 11, 1889. As a young woman she moved to New York where she studied opera and acting, changin her name to the more exotic 'Vahdah Gara'. After marrying into the Low family, weathly utilities and land-owners, in 1923, changing her name to Vahdah Gara Low. Her husband was Abbot Augustus Low, Jr., president of the Old Forge Electric Co. and later executive vice president of Consolidated Edison Company of New York.

The Lows traveled throughout Europe in the 20s with Vahdah performing as they traveled. Vahdah and "Auggie" were married in Italy. They returned to New York in the 30's, during the Depression.

Vadah Gara Low died in New York in May of 1982.

As Pollak was often commissioned to do portraits of well-to-do figures in the various cities he visited or lived in, it’s very likely he created this when he first came to the U.S. in the late 1920s. Pollak's subject is fashionable and daring in her attire, wearing richly hued fabrics that cling and drape like silk, and her expression is bright and engaging, making it all the more disappointing that we can’t find more about her.