Palestine, Valley of Kidron by Max Pollak
Palestine, Valley of Kidron
Max Pollak
Title
Palestine, Valley of Kidron
Artist
Max Pollak
1886 - 1970 (biography)Year
1933
Technique
color etching & aquatint
Image Size
15 x 17" 1/16" platemark
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
2 of 100
Annotations
pencil titled, lower left
Reference
Paper
Van Gelder Zonen cream laid
State
Published
Publisher
artist
Inventory ID
DASL117
Price
$1,800.00
Description
After moving to the United States in 1927 and after his success with his prints of New York, Max Pollak spent time in the early 1930s in the Holy Land where he found inspiration for a series of color etchings and aquatints, an example being "Palestine, Valley of Kidron", done in 1933.
The Kidron Valley is a long wadi, a ravine in the Holy Land, dividing Jerusalem's Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives. The mountains provided defense for the original Jerusalem. The valley contains the "Pillar of Absalom", the "Tomb of the Sons of Hezir" and the "Tomb of Zachariah."
Pollak's composition views the old city of Jerusalem through a notch created in the mountain. A couple of olive trees have survived and two women gather water from a well.