Wounded Soldiers by Max Pollak
Wounded Soldiers
Max Pollak
Title
Wounded Soldiers
Artist
Max Pollak
1886 - 1970 (biography)Year
c. 1917
Technique
drypoint
Image Size
4 7/8 x 9 1/16" platemark
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
Not stated
Annotations
Pencil titled bottom left corner of sheet
Reference
Paper
Thick, textured wove
State
published
Publisher
artist
Inventory ID
DASL141
Price
$400.00
Description
After World War I began, Pollak worked for the Austrian Army as a war painter. He was ordered to paint propagada images but instead "I painted the horrors of war -- the ruined cities, the wounded women and children." (exhibition catalogue: Max Pollak: In Retrospect, Tritan Museum of Art - Santa Clara, CA 1973.)
In this image soldiers both young and old wait in line to be seen by a medic. As one might expect, they appear weary and downtrodden. Pollak doesn't try to paint them in a heroic light; he remains honest and only sketches the scene as he views it, hoping that the story of life on the battlefield will be seen for what it is.