Leopold Pollak | Genre painter

Leopold Pollak (1806-1880), was an Austrian genre and portrait painter.

Born in Bohemia as the son of a Jewish merchant. Pollak showed an early talent for painting.

In 1819, he enrolled at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied for five years under the Director of the Academy, Joseph Bergler.

He continued his studies in Vienna with Johann Peter Krafft.

Pushed by his parents, he then moved to Rome in 1831 to complete his artistic education, attending the studio of the painter Leopold Schutz.

From 1832 he joined the circle of German-speaking artists in Rome and was a founder member of the Deutscher Kunstler Verein (Federation of German artists).

He became a naturalized citizen of Italy.

The major early influence on his career was the German artist August Riedel whom he met in Rome and whose portrait by Pollak is now in Munich.

Pollak emulated both the subject matter and the style of Riedel whose beautifully lit and well crafted genre paintings of elegant peasant families wearing traditional costume were a major source of inspiration.

He was probably also influenced by the picturesque genre paintings of Roman and Neapolitan peasants wearing colourful costumes popularised by the French émigré artist Léopold Robert.

Despite the early neglect of his work, Pollak's reputation started to soar during the 1840s when his sweetly painted genre paintings became much sought after and were represented in some of the most illustrious aristocratic and royal collections.

During his later career, Pollak painted pictures of genre subjects which are more obviously Germanic in their subject matter and Biedermeier in taste.

Several of his paintings were engraved by Mandel and Straucher.

Leopold Pollak (1806-1880) è stato un pittore Austriaco di genere e ritrattista.

Nato in Boemia, figlio di un mercante ebreo, Pollak mostrò un precoce talento per la pittura.

Nel 1819 si iscrisse all'Accademia di Belle Arti di Praga, dove studiò per cinque anni.

Spinto dai genitori, si trasferì a Roma nel 1831 dove completò la sua formazione artistica, frequentando lo studio del pittore Leopold Schutz.