Note 1) Wikipedia, in its introductory paragraph on its
article on Kristallnacht, stated Kristallnacht was:
“a pogrom or series of
coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938, carried out by SA paramilitary and civilians. German authorities looked on without intervening.[1] The attacks
left the streets covered with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned
stores, buildings, and synagogues.[2]
At least 91
Jews were killed in the attacks, and a further 30,000 arrested and incarcerated
in concentration camps.[2] Jewish homes,
hospitals, and schools were ransacked, as the attackers demolished buildings
with sledgehammers.[3] Over 1,000
synagogues were burned (95 in Vienna alone), and over 7,000 Jewish businesses
destroyed or damaged.[4][5]
Martin Gilbert writes that no event in the history of German Jews between 1933 and 1945
was so widely reported as it was happening, and the accounts from the foreign
journalists working in Germany sent shock waves around the world.[3] The Times
wrote at the time: “No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before
the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults
on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”[6]
The pretext for
the attacks was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a German-born Polish Jew in Paris,
France. Kristallnacht was followed by further economic and political
persecution of Jews, and is viewed by historians as part of Nazi Germany's
broader racial policy, and the beginning of the Final Solution and The Holocaust (text of footnotes omitted)”
.
Note 2) Per the
Hecht Museum, Band was “[born in]
Naumestis, Lithuania [in] 1900 [and died] in California [in] 1974. A Lithuanian-born
Jewish painter, [he] studied in Berlin in 1923 and later moved to Paris. He exhibited his works in Berlin, Paris,
Kaunas (Lithuania), London, Amsterdam, and Geneva. In 1940, he went to the United States, where
he taught art in California. His manner
of painting almost never changed from the 1930's.”
In addition, Band authored “History of Contemporary Art” in 1935. In 1945, Band wrote another book
entitled “The Art Of Max Band,” which discusses his artistic philosophy and
technique and illustrates a number of Band's Chagall-influenced works from the
1930's and 1940's. It is the collector’s
opinion that these works are identical in style to the present lot, but not as overly
dramatic and emotionally charged.
Band studied
briefly in Berlin and lived in Paris for a significant portion of his life. He went to Paris in the 1920's to continue
his studies and hone his painting skills. While there, he was exposed to the artistry
and philosophy of Marc Chagall and, as it happens, was very much influenced by this
artist. Chagall’s lessons are reflected
in present lot, and in a number of other paintings Band completed over the
course of his career. No doubt deeply influenced by the events of
Kristallnacht and the Nazi's advance toward France in 1940, Band departed Paris
and took up residence in Hollywood, California.
He was the father of
Hollywood director, Albert Band, grandfather to filmmaker, Charles Band, and
great-grandfather to singer/songwriter, Alex Band. He died in California in 1974.
It is important
to note that Max Band was himself a Lithuanian Jew, who had intimate knowledge
of pogroms against Jews in his homeland, and who was obviously personally moved
by the events of November 9-10, 1938.
The present lot is, therefore, a monumental reminder of the atrocities
visited upon Jews during this time. A
visual testament to Nazi terror, it should solicit strong emotional and
sympathetic responses from viewers. It
is one of the best, if not the best, and
most dramatic of Band's paintings and belongs either in the collection of a
museum that deals with the subject of the Nazi holocaust or in the hands of a
private collector with an interest in the subject. In light of these considerations, published presale
estimates of $10,000-$25,000 are both reasonable and justifiable.
Of the 72
auction results for Band paintings—and, in particular, of the relatively few
larger works (i.e. in the 36 in. x 25 in. range), the 7 that did sell brought
between $3,400 and $5,600. An eighth large
painting, the largest that has ever been sold at auction to date (25.75 in. x 36.38, but still much smaller than the present
lot) was a relatively pedestrian
cityscape and sold for the record price of $6,250.
Title/Subject: On the Waterfront, signed. Oil on canvas. 25.75
in. x 36.38 in. Sold for $6,250 on 11/20/2009 at
Sotheby’s, New York.
Most
importantly, none of the 72 Band works comes close to approaching the historical
significance of the present lot, which is monumental in terms of size,
conception, execution, composition and emotional impact. Based on his extensive analysis of Band and
his oeuvre, including Max Band's
autobiographical work, “The Art of Max Band” (Borden Publishing Company, 1945),
the collector believes Kristallnacht
to be Band's most historically and artistically significant painting. Indeed, it
is a masterpiece by Band, and should easily command a price within the above
presale estimates of $10,000-$25,000. In
fact, it may well exceed such an estimate.