Alfred Grunfeld

Max Pollak

Throughout his career, Pollak would turn to portraiture, perhaps in part to help his bank account, often getting commissions from the movers and shakers of the time. While in Vienna he did numerous portraits, especially of dancers and musicians who were in his circle of friends and acquaintances.

Alfred Grunfeld (1852-1924) was a popular Austrian pianist and salon performer who studied under Theodor Kullak in Berlin and at the Prague Conservatory. Later in his career he was appointed the court pianist for Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany. Among his peers were Brahms, Strauss, and Leschetizky, and he was known to champion both contemporary and established composers. He was also the first great pianist to record commercially.

Max Pollak uses a distinctly late-Impressionist style to capture the musician at his piano, focusing his most intricate linework at the face, hands, and the keys being played before drawing out the body with strong, brisk strokes and only hinting at the piano with a handful of soft lines, allowing the viewer to fill in the details, much as Whistler had done 50 years earlier in his portrait of Just Becquet with his violoncello.