The lecture will provide an overview of the exhibition of Bernard Baruch Zakheim, a Jewish immigrant from Poland who came to San Francisco in 1920 and whose painting was of a social realism inclination. He graced the walls of monuments in San Francisco such as the Coit Tower, creating a mural in this Art Deco landmark, and graced the then newly-built JCCSF with a fresco in 1932. These mural projects will be discussed, as well as preliminary paintings for murals for the UCSF Medical Center proposed as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program of the 1930s, as well as one intended for a post office or school. His relationship with Diego Rivera, the famous Mexican muralist, is a fascinating topic that will be covered and his subsequent trip to Paris where he produced several paintings including one about Orthodox Jewry in Paris just prior to the Nazi occupation. His work after 1945 was informed by the Holocaust, which affected him deeply having lost 300 relatives in the Holocaust including his mother.

This lecture is in conjunction with Zakheim: The Art of Prophetic Justice, an exhibition of twelve photographic panels and thirty original paintings, at the Jazz Heritage Center this fall.