Max Rosenthal was born on November 23, 1833, in Turek, Congress Poland to Jewish parents Esther Kolsky and Wolf Rosenthal.[1][2] He studied in Berlin under Professor Carl Harnisch.[1][2] In 1847 he went to Paris, where he studied lithography, drawing, and painting with Martin Thurwanger, with whom he came to Philadelphia in 1849, and completed his studies.[1][2]
Career
Rosenthal made the chromolithographic plates for what is believed to be the first fully illustrated book by this process in the United States, "Wild Scenes and Wild Hunters." In 1854 he drew and lithographed an interior view of the old Masonic temple in Philadelphia, the plate being 22 by 25 inches, the largest chromolithograph that had been made in the country up to that time.[citation needed] He developed the first facsimile of water colors reproduced using the lithographic process in 1858. He also invented a process of decorating glass using sand blasting in 1872.[2]
After 1884 he turned his attention to etching, and executed over 150 portraits of eminent Americans and British officers, together with numerous large plates, among which are:
"Storm Approaches," after the painting by Henry Mosler
Rosenthal married Carolina.[2] Together, they had two sons and one daughter.[3] One of his sons, Albert Rosenthal, was also a lithographer and etcher.[4]
Death
Rosenthal died on August 8, 1918, at his home in Philadelphia.[1]
Awards
In 1854, Rosenthal received a silver medal in Applied Science in the Graphic Arts from the Franklin Institute relating to his work with chromolithography.[1][2][3]
