Bernard Zakheim (1896-1985) was one of the leading artists in California in the middle decades of the 20th century. Born and raised in a Hasidic family in Warsaw, Poland, he immigrated to San Francisco in 1920. Zakheim won fame primarily as a muralist, and his frescos in Coit Tower, the JCCSF, and the UC Medical Center can be viewed today.
Nathan Zakheim is one of Bernard’s four children. Nathan, along with other members of the family, has helped prepare his father’s work for the exhibition, Zakheim: The Art of Prophetic Justice, which will take place from October 17-December 30 at the Jazz Heritage Center in San Francisco. He vividly shares his recollections of the role that art played in his father’s life.
What was it like growing up with an artist for a father?
As I was home schooled until the fourth grade and was raised on a apple ranch called “Farm Arts,” which was populated with close to a dozen serious artists, I had no idea that other fathers were not artists.
