The Tale of the Zakheim Frescoes

Synapse - April 8, 1968

By Nathan and Matthew Zakheim

Many people, when told about frescoes, look puzzled and ask what they are. For thousands of years frescoes have been a method through which artists paint directly on the wet plaster of walls. Pigments are brushed directly into fresh plaster itself being the medium. Once hardened, plaster and pigment become one. Seen under microscope, one particle of pigments would be surrounded by ten particles of plaster. The pigments are exclusively earth color-Indian red, yellow ochre, burnt sienna, terra verte, to name a few. With time the plaster can harden to limestone, remaining as vivid for centuries as when first painted. This durability explained the present day survival of ancient Byzantine and Italian frescoes.

Frescoes at U.C.

There are two sets of frescoes at U.C. Medical Center, totaling twelve panels. One set was formerly located in Cole Hall of the old medical building, the other set in Toland Hall. The Toland Hall frescoes depict early California medical history in ten consecutive panels. Unfortunately, in the 1940s the presiding chancellor ordered that the murals be covered with wallpaper, presumably because they were distracting lectures. In 1962, the murals were uncovered, and were found severely damaged by peeling of the fresco surface caused primarily by the wallpaper paste.

The Artist

Bernard Baruch Zakheim was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1898. After studying at various European academies, and surviving many amazing wartime experiences, Zakheim came to the Unites States at age of twenty. He spent many years in custom furniture manufacturing but his primary interest never ceased to be painting. He spent much time traveling through Europe, living and painting amongst the artist. Especially interested in fresco, he went to Mexico to spend time with Diego Rivera.Soon his own frescoes were appearing throughout the United States, particularly in the Bay Area.

Cole Hall

Dr. Cauncy Leake, interested in combining art with science, brought about a university commission for the frescoes on medical history. One panel "Superstition in Medicine," depicts ancient practices of black magic, alchemy, amputation. (Using true force instead of anesthetic). Sacrifice to the Gods, the opening of liver to detect omens (thus the discovery of disease) and treatment of mental illness by use of stocks, lashing and strait-jackets. Included in the primitive medicine fresco is considerable subliminal satire, continuing a tradition maintaining by such early fresco masters as Michelangelo, William Randolph Hearst stands sanctimoniously as a priest with the good booking one hand and incense burner supposedly clearing the air of evil spirits. Surrounding the priest stand the choir boys, robes suggesting organ pipes, singing with angelic oval mouths, as if on Christmas cards. Enthusiastically joined in the choir are geese, and lamb of the sacrifice next door, unmindful of the thousands of years supposedly separating them. Lying in agony, leg being amputated, is a janitor who refused to permit the artist to paint after five o'clock, even if he were in the heat of inspiration - immorality to a little known janitor! The brute holding down the unfortunate man wears a tattoo with the initials P.B., these stand for Phyllis and Bernard, assistant and artist then courting each other, later to marry and bear sons who in turned out to be the art restores themselves. In the panel of rational medicine, the persons pictures are doctors from the university in research, notably Dr. Leake, and Dr. Saunders.

Demolition

In mid 1967, the artist received notice that the University was proceeding with plans to demolish the old medical school building and the Murals might be destroyed also. Alarmed, persons from outside and within the university made certain that a thorough investigation was launched to determine what action might save the works of art. A local San Francisco gallery gave estimates in a twenty thousand dollar plan that "might work." Specialists from other parts of the state recommended that the frescoes were not salvageable. Thus the artist received a letter saying that "Regrettably" the murals were doomed. Working through the contractor's license of friends of the artist, the artist's two sons drew up a plan for removal of the frescoes, and the university accepted a contract to actualize the project. The initial fund was four thousand dollars, with the immediate expense of scaffolding and a fee to the contractors, leaving less than three thousand dollars to remove the frescoes. Later another two thousand was added to the original sum.

Removal

The problem presented was that of plasters 1' thick and 7'x10' to be removed intact as possible from the four course brick wall on which it was directly plastered. To add to the difficulty of this seldom encountered operation, the plaster was in three layers of unknown adhesiveness on a surface of unknown property.

After several attempts at sawing the fresco from the wall, it was decided to remove the wall itself brick by brick, hardening the plaster as the bricks were removed, until the whole back was exposed. At this point the fresco was lowered. Fiberglass, a steel grid, and steel I beams were attached with plastic resins. The frescoes were then crated and moved by crane to their present location in H.S.W., where expert movers positioned them and secured them to the ceiling and floor. Space age industrial materials were used to harden and reinforce the panels. However, unavoidably during the removal certain small damages occurred, which combined with the cracks and chips already present, clearly called for repair to restore the murals to their original condition.

Restoration

The artists and his sons were asked to submit a bid for restoration of damages, a contract later being signed for the task. To fill cracks and cavities we used a premixed paste of acrylic and marble dust. A lab donated a large syringe for filling cracks with acrylic emulsion. The raised, cracked were cut away using a fine jewely saw blade, then reset in paste and re-painted. We use the original ground earth colors suspended in acrylic matte medium for retouching scars, scratches, etc. Once retouched, the murals will be covered with grass, remaining in their present location for a few years until transfer to the yet unconstructed new nursing building.

The Future

The artist Bernard Zakheim is still very active. For instance he has completed a large monument to be exhibited in Berkeley soon. He has no desire to see his connection with the university dissolve at this point. Living on his farm at Sebastopol, California, Zakheim is ready to begin a third panel of fresco on medical history, this time looking to medicine of the future in the atomic age, with growing use of cybernetics, electronics, and computers, lies fertile possibilities for expansion of the artist-scientist union, Originally a third panel was to have been painted to complete the series. The movement of composition in the existing panels points to the top center, where the third panel was to be a peak.

However, right now the Toland Hall Frescoes are still in deplorable condition, very badly damaged and constantly peeling. Perhaps the restoration of the University's artworks signals the introduction of a new area in which the new building may be decorated with murals, and another artwork unfolding the miracles and mysteries of medical science in the renaissance of high culture and science and art to bring inspiration and color to the matte grey cement of our geometric modern architecture. This of course, has been present for many years in Mexico's public buildings. Let's hope that local artists will have a chance to compete for wall space, and perhaps for Artist Zakheim to finish his third panel.