Ben Uri collection

Painter and sculptor Max Sokol was born in Germany in 1895. Forced to flee during the Nazi era, he immigrated to Britain, where he settled in North West London – ‘Finchleystrasse’ and became a member of the Free German League of Culture (Freier Deutscher Kulturbund, FDKB), founded in 1939 at the Downshire Hill home of fellow émigré Fred Uhlman, and headed by Oskar Kokoschka. Sokol exhibited a bronze ‘Reclining Nude’ in the exhibition of 20th Century German Art, held 7-31 July 1938 at New Burlington Galleries, 5 Burlington Gardens, W1. His work was also included in the 1943 ‘Artists Aid Jewry’ exhibition held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.