4. Pauline Astor

Pauline H. Scharf was born in New York City into a very large Austro-German, Jewish family. Her parents, Max and Silder Scharf, immigrated to the United States—he in 1899, in advance of the family, to become a tailor and she in 1904—and the couple had at least eight children (Pauline was the first child born in the United States). In 1926, Pauline married Morris Astor, who had established himself as a stock broker, and the couple lived in Great Neck, New York where they raised two daughters, Carol and Nancy.¹ Pauline Astor was friendly with fellow Great Neck artists, Dolly Perutz and Doris Seidler, and it is probable they encouraged her to visit Atelier 17.² According to the student ledger book that Peter and Florence Grippe maintained, Astor was active for approximately a year and a half (late 1952 to May 1954), and purchased a number of plates.³ No exhibition records exist for Astor, although two prints, Contemplation (1953) and South Wind (1953), appear on a list of Atelier 17 prints in the papers of Helen Phillips, Hayter’s second wife.⁴ It is not known if Astor had artistic inclinations before or after attending Atelier 17 or if these years represent the extent of her creative activity. She passed away in 1998 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Notes