Portrait of theater actor Solomon Mikhoels, by Rachel Kogan. Pencil on paper. Signed. Undated. The portrait depicts actor Solomon Mikhoels in the lead role of King Lear, performed by the State Jewish Theater (ГОСЕТ) in Moscow in 1935.

Plate: 36X48 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Slight creases at margins.

Actor, Solomon Mikhoels (Соломо́н Миха́йлович Михо́элс; stage name of Solomon Vovsi, 1890-1948), born in Dvinsk, was the director of the State Jewish Theater (ГОСЕТ) in Moscow and head of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. In 1935, he played the role of Shakespeare's King Lear. This performance is considered one of the most important and impressive in Mikhoels' career. In 1948, with the beginning of persecutions against Jewish cultural figures and the dissolution of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, Mikhoels was murdered by the Soviet secret police. The murder was staged to appear as a traffic accident.

Rachel Kogan (Рахиль Бельяминовна Коган; 1912-1998), was a Jewish artist, graphic designer, and educator born in Odessa. She graduated from the Odessa Art Institute and the Academy of Arts in Leningrad. In 1938, she was accepted into the Artists' Union of the USSR. After World War II, she was appointed professor of painting and drawing at the Leningrad Higher School of Art and Industry. Over the years, her works were exhibited in various exhibitions throughout the Soviet Union. In 1973, she immigrated to Israel and engaged in education. Her works were exhibited in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.