Two Lionel S. Reiss (Polish-American, 1894-1988) Works

Lionel S. Reiss (American, 1894-1988)
Lionel S. Reiss was a Polish American painter, illustrator, and art director best known for his portraits of Jewish life and culture. Born in Jaroslaw, Poland, he immigrated to New York’s Lower East Side in 1898, where he studied commercial art and later became Art Director at Paramount Studios, credited with creating the MGM lion logo. In the 1920s and '30s, Reiss traveled through Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East documenting Jewish communities, resulting in major exhibitions and publications, including “My Models Were Jews” (1938). His work captured both the richness and diversity of Jewish identity and the impact of its destruction during the Holocaust. Reiss’s legacy lives on in major institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.