Bernard Zakheim

Bernard Baruch Zakheim was a Polishborn San Francisco muralist, best known for his work on the Coit Tower murals.

Zakheim was born to a Hasidic Jewish family in Poland. At the age of 13, he expressed his desire to become an artist and to work with his hands, rather than to continue his religious training as a rabbi. His mother objected and as a compromise Zakheim was sent to a technical training school to become a furniture designer and upholsterer. However, he did not actually give up on his artistic goal he studied watercolor art privately and then was awarded a scholarship to the Polish National Academy of Fine Art, where he studied drawing, painting, and sculpture.

Source: Wikipedia