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Arthur Szyk
Switzerland Swiss Folk Art Print Artist Arthur Szyk Judaica Cartoonist
1947

Name: Switzerland Swiss Folk Art Print Artist Arthur Szyk Judaica Cartoonist
Brand: Arthur Szyk
Rating: 4.9 (107 reviews)

Price:$350

About the Item

ARTHUR SZYK 1894-1951 Lodz, Poland 1894 - 1951 New Canaan, Connecticut (Polish/American) signed by artist l.r. Arthur Szyk is renowned for The Szyk Haggadah which was described by the London Times as "a book worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the hand of man has produced." ARTHUR SZYK 1894-1951 Lodz, Poland 1894 - 1951 New Canaan, Connecticut (Polish/American) signed in plate by artist l.r. Arthur Szyk is renowned for The Szyk Haggadah which was described by the London Times as "a book worthy to be placed among the most beautiful of books that the hand of man has produced." Arthur Szyk (Polish: 1894 – 1951) was a Polish-Jewish artist who worked primarily as a book illustrator and political artist throughout his career. From 1921, he lived and created his works mainly in France and Poland, and in 1937 he moved to the United Kingdom. In 1940, he settled permanently in the United States, where he was granted American citizenship in 1948. Arthur Szyk became a renowned artist and book illustrator as early as the interwar period. His works were exhibited and published not only in Poland, but also in France, the United Kingdom, Israel and the United States. However, he gained broad popularity in the United States primarily through his political caricatures, in which, after the outbreak of World War II, he savaged the policies and personalities of the leaders of the Axis powers. After the war, he also devoted himself to political issues, especially the support of the creation of the state of Israel. Szyk's work is characterized in its material content by social and political commitment, and in its formal aspect by its rejection of modernism and embrace of the traditions of medieval and renaissance painting, especially illuminated manuscripts from those periods. Unlike most caricaturists, Szyk always showed great attention to the colouristic effects and details in his works. Today, Szyk is an increasingly well-known and often exhibited artist only in his last home country, the United States. However, exhibitions in Poland and Germany are familiarizing Europe with one of the most prolific artists of World War II. Even though his family was culturally assimilated and did not practice Orthodox Judaism, Arthur also liked drawing biblical scenes from the Hebrew Bible. These interests and talents prompted his father, upon the advice of Szyk's teachers, to send Szyk to Paris to study at Académie Julian, a studio school popular among French and foreign students. When studying in Paris, Szyk remained closely involved with the social and civic life of Łódź. During the years 1912–1914 the teenage artist produced numerous drawings and caricatures on contemporary political themes that were published in the Lodz satirical magazine Śmiech ("Laughter"). After four years in France, Szyk returned to Poland in 1913 and continued his studies in Teodor Axentowicz's class at Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, which was under Austrian rule at that time. In 1921 Arthur Szyk and his family moved to Paris where they stayed until 1933. The relocation to Paris is marked by a breakthrough in the formal aspect of Szyk's works. While Szyk's prior book illustrations were drawings in pen and ink (Szyk had illustrated six books before 1925, including three published in the Yiddish language). In recognition for his work, Arthur Szyk was decorated with the Gold Cross of Merit by the Polish government. The last major exhibition of Szyk's works before the outbreak of World War II was the presentation of his paintings at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which opened in April 1939 in New York. During the war years Szyk drew more and more caricatures directed at the Axis powers and their leaders, and his popularity steadily grew. In 1940, the American publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons offered to publish a collection of his drawings. Szyk agreed, and the result was the 1941 book The New Order, available months before the United States joined the war. Thomas Craven declared on the dust jacket of The New Order that Szyk: His caricatures of the leaders of the Axis powers (Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito) and other drawings appeared practically everywhere: in newspapers, magazines (including Time (cover caricature of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in December 1941), Esquire, and Collier's), on posters, postcards and stamps, in secular, religious and military publications, on public and military buildings. He also produced advertisements for Coca-Cola and U.S. Steel, and exhibited in the galleries of M. Knoedler Co., Andre Seligmann, Inc., Messrs. Wildenstein Co., the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Brooklyn Museum, the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, and the White House. More than 25 exhibitions were staged altogether in the United States during the war years. At the end of the war, in 1945, his drawing Two Down and One to Go was used in a propaganda film calling American soldiers to the final assault on Japan. According to the Esquire magazine, the posters with Szyk's drawings enjoyed even bigger popularity with American soldiers than pin-up girls put on the walls of American military bases. In 1945, Arthur Szyk and his family moved from New York City to New Canaan, Connecticut where he lived till the end of his life. The end of the war released him from the duty to fight Nazism through his caricatures; a large collection of drawings from the war period was published by the Heritage Press in 1946 in book form as Ink and Blood: A Book of Drawings. The artist returned to book illustrations, working for example on The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and, most notably, books telling Bible stories, such as Pathways through the Bible by Mortimer J. Cohen (1946), The Book of Job (1946), The Book of Ruth (1947), The Ten Commandments (1947), The Story of Joseph and his Brothers (1949). Some of the books illustrated by Szyk were also published posthumously, including The Arabian Nights Entertainments (1954) and The Book of Esther (1974). He was also commissioned by Canadian entrepreneur and stamp connoisseur, Kasimir Bileski, to create illustrations for the Visual History of Nations (or United Nations) series of stamps; though the project never came to fruition, Szyk did design stamp album frontispieces for more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Poland, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Szyk's recent solo exhibitions include: "Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art", New-York Historical Society, New York City (September 15, 2017 - January 21, 2018)[50] "Arthur Szyk and the Art of the Haggadah", Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco (February 13 to June 29, 2014) "Arthur Szyk: Miniature Paintings and Modern Illuminations", California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco (December 10, 2010 to March 27, 2011) "A One-Man Army: The Art of Arthur Szyk", Holocaust Museum Houston (October 20, 2008 – February 8, 2009) "Arthur Szyk – Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror",[51] Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM), Berlin, Germany (August 29, 2008 – January 4, 2009) "The Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. (April 10 – October 14, 2002) "Arthur Szyk: Artist for Freedom", Library of Congress (December 9, 1999 – May 6, 2000) "Justice Illuminated: The Art of Arthur Szyk", Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, Chicago (August 16, 1998 – February 28, 1999) —later traveled throughout Poland: Warsaw, Jewish Historical Institute; Łódź, Museum of the City of Łódź; and Kraków, Center for Jewish Culture.

Creator:
Arthur Szyk (1894 - 1951, American, Polish)
Creation Year:
1947
Dimensions:
Height: 11.5 in (29.21 cm)Width: 10 in (25.4 cm)
Movement Style:
Folk Art
Period:
Early 20th Century
Condition:
minor toning around edges. Please see pictures.
Gallery Location:
Surfside, FL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU3826681822

Archival Paper, Lithograph

Philippe Dereux
Large 1960s French Art Brut Lithograph Bold Black White Op Art Philippe Dereux, 1967

$850

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