Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1894 Lodz, Russian Empire

Died: 1951 New Canaan, USA

Year of Migration to the UK: 1937

Other name/s: Artur Szyk

Biography

Artist, illustrator and satirist Arthur Szyk (née Artur Szyk) was born into a Polish-Jewish family to Solomon Szyk, a textile factory director, and his wife, Eugenia, in Łódź, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland) on 16 June 1894. Having showed artistic talent from a young age, in 1909 Szyk studied at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he became interested in medieval illuminated manuscripts, which influenced his subsequent practice. He moved to Kraków in 1913 to study under Teodor Axentowicz at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts. A study trip to Palestine was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War, and he was conscripted into the Russian army and fought at the Battle of Łódź in 1914. He left the army in 1915, and married Julia Likerman in 1916, with whom he had a son and daughter. Szyk and his family spent most of the interwar period (1921–33) in Paris, although he exhibited in London in 1933 for the Exhibition of Szyk miniatures in aid of the Polish Relief Fund at the Fine Art Society and the Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts and Water Colours at International Art Galleries. It was as early as 1933 that Szyk began drawing caricatures of Adolf Hitler, and after returning briefly to Poland, he moved to London in 1937 to supervise the publication of his Haggadah (1940).

Considered his magnum opus, Szyk’s Haggadah - an integral Jewish religious text which is read aloud annually during the Passover Seder meal - is an illuminated manuscript, illustrated with 48 miniature paintings, that reinterprets the story of the Israelites and their Exodus from ancient Egypt. It was completed in Poland between 1934 and 1936 and was inspired by contemporary anti-Semitic politics in Germany as a comment upon the rise of Nazism. For example, the ‘wicked son’ of the parable, The Four Sons, was depicted wearing 'German' clothes, a green Alpine hat and a Hitler-like moustache. Elsewhere, King David defeating his enemies is accompanied by an eagle, reminiscent of the Reichsadler [Imperial Eagle] symbol of Nazi Germany. ‘This and other depictions of valiant Jews in Szyk’s Haggadah stood to portray a people capable of withstanding the real oppression they faced at the time’ (Kępa, 2019). Much to Szyk’s dismay, and despite the London-based publisher, Beaconsfield Press, being the only one in Europe willing to publish it, various compromises were demanded. In particular, swastikas originally painted on figures such as the ancient Egyptians, snakes, and the ‘wicked son’ had to be removed due to pressure, it has been surmised, from British politicians who were pursuing a policy of appeasement with Germany (Ungar, 2011).

240 limited editioned copies of Szyk’s Haggadah were eventually published by Beaconsfield Press in 1940. Exclusive and expensive (one copy sold for $520), it was printed on double-leaf parchment and bound in blue leather embossed with gold. The book was dedicated to King George VI, who vocally opposed Nazism, and on a special dedication page, alongside an image of Saint George fighting the dragon, are the words: ‘At the Feet of Your Most Gracious Majesty I humbly lay these works of my hands, shewing forth the Afflictions of my People Israel. Artur Szyk, illuminator of Poland’ (Szyk, 1940). ‘The very first copy of this impressive book was presented to the monarch, who is known to have appreciated it greatly’ (Kępa, 2019). In 1939 Szyk exhibited Miniature Paintings by Arthur Szyk at London's Arlington Gallery, and the Haggadah was shown at the Brook Street Art Gallery. A year later, Szyk's work featured in War and ‘Kultur’ in Poland at the Fine Art Society, of which The Times wrote: ‘The cumulative effect of the exhibition is immensely powerful, because nothing in it appears to be a hasty judgement, but part of the unrelenting pursuit of an evil so firmly grasped that it can be dwelt upon with artistic satisfaction’ (‘Polish War Satires’, 1940). In 1940 Szyk was elected a brother of the British Art Workers Guild in London, the first Polish Jew to be admitted. He was also elected President of the newly formed Association of Jewish Polish Citizens in Great Britain.

In late 1940 he emigrated from London to the USA, where he lived and worked for the remainder of his life. In early 1944, illustrations from the Haggadah featured in Ben Uri's opening exhibition at its new Portman Street Gallery and in 1953 his drawings, Four Jewish Trades were loaned to the Coronation Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Lent by Friends of the Ben Uri Art Society. Arthur Szyk died in New Canaan, Connecticut, USA on 13 September 1951. His works in UK public collections include an original edition of the Haggadah, held by Cambridge University Library, and two drawings held by the British Museum.

Related books

Irvin Ungar ed., Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art (London: Giles, 2017)
Arthur Szyk, The Szyk Haggadah, commentated by Irvin Ungar and translated by Byron L. Sherwin (New York and London: Abrams, 2011)
Byron L. Sherwin and Irvin Ungar eds., Freedom Illuminated: Understanding the Szyk Haggadah (Burlingame: Historicana, 2008)
Joseph Ansell, Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole (Oxford and Portland: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2004)
Joseph Ansell, 'Art Against Prejudice: Arthur Szyk’s Statute of Kalisz', The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, No. 14, Autumn 1989, pp. 46-63
'Mr. Arthur Szyk', The Times, 15 September, 1951, p. 6
'Mr. Arthur Szyk', Jewish Chronicle, 21 September 1951, p. 9
'Arthur Szyk Dies', New York Times, 14 September 1951, p. 25
'A Superb Haggadah: Magnificent Production of Illuminated Text', Jewish Chronicle, 11 April 1941, p. 6
Arthur Szyk, The Haggadah (London: Beaconsfield Press, 1940)
'Polish Jewish Demands', Jewish Chronicle, 12 April 1940, p. 22
'Merciless Satire', Worthing Gazette, 26 June 1940, p. 4
'War and 'Kultur' in Poland: Eight Cartoons from Arthur Szyk's Exhibition at the Fine Art Society's Galleries', The Bystander, Vol. 145, Fasc. 1884, 24 January 1940, p. 107
'Polish War Satires', The Times, 11 January 1940, p. 9
Jan Gordon, 'Arthur Szyk', The Observer, 09 April 1939, p. 8
'Arlington Gallery', The Times, 5 April 1939, p. 12
'Polish Miniatures', The Times, 1 June 1933, p. 9
'Polish Government's Gift to Hebrew University', Jewish Chronicle, 9 June 1933, p. 32
'A Polish Illuminator', The Observer, 28 May 1933, p. 14

Public collections

Related organisations

Académie Julian (student)
Association of Jewish Polish Citizens in Great Britain (President)
British Art Workers Guild (member)
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts (student)

Selected exhibitions

Coronation Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Reception, Ben Uri Art Gallery, London (1953)
Opening, Ben Uri Art Gallery, London (1944)
Satirical Watercolours by Arthur Szyk, The Little Gallery, Worthing (1940)
War and 'Kultur' in Poland, Fine Art Society, New Bond Street, London (1940)
Arthur Szyk's Illustrated Haggadah, Brook Street Art Gallery, London (1939)
Miniature Paintings by Arthur Szyk, Arlington Gallery, London (1939)
Exhibition of Szyk miniatures in aid of the Polish Relief Fund, Fine Art Society, New Bond Street, London (1933)
Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts and Water Colours, International Art Galleries, St. Jame's Street, London (1933)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Arthur Szyk]