Major exhibit on artist and illustrator Arthur Szyk unveiled at WW2 Museum

By ALAN SMASON, Special to the CCJN

A major exhibit of one of the most well-known Jewish political artists of the 20th century, Arthur Szyk (pronounced “shick”), opened last night, Thursday, September 1,  at the National World War II Museum, the date that coincides with the start of World War II 83 years ago.

“Madness” by Arthur Szyk (New York, 1941) Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection, The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, UC Berkeley.

Titled “In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights,” the exhibit was opened for the first time at a reception at the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion, where it will be housed on the second floor for the next eight months.

The exhibit of 450 pieces of Szyk’s artwork in addition to numerous newspapers, magazines and books in which his art appeared was curated by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California in Berkeley and was secured through a gift from Taube Philanthropie with additional funding from the Iserman Foundation and George Marcus.

Many of the works have been digitized and can be accessed in person or online through the Magnes Collection. Frances Spagnola, Ph.D., the curator for the exhibit, spoke at the reception last night about the entirety of the exhibit and on the life of Szyk.

“The German Authority in Poland” (1939). This immediately recognizable image of Death as a Nazi soldier was an oft-repeated visual phrase for Szyk.

Szyk, who was also considered an important voice for the oppressed and a tireless opponent to fascism, came to the United States as a refugee in 1940, having fled his native Poland in 1937 and then being granted temporary asylum in England. His political cartoons and caricatures exposed dictators, especially the Nazis and their plans for the systemic destruction of the Jewish people, and supported the Polish people during their period of resistance.

Many of Szyk’s well known pieces were intended as cover art for magazines like Look and Collier’s and found their way onto the editorial pages of major newspapers. Even after his arrival in the United States, he addressed issues of inequality he found in the treatment of Blacks in the South and throughout the military ranks, where segregation was enforced, Spagnola told the crowd at the museum.

“The National WWII Museum, in its mission to explore the American experience in World War II, is the perfect venue to host this traveling exhibition from The Magnes at UC Berkeley,” said Tad Taube, chairman of Taube Philanthropies. “Szyk’s anti-Nazi satires, which appeared on the covers of America’s popular press, helped motivate the U.S. to join the Allies’ war effort. Now, The National WWII Museum will generate new interest in Szyk’s art and convictions. The villains and heroes of Szyk’s day, which he depicted, speak directly to the humanitarian crises the world is experiencing today. His mission to denounce dictators and their abominable acts remains relevant to new generations.”

“Samson in the Ghetto” (1945. The Polish resistance of the Warsaw Ghetto with real life figures represented by Szyk.

Curated originally at the University of Berkeley’s Magnes Collection in January of 2020, the exhitbit was shut down by the COVID pandemic. Spagnola organized into six different sections, each of which focuses on different aspects of human rights. They are  “Human Rights and Their Collapse,” “The Rights of Global Refugees,” “The Right to Resist,”  “The Rights of Nationhood,” “The Right to Expose: Executioners at Work” and “The Right to America. ” Spagnola reiterated that Szyk’s artwork stands the test of time as a reminder of the atrocities being waged by the Nazis as fascism flourished throughout Europe, ultimately concluding with the Holocaust. Sadly, he said, what Szyk railed against is still true today and speaks to current crises and atrocities going on throughout the world. 

“We’re truly excited to welcome this important exhibit to our campus in New Orleans,” said Erin Clancey, associate vice president of Collections & Exhibits at the National World War II Museum. “Examining the work of artist, immigrant and humanitarian Arthur Szyk fits beautifully into our mission to explore the relevance of World War II to the present day.”

National World War II president and CEO Stephen Watson said this exhibit will be embraced as it will be shown just prior to the dedication of the museum’s final campus design, the Liberation Pavilion, expected to be opened in the fall of 2023.

Spagnola credited several of his UC at Berkeley interns, who helped transform the images into the digitized versions that are available online and as part of hands on high resolution images that are accessible through interactive workstations at the exhibit. Visitors to the museum will be encouraged to create their own images and republish them with available elements from Szyk’s miniatures that can be published instantly in real time.

“To Be Shot As Dangerous Enemies of the Third Reich” (1943) by Arthur Szyk.

In addition to the images taken from war, several of Szyk’s works in which he drew coats of arms for various countries including Poland, the United States and Israel and several miniature designs for postage stamps are also on display.

“In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights” will be shown in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion of the National World War II Museum from now through May 7, 2023.