Israel. Visual History of Nations series. New Canaan, 1948.

Painted in the very year of the Declaration of Statehood

SZYK, Arthur. Israel. Visual History of Nations series. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, New Canaan, 1948”. Watercolor and gouache, graphite pencil, and ink on board. Sheet size: 11″ x 7 1/2″. Image size: 7 7/8″ x 6 9/16″. Very Good condition.

Four thousand years of Jewish history come to life in Arthur Szyk’s Visual History of Israel, completed in 1948, the year of Statehood, and printed in 1949. The biblical King David (top left) and his son King Solomon (top right), who is shown holding the “Song of Songs,” flank three famous biblical personages: the warrior Hur, Moses the deliverer, and Moses’ brother and high priest Aaron.

The blue Star of David dominates the composition, with the “Crown of the Good Name” directly above and Hillel’s dictum “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” between. The clusters of grapes, symbolizing the historic bounty and productivity of the land, refer to the large grapes Joshua and Caleb brought back after a reconnaissance mission into the Land of Israel prior to Joshua’s conquest of Canaan. The phrase “The time of our freedom” also appears with the Star, referring to the deliverance of the ancient Israelites from Egypt.

Bar Kochba sits to the left of the Star. He led a temporarily successful revolt against the Romans 65 years after they had destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. His shield displays the Star of David, which symbolizes God’s security and strength. The prophet Ezekiel sits to the right. He foretold the return of the Jews to their Homeland after their 70 years of captivity in Babylon.

The two tablets containing the Ten Commandments anchor the lower section, flanked on the right by the pioneer builder (chalutz) and on the left by the soldier. The latter have been essential to the growth and security of Israel, especially since 1948. Beside the soldier are oranges, an important export. These pair with the grapes on the opposite side as a contemporary expression of Israel’s abundant produce. Two fierce Lions of Judah sit poised at both sides of the base of the Decalogue.

The Hebrew script both above and below Bar Kochba and Ezekiel proclaims: “Praise be You God, our God, King of the Universe, who had kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to commemorate this time.” This prayer for newness and celebration refers to the blessing of the creation of the new State of Israel.

Twelve yellow symbols scattered throughout the illustration’s borders depict the historic organization of Israel into twelve tribes. Although separate, together they unify the composition as the tribes of Israel unified the heart of their nation long ago.

Historical Background and Significance: Arthur Szyk completed the visual histories of nine countries of his United Nations series (Visual History of Nations series). This series of original artworks was commissioned by Canadian stamp dealer/entrepreneur Kasimir Bileski beginning in 1945. Clearly Szyk’s paintings of Poland, the land of his birth, and The United States of America, representing the land of his ideals, had special meaning for him as he unfolded their ancient and modern histories respectively. But imagine the emotion of Arthur Szyk, when painting Israel, representing the land of his people and its 4000 year-old history, and to do so in the very year of the rebirth of the nation of Israel in the Land of Israel! In Szyk’s Israel he pays righteous and proud tribute to the heroism of his people — its universal significance and importance is witnessed by the fact that it is Arthur Szyk’s most widely reproduced single work of art, and, in addition to The Haggadah, is one of the most well-known and recognizable works of the artist in the Jewish art world.

Provenance: Kasimir Bileski to George Gooche, founder of The Arthur Szyk Society.

Exhibition History: Wilshire Blvd Temple, Los Angeles, CA, May 17–October 31, 1991; Spertus Museum, Chicago, August 16, 1998–February 28, 1999; Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, 29 August 2008–4 January 2009; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor, December 4, 2010–March 27, 2011.

Publishing History: Reproduced by Kasimir Bileski in 1948 as a lithographic print to serve as a frontispiece in albums for collectors of stamps of Israel; Dimensions, the magazine of Jewish lifestyle in South Slorida, Pompano Beach, FL, Fall 1995, p. 59; Justice Illuminated: The Art of Arthur Szyk, Spertus Museum, Chicago, 1998, plate 34; Jewish Herald Voice, Houston, Texas, April 22, 1998, front cover, p. 1; The American Jewish World, Minneapolis, MN, front cover, p.1; “Israel at 50,”Washington Post, September 9, 1998; Shalom, Le Magazine Juif Europeen (The European Jewish Times), Geneva, Switzerland, Pessah (April), 1999, p. 87; Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole, Oxford, England, Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2004, plate 29; Newsletter, The Arthur Szyk Society, Burlingame, CA, Fall/Winter 2007; Artur Szyk: Artysta, Zyd, Polak, Krakow, 2007, cover; Drawing Against National Socialism and Terror, Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, 2008, pp. 276-277; J. The Jewish News Weekly, San Francisco, December 17, 2010, p. 27; Artur Szyk: Dziedzictwo polsko-zydowskiego artysty [The Legacy of Polish-Jewish Artist], Krakow, Stradomskie Centrum Dialogu, 2011, p. 113; Yiddish Forvertz, January 20-26, 2012, p. 13.