Jerusalem World Art Museum. New Canaan, 1949.
SZYK, Arthur. Jerusalem World Art Museum. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, New Canaan, 1949.” Pen and ink on paper. Image size: 3 1/4″ in diameter. Very Good condition.
Arthur Szyk designed this medallion for the Jerusalem World Art Museum in 1949. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Szyk envisioned the museum as one of the chief cultural institutions of the new nation. He often designed medallions, posters, stamps, and other materials to promote organizations and causes he supported, including the Jewish people, Israel, and the many aspects of Israel’s national life. An Associated Press article of November 25, 1949, mentions that “Funds for a Jerusalem ‘world art museum’ are being collected by a newly formed American committee. A site for it will be chosen soon.” With this medallion, Szyk made enthusiastic use of his artistic talents to advocate for the museum’s creation. In 1998, The Arthur Szyk Society, which is dedicated to the renaissance of Arthur Szyk, has adapted the Jerusalem World Art Museum medallion as its seal.
The medallion for the museum consists of a circular border enclosing a symbolic scene in the center. The top of the medallion’s border reads “Jerusalem World Art Museum,” and the bottom features the Latin epigram “Ars Longa Vita Brevis” (Art [takes a] long [time], Life [is] short). In the middle of the epigram, Szyk has created a historiated initial of the Hebrew letter “shin,” which most likely stands for the “S” in “Szyk,” along with a Star of David inside the base of the letter itself. Between the top and the bottom of the border are two more Stars of David, one on the left and one on the right.
The center of the Jerusalem World Art Museum medallion features a hooded female figure who wears a cloak tied with a brooch in the form of a shield of the United States. In her left hand she grasps a staff; in her right, a painter’s brushes and palette. A bust and a sculptor’s mallet stand at the female figure’s left knee, while at her right are pens, a scroll illustrated with a sketch of a figure, a notebook, and another book that is labeled Art on the spine. Behind the figure’s right shoulder is a panorama of skyscrapers with an airplane flying overhead, and behind her left shoulder an ocean liner cruises by: both views suggest the connections between science and technology, on the one hand, and artistic pursuits, on the other. Spread across the bottom of this scene, directly above the motto “Ars Longa Vita Brevis,” a banner states “For Unity through Art.”
This medallion for the museum echoes another of Szyk’s works, a seal that he created for the Instytut Wydawniczy Dziel Artura Szyka (Institute Publishing Works of Arthur Szyk) and that consists of a self-portrait of Szyk wearing a robe decorated with the Star of David and the eagle of Poland and holding a painter’s palette and brushes. Szyk designed another medallion featuring a self-portrait, known as the Lwow Medallion, as well as a medallion for the New Canaan Art Publishing Company, which includes another seated female figure.
Provenance: Alexandra Szyk Bracie, daughter of Arthur Szyk.
