Turbaned Merchant. Lódz, 1909. Sketchbook, Leaf 5.

SZYK, Arthur. Turbaned Merchant. Signed and Dated “A. Sz(yk) 6/II-09”. Graphite, colored pencil, and chalk on paper. Sheet size: 9 5/8” x 12 7/8”. One of 10 sketchbook leaves drawn toward the end of Szyk’s education at the Trade School of the Merchants’ Association in Lódz. Good condition.

This colorful pastel depiction of a man in oriental garb hints at leisure and even decadence. Despite the subject’s mustache and beard, his expansive turban (topped with a red bow), robe trimmed with gold, and wrap-around tunic lend him a slightly effete aspect. In contrast to the profile portraits elsewhere in this sketchbook, Szyk draws the individual here in a frontal view. The man looks steadily and straight ahead, so that the viewer senses an impassiveness or lack or concern with anything outside the subject’s immediate attention. The actual or idealized model for this portrait by Szyk is unknown. Through careful observation of details of dress and countenance, Arthur Szyk endows this individual with an air of the exotic.

Provenance: Gershon W. Hepner, M.D., Los Angeles, CA, April 20, 1983: “Bought from Mrs. Reicher. Frankfort-am-Main. Arthur Szyk used to stay in Mrs. Reicher’s house in Lodz aged 10. (4th grade).”