Wielki Przemyskl [Big Industry]. Lodz, 1920.

SZYK, Arthur. Wielki Przemysl. [Big Industry]. Signed “AS”. (Lodz, 1920). Pen and ink on paper. Sheet size: 2 7/8″ x 4 1/4″. Image size: 2 3/4″ x 3 7/8″. Very Good condition.

This original drawing shows Arthur Szyk’s great skill as a politically incisive cartoonist. Here Szyk lampoons the power of large industries within Poland. A businessman wearing a suit and bow tie is labeled “Wielki Przemysl [Big Industry].” With his right hand, on which he sports a sparkling diamond ring, the businessman leans on a big box labeled on two sides with “M K. P. KREDYTY DLA WIELKIEGO PRZEMYSLU [M K. P. Credits for Great Industry].” And with his left hand, he holds out a sack marked “1000 Podatki [1000 Taxes]” to a man wearing a messenger’s clothing and holding a sheet of paper that says “URZAD SKARP [?] [Office of ?]” In the background between the two men, Szyk has drawn factories and smokestacks, complete with pollution streaming out of several of them. This expertly sardonic dissection of events in Poland during Szyk’s years as a young man is convincing early evidence of this artist’s considerable talent.