Man in Dress. Paris, 1923.

SZYK, Arthur. Man in Dress [Design for Le Livre D’Esther (The Book of Esther), Paris: L’Edition d’Art H. Piazza, 1925] (Paris, 1923). Watercolor and gouache on paper. Laid-in Le Livre D’ Esther, sheet size: 9″ x 6 3/8″. Image size: 4 1/2″ x 1 3/4″. Very Good condition.

In an attempt to render his subjects with elements of historical accuracy, Szyk always looked for precedents when depicting subjects from history. In preparation for illustrating The Book of Esther, a biblical narrative, Szyk studied the designs and figures depicted on Assyrian monuments that he saw at the Louvre in Paris. Unfortunately, in this case Szyk’s sources prove several hundred years too early and hundreds of miles distant from Esther’s setting. It is unlikely that Szyk’s audience would have been bothered by this discrepancy, however, the richness of detail providing convincing evidence for its accuracy of representation. The illustrations for The Book of Esther represent one of Szyk’s first instances of incorporating commentary on currents events into a subject based in history or literature. The story, in which Queen Esther saves fellow Jews from persecution by a government official, can also be interpreted as an allegory for the state of religious freedom in Poland in the 1920s.

Description Source: Case Label for Szyk exhibition at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (see below), curator Karin Breuer.

Exhibition History: Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor, December 4, 2010–March 27, 2011.