The Caption Will Be Written by God. New Canaan, 1949.
Defending the Sovereignty of the Newly Established State of Israel
SZYK, Arthur. The Caption Will Be Written By God. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, New Canaan, 1949.” Pen and ink and graphite on paper. Image measures 5 7/8″ x 5 1/4″. Very Good condition.
In the years before and after Israel’s declaration of independence, the United Kingdom opposed most pro-Israel measures, most egregiously by restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine and by initially refusing to recognize Israel as a legitimate state. An artist-activist with a special love for Israel, Arthur Szyk closely followed these developments and shared his opinions through scornful political caricatures published in newspapers and magazines from coast to coast. “The Caption Will Be Written By God” was one of nearly two dozen political caricatures that Szyk contributed to The Daily Compass (New York leftist paper that succeeded PM), starting with its first issue on May 16, 1949.
Two of the figures in the drawing are a fat, tattered, and belligerent John Bull (the personification of the United Kingdom) and a resolute young Israeli soldier. The men are divided from each other by a line of text reading “Israel Back in his Home”— referring to the May 14, 1948 establishment of the State of Israel immediately following the dissolution of the British Mandate for Palestine. Neither man is willing to cede ground, though for entirely different reasons.
In the lower left corner of the work sit three Arab sheikhs equipped with rifles and bandoliers full of ammunition. Each man wears looped about his neck a thin leash that leads back to John Bull, a sly visual commentary on the manipulation of the Arabs by the British and, conversely, the role and inordinate pull that Arab states had in shaping UK policy toward Israel. In contrast, the Israeli soldier is beholden not to foreign interests but to an unarmed mother and child, and to his fellow countrymen.
Presiding over the stand-off is God, resting his head on his right hand as though wearied of the situation. He listens silently to John Bull, who points to the words “Israel Back in his Home” and opens his mouth in angry complaint. A diagonal line connecting heaven and earth—labeled the “The Will of God”—intersects the ground just behind the Israeli soldier, emphasizing Szyk’s belief that the Jewish state’s continued existence is guaranteed not by diplomacy but by divine promise.
As with so many of his published caricatures, Szyk penciled the title along the lower edge of the image. He also includes an inscription in the upper left—“Vanitas, vanitatis [sic] / Et Omnia vanitas [Vanity of vanities, all is vanity—Ecclesiastes 1:2]”—that underscores the ultimate transience of all human endeavors, diplomatic posturing included. A newspaper editor circled and crossed out both the title and inscription but, as usual, kept intact Szyk’s image and message.
Note: Another work of art by the same title is in the collection of Yeshiva University Museum located at the Center for Jewish History, New York. Our drawing includes an additional sketch on the verso.
Provenance: Alexandra Szyk Bracie, daughter of Arthur Szyk.
Publishing History: The Daily Compass, July 10, 1949, p. 13
