Casimir Pulaski. Polish-American Fraternity series. London, 1938.
Szyk’s Brilliant Watercolor Portrait of Famed American Revolutionary War Hero and “The Father of the American Calvary”
SZYK, Arthur. Casimir Pulaski. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk London 1938”. Watercolor and gouache on paper. Sheet size: 10 3/8″ x 8 1/4″. Image size: 7 3/4″ x 6 1/4″. Very Good condition.
Casimir Pulaski is one of 23 illuminations completed by Szyk as part of his series of miniature gouache paintings entitled “Pictures from the Glorious Days of the Polish-American Fraternity.” These works were later published as a series of 20 postcards in Krakow, 1939, and were sold at the World’s Fair in New York the same year.
Count Casimir Pulaski (1748–1779), born into an aristocratic military family, distinguished himself early on as a brilliant soldier, becoming ultimately the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish patriot forces. After being driven into exile in 1772, he traveled to America and joined Washington’s army in 1777. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine and was made a Brigadier-General and Chief of Calvary by Congress. After fighting in Germantown and successfully defending Charleston, he was mortally wounded in Savannah on October 9, 1779 and died aboard ship two days later. General Lafayette laid the corner-stone for his monument in Savannah in 1824.
Szyk’s evocation presents Pulaski in full military regalia in a three-quarter pose. Behind his left shoulder is a small scene of cavalry soldiers, while to his right is a verse by William K. Palmer, “Columbia he died for thee– cheerfully and for Liberty– honored for evermore–on this Atlantic shore– palms for Pulaski, palms.”
The oldest sources of historical information mention the presence of Poles in America from the very beginning of European exploration. Unlike colonists from any other nation, they were granted equal rights with English pioneers by a document issued on the 31st of July 1619 as a reward for their exceptional industriousness. Szyk has painted the arms of the Polish eagle into the border of this painting along with the Stars and Stripes.
Exhibition History: Polish Pavilion, World’s Fair, New York, 1939. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Palace of the Legion of Honor, December 4, 2010–March 27, 2011.
Publishing History: Reproduced as postcards for the New York World’s Fair, 1939 as part of the Polish-American Fraternity Series. Ansell, Joseph. Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole, p. 112; Dziedzictwo polsko-zydowskiego artysty [The Legacy of Polish-Jewish Artist], Krakow, Stradomskie Centrum Dialogu, 2011, p. 83.
