Goeringo Il Magnifico. New York, 1941.

SZYK, Arthur. Goering il Magnifico. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, N.Y. 1941”. Watercolor and gouache and pen and ink on (Strathmore) paper. Sheet size: 10″ x 7″. Very Good condition.

Hermann Göring, the Third Reich’s Air Force Minister, is presented here in all his glorious splendor, clutching his customized Reichsmarshall baton in one hand and wringing the tender neck of the Dove of Peace in the other.

Szyk’s intricate, brightly colored rendering of this hated Nazi enemy is less about capturing the depth of his military stature as it is in revealing the utter pomposity of individual. One can barely see the fabric of his jacket for the excessive military heraldry attached: swastikas, iron crosses, skulls and bones, jewels, fringe and fabulous golden frippery. Göring exalted in aristocratic trappings such as coats of arms and ceremonial swords and daggers. In private life his delight in fancy costumes of all kinds was observed by those who had seen him dressed in medieval hunting wear and Roman togas.

A 1925 psychiatrist’s report claimed Göring to be “weak of character, a hysteric and unstable personality, sentimental yet callous, violent when afraid and a person who deployed bravado to hide a basic lack of moral courage.” Il Magnifico indeed!

Hermann Göring (1893–1946) was born to an influential German family. A veteran of the First World War where he served as an ace fighter pilot. He was made Marshall of the Greater German Reich in 1940, the military’s highest rank and was supreme commander of the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force. Hitler’s admiration was enough to have secretly designated Göring as his successor in the event of the Führer’s death but Göring’s political influence began to ebb with the failure of the “Battle of Britain” in 1940/41and was further diminished with in 1942 with the German Air Force’s unsuccessful attempt to assist besieged German troops at Stalingrad. Göring was captured by American troops in May, 1945 and sentenced to death in Nuremberg. He committed suicide by cyanide just hours before his scheduled execution in October 1946.

Provenance: Parke Bernet Sale, New York, Mrs. Arthur Szyk, November 24, 1961. Lot 56.

Publishing HIstory: PM newspaper, New York, March 6, 1941 (illustration is titled: “German: First Class”); Newsweek magazine, New York, June 9, 1941.