The Volga Boatsmen. New York, 1942.

SZYK, Arthur. The Volga Boatsmen. Signed and Dated “Arthur Szyk, N.Y. 1942”. Black ink and pencil on paper. Sheet size: 5″ x 11″. Image size: 4 1/2″ x 10 1/4″. Very Good condition.

Szyk boldly visualizes the lamentable predicament of Eastern Europe in this powerful political caricature of Hitler at the helm of a huge black “land” ship. Field Marshall Fedor von Bock is shown screaming from the prow at the poor human mules propelling the craft. Bock had been promoted to his high post for his part in the victorious blitzkrieg against France and the Low Countries in 1941. This image shows that he is still lording it over the defeated/occupied nations of Finland, Roumania, Hungary, and Slovakia. The iconic skull and crossbones above the swastika on the ship’s prow evokes more than Jolly Roger-type piracy — the black wall advancing is Death — plain and simple.

Provenance: Parke Bernet Sale, New York, Mrs. Arthur Szyk, March 26, 1959. Lot 65(A).

Publishing History: The Chicago Sun, September 6, 1942, p. 15.