>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
[ Pause ]   >> Good afternoon everyone.
I'm Peggy Pearlstein head of the Hebraic section here in the African
and Middle Eastern division of the Library of Congress.
Welcome to today's program, a talk by Irvin Ungar on Arthur Szyk
and his Passover Haggadah, a Library of Congress treasure.
Co-sponsored by the rare book and special collections division
and the prints and photographs division, a noted authority
on the Szyk legacy, Irvin Ungar received rabbinic ordination
from The Academy for Jewish Religion, a masters degree
in education from New York University and a masters degree
in sacred theology from New York Theological Seminary.
A former pulpit rabbi he founded Historicana an antiquarian bookstore
in Burlingame, California that specializes in Szyk's work, in 1987.
He's also the curator of the Arthur Szyk Society
and a frequent lecturer on Szyk and his work.
At the conclusion of the program, you are invited
to our conference room in the back here to see the 1940 first edition
of the Szyk Haggadah, and the 1957 edition from the rare book
and special collections edition, the 2008 deluxe facsimile edition
and commentary held by the Hebraic section which was a gift
of Madison Council members Elle Dennis [assumed spelling]
and Susan R. Shapiro [assumed spelling], and the Declaration
of Independence illuminated by Szyk and held by the prints
and photographs division.
It will be a real feast when this talk is over.
Both hard copy and paperback editions
of this newest facsimile edition of the Szyk Haggadah will be available
for sale after the talk in the back of the room.
I want to call your attention to a program
that will be here next Wednesday, April 13th at noon.
Dr. Edward Goldberg, former director
of the Medici Archive Project will speak about his new book,
Jews and Magic in Medici, Florence, and you can pick up fliers
in the front at the information desk.
This event is being videotaped for subsequent broadcast
on the library's website and other media.
The audience is encouraged to offer comments
and raise questions during the formal question and answer period,
but please be advised that your voice and image may be recorded
and later broadcast as part of this event.
By participating in the question and answer period, you are consenting
to the library's possible reproduction
and transition of your remarks.   And now, Irvin Ungar.
[ Applause ]   >> Thank you p- thank you Peggy.
It's indeed an honor to be here at the Library of Congress.
Let me say at the outset Peggy
in your initial comments you actually indicated
that after I speak it'll be a feast to see.
I hope it'll be a feast also in the first part
There's a story of, and I'm not quite sure how many
of you have heard of Arthur Szyk before you came to this presentation
but I'm reminded of a story about a little girl who,
about 6 years old was in a classroom and she was once drawing
and the teacher went over to her
and asked her what are you what are you drawing there
and she says I'm drawing a picture of God.
And the teacher said you know, no one knows what God looks like.
And the little girl said to the teacher well,
when I finish this drawing,
everybody is gonna know what God looks like.
Well, everyone here may not know who Arthur Szyk is,
but hopefully by the time I finish this presentation everybody here
will have a, a good picture of exactly what Szyk looks like.
First let me give you a very, very, very brief chronology of his life
so we can put his Passover Haggadah into context.
Arthur Szyk was born in Lodz, Poland in Woodge, little west of Warsaw
in 1894 and for many of you who know the artist Norman Rockwell,
he was born in the same year 1894 as an illustrator
and of course many people know Arthur Szyk is an illustrator.
He was born there and when he was a 6 year old it was said
that he was already creating drawings
of the Boxer Rebellion in China.
Picture this, a Jewish boy in the middle
of Poland doing sketches of the Boxer Rebellion.
As a teenager, his parents sent him off as a 15 year old to Paris
where he studied in the Academie Julian.
He was there about two years, the same year as the artist Diego Rivera
for those of you who are familiar with, with his art.
Actually though, Szyk was not really in class
for that two year period, full two year period.
Records recently indicated that he went to about 12 classes
as a teenager within two years.
So all the talent that he amassed was not really in the classroom
or under great and well-known teachers.
He went back to Poland and in 1914 visited Palestine for his first
and only visit, was there for about 6 months.
World War I broke out, he was conscripted into the Russian Army.
He fled, that's how he survived.
After the war, Poland was at war with the Bolsheviks.
Arthur Szyk became the director of art propaganda for Poland
in its war against the Bolsheviks.
That war ended and Arthur settled in Paris.
He had numerous one man art exhibitions there.
I suspect there wasn't anyone who was, who was to be,
who was well-known at the time whom Szyk did not know
or who did not know Szyk.
He illustrated many books in Paris in the 20's.
1930's he continued to live in Paris and in Poland.
In 1937 he moved to London, was there for three years.
In 1940, came to America where he actually went
on to become the leading anti-Nazi artist
in America during World War II.   More about that later.
The war ends in 1945, he turns his attention to three matters.
He returns back to that of book illustration
and there he illustrates books such as Andersen's Fairy Tales,
Arabian Nights Entertainments, Canterbury Tales, Biblical books
of Job and Ruth and others.
He turns attention to other matters and that is he begins
to create his greatest Americana.
One of those works is the Declaration of Independence
of the United States, which is, for those who remain
after my presentation you're going to have a rare opportunity
to see the original art which is in the room behind me.
He also illustrated the Bill of Rights
and Four Freedoms Prayer among other works.
And the third matter is he turned his attention to the,
the creation of the state of Israel and produced probably more art
than any other Jewish artist to help bring about the Jewish state.
In the late 1940's Arthur Szyk was investigated by the House
in un-American activities after he had devoted his whole life
to freedom and the creation of of works on behalf of humanity.
He died of a heart attack at age 57 in 1951.
That is an overview in chronology.
I know that so much of this needs amplification and going
into so you'll have to come back another time when hopefully,
maybe I'll be invited back to the Library of Congress someday
to deliver a, an overview of Arthur Szyk's art,
but even if I'm not I'm singularly privileged to be here today.
so now, in 1930, before I even begin to to delve into the Haggadah,
a word about the Passover Haggadah.
The Hebrew word "Haggadah" means "the telling".
It is the book that Jews use at the holiday of Passover,
always in the springtime and comes in a few weeks.
When Jews sit down to tell the story of the ancient Israelites
and their enslavement in Egypt and their exodus led by Moses
out of ancient Egypt, that is the narrative that Jews tell every year,
again and again and again.
And the book that is used is the Passover Haggadah,
the book of the telling of that narrative.
It's been illustrated and written about and published in more
than 5,000 different editions over the centuries.
In 1933, in the very year that Hitler came to power,
a Jew from Poland was invited to come to the United States.
Arthur Szyk was invited to come for an exhibition of his art dealing
with freedom that was going to be held here
at the Library of Congress.
And in 1933 of December, he and his wife arrived.
They were photographed, they were documented.
They came here for an exhibition of his art.
This is after Arthur Szyk had already completed numerous works
dealing with freedom.
One of those works, the Statute of Kalisz was worked on by him
in in Paris in the late 20's,
was published in Vienna in 1932 as a portfolio.
Statutes were the laws of the Polish town of Kalisz
that in the 13th century under Boleslaw the Pious,
Jews were granted civil and religious,
civil and religious privileges by, by Poland.
Szyk completed this work and he traveled to 13 Polish cities
with the original art in the early 1930's with the hope that Poland
at that time, and the other nations in Europe would grant the same civil
and religious privileges to the minorities and the Jews particular
of Europe at that time hoping to, to realize that countries i- i-
could benefit if they empowered their minorities.
Szyk completed these works and then they were published.
Also, in the last 1920's and around 1930,
Arthur Szyk completed another series of works entitled George Washington
and the American Revolution.
These 38 paintings featuring all the major battle scenes, Lexington,
Concord, Valley Forge, portraits of Franklin
and Kashusko [assumed spelling] and Pulaski and and those
who contributed to the well-being and the the independence of America,
he completed this whole series
of works even before he had come to America.
The- these works were were purchased by the President of Poland and given
to Franklin Roosevelt as a gift and all 38 paintings actually hung
in the Roosevelt White House until 1941.
At the time that, in January of 1941
when Roosevelt gave his Four Freedoms speech,
freedom from fear, freedom from want.
. . The 38 paintings of Arthur Szyk hung in the White House.
In 1934, late '33 and '34 Arthur Szyk arrives in America.
Here's a, a newspaper clipping showing him and his wife Julia.
Let me back up for a second.
Szyk was invited here not only for the exhibitions of his works
at the Library of Congress dealing with freedom,
but also because the United States government wanted to present him
with a George Washington bicentennial medal,
and he was presented with that award.
It was the third of three medals.
It was the third country to actually decorate him.
Poland had given him the Gold Cross of Merit for his works dealing
with freedom and the French government sent Arthur Szyk
to Morocco to paint a portrait of the Pacha of Marrakesh
to create closer relations between France and Morocco,
and when he returned to France, they presented him
with a Pom Academique [assumed spelling].
So Szyk comes to America now and is being recognized in 1934
by the third government to acknowledge his talents
and his art on, in the service of humanity.
In 1934, in late 1934 Arthur Szyk returns to Lodz, Poland to his place
of birth where his mother and brother are still living.
He returns there with his wife.
His daughter and son had been left behind being taken care
of by the nanny so they were still in Poland but Szyk
and his wife returned from America back to Poland.
It is then that he sets out to illustrate his Passover Haggadah.
Now this Haggadah is going to be different than any other
that has ever been illustrated or which has a, a commentary
and that is because with Hitler in power now for over a year
and a half, Szyk begins to see Hitler as the new pharaoh
and the Nazis as the new Egyptians who had come
to annihilate the Jewish people.
So in his Haggadah, he's going to paint swastikas on all
of the Egyptians and on the backs of snakes.
But no one in Europe when Szyk finishes all 48 paintings,
this size, watercolor and gouache paintings.
When he finishes all of them, no one will publish the books.
No one in Austria even though he had a great work printed there
in Vienna in 1932.
Nobody in Germany is going to publish it even though his Statutes
of Kalisz dealing with freedom were published in Munich in 1932.
No one in Czechoslovakia is going to touch it.
And so in 1937 he goes off to England where a company is founded
to publish that Haggadah.
But still then he has to paint over the swastikas
for no one is comfortable with them.
How do we know that there was swastikas there if they were painted
over and when the book was first published we don't see
the swastikas?
It turns out that a number of years ago I was actually in Tel Aviv,
I visited an elderly man who told me that when he was a young child of 7
or 8 years old living in the Polish town of Lvov over here which is
about 200 miles or so from Lodz where Szyk was born,
Szyk traveled to Lvov to meet Mr. Horowitz who was the chairman
of a co-op of helping to support Arthur Szyk in the reproduction
of his works and Arthur Szyk brought
with him all 48 paintings to Mr. Horowitz's house.
The young boy came down the steps,
saw on the dining room table all the original paintings of the Haggadah
and saw the swastikas there.
Fast forward numerous decades, I meet him in Tel Aviv
and tells me this narrative and when in 2002 there was an exhibition
of Arthur Szyk's art at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
called the Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk,
they looked at these images under special lighting
and under the layers of paint, the swastikas were found.
You see on the chest of the Egyptian here, as small as it is,
under that layer of paint were the swastikas.
And here, another image from Szyk's Haggadah for one of the emphasis
of his Haggadah is of course drawing that comparison
to the ancient Egyptians, is here you see the image
of Judith, very beautiful.
Actually it's said that this is a portrait of Szyk's wife.
It was said she was very beautiful.
Here is Judith who has the decapitated head
of Holofernes here whom she's cut off
with Holofernes own sword which is right here.
And at the very end of the sword right here which ends on the,
which sort of overlaps the tail
of the lion there was once a swastika but again painted over.
But in a pamphlet that I found in 1944,
Szyk had actually painted the swastika back
on when it was here in the United States.
So you can see these elements appeared throughout the Haggadah.
And also, with regard to the four sons, the Haggadah has four sons,
the wick- the wise son, the wicked son, the one who doesn't know how
to ask a question, and the very simple son, all of them here.
It's to the wicked son I want
to draw your attention representing really four different types
of people.
Here, in most illustrated Passover Haggadote,
the wicked son is often seen as a warrior,
'cause the warriors were the wicked ones who wanted to, to kill,
to annihilate the Jews throughout the centuries.
Szyk does not paint that warrior here as the wicked son, rather,
he paints a very Germanesque figure here with riding boots, a crop,
a feathered hat, and a very Hitler-like mustache on him.
This is painted by him in Poland in 1934.
Again Hitler's been in power now for a little over a year and a half.
It is said that when this was first painted,
actually Szyk had painted a swastikas and armband
on the wicked son but this whole quadrant here had been cut out
and this is what you see here as the new painting here.
Again, this was placed there in the late 1930's
but initially there was armband here of a, of a swastika on him.
You know I, I don't believe Szyk would have painted this
in the late 1930's with a Jew wearing a swastika,
but why would he have done it in 1934 and it's said
that there were some Jews in Germany at the time who identified early,
very early with the National Socialist party and the Nazi party
in terms of the economic reforms that they were promising.
Szyk would have seen them as the wicked sons and painted them here.
Another component of his Haggadah which makes it different
than other is in considering a time
in which he painted these images was that of heroism.
That was really important to Szyk.   Not the idea of, of Jews as victims.
And so toward the end of my explication of this I'll I'll,
we'll we'll dwell on that.
This is all within the context of the of the prayer which is referred
to as [foreign language].   This is the bread of affliction.
By the way the bread of affliction is that flat cracker bread,
the the matza which Jews eat.
That's the bread of affliction, it didn't have time
to rise when they left Egypt.
Conversely, it's also known as the bread of liberation as well,
so it has both si- means both things.
This is the the first Hebrew letter here it very
like illuminated the manuscript, it has an initialized letter,
this letter Hey that comes down like this and also goes like this.
And within that letter here,
Szyk has painted Abraham entertaining the three strangers.
There's a legend that says that when these angels dressed
up as strangers came to visit Abraham
and he offered him hospitality in the book of Genesis,
they actually came on the eve of Passover,
so Abraham was serving them of course, this matza,
this bread of affliction.   That's what Jews would've eaten.
But this takes place hundreds
of years before the exodus, exodus narrative.
But that's a legend that's associated with Abraham's kindness.
At the same time, Szyk has painted here an Israelite warrior.
Constantly seen throughout the Haggadah,
the Israelite warrior who's striking here the, the leper.
But down, look below.
You see these men here who are in chains here.
These are the workers of the Egyptians who've been enslaved
in Egypt, but on the other side here,
Szyk has painted workers here not wearing any chains
but carrying a shovel, going off to the land of Israel
to be [inaudible] pioneers in the land.
And in the bottom right here
on his arm actually Szyk has actually painted a tattoo,
quite forbidden in Jewish tradition, but the idea is
that this is a tattoo not in response to the tattoos
which were put in inmates in concentration camps
because that hadn't taken place yet, but this tattoo is actually a star
of David because Szyk is giving this very macho quality to Jews
who he wants to be strong and vigorous who will go off
to the land of Israel to settle it.   So you ge- begin to see
in this Haggadah also the Zionist motifs that he's planted there.
Again that's very important if you're in Poland
and it's 1935 as Szyk sees it.
And 1935 being the very year of the, of Germany's passage
of the Nuremberg laws which had restricted Jews
in all areas of life.
Another element of heroism is is that many of you may know
that Moses' name does not appear in the Passover Haggadah.
What you say?
He's the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt.
If you watched Cecil B. Demille's Ten Commandments
or you've read your narratives you know that Moses was involved.
But for the rabbis who, who compiled
and edited the traditional Passover text,
it was God who redeemed the Israelites, God who took them out,
who brought them out of the of the land of of Egypt, of bondage,
that the rabbis had not wanted an emphasis
on human beings in in redemption.
But for Arthur Szyk who was an activist artist,
he believed that people had to be involved in the affairs of man,
that it needed people to stand up to injustice and tyranny.
So Szyk places this Moses back within the Haggadah
but when he places him back it's really not as a religious figure,
it's more as a military figure.
After all, look at this 80 year old, 80 year old man here,
he has the body, he has he looks like a bodybuilder in a way,
very muscular and you see his arms are raised.
They're being held up by Aaron his brother and by Hur the warrior.
It is said the narrative, the biblical narrative in Exodus says
that every time Moses' arms were raised,
the Israelites were victorious in battle, but when his arms fell
to the side, they would lose.
And so Szyk knows this narrative and he hopes
that that again Jews will be heroic in this time and uses Moses
as that kind of figure to look toward.
Or the idea, when you think of the Exodus narrative, who is it who's
in the chariots chasing the Israelites?
Well you you, it's the it's the Egyptians.
But for Arthur Szyk and his Passover Haggadah
in the chariot happened to be two Jews.
Here is the star of David, here is the blue and white banner
which later became part of the flag of the state of Israel.
But again, being painted by Szyk in 1935 with a dove of peace
over King David in the chariot while the fallen enemy
of Israel is below the horses here, while the eagle of either Rome
or of Nazi Germany hovers over the enemy of Israel
as Szyk has painted this in 1935.
He supervises the printing of the Haggadah
in London from 1937 to 1940.
It's published by the Beaconsfield Press, a group of Jews from Lvov
who helped finance the printing of this Haggadah.
250 copies only are printed.   It's not printed on paper,
it's actually printed on vellum, on parchment.
For those of you who've been into a synagogue and they open the ark
and they take out the scroll that's read, the Sefer Torah
or the Torah scroll that has the five books of Moses in it,
that is actually handwritten on parchment, on the skin of an animal.
These parchment scroll, pa- pages or leaves were brought into London
and Szyk supervised its printing in color on vellum in 1940.
One of those copies, a very, 250 copies is here at the Library
of Congress and you will have an opportunity to see it later.
It was, it was a breakthrough in publ- in printing in color
on parchment in 1940 and The Times of London said about this
that it was a book that was worthy
of being considered among the most beautiful
of books ever produced by the hand of man.
And in 1940, it was the most expensive new book
in the entire world.
Each copy of that book sold for $500 in 1940.
I I I suspect that there are many of you who've seen The King's Speech.
Can you raise your hand please if you did?
Okay, or the Academy Awards in which it became the best picture.
In 1936, Arthur Szyk dedicated, through his art,
he worked on the original paintings from 1934 to 1936 in Poland,
George became king in December of 1936.
Szyk finished his Haggadah and dedicated his Haggadah to George VI.
It may be difficult for y-, this is the dedication page
and it may be a little difficult for you to see but there is a G there,
a roman numeral six underneath it.
Szyk has signed his name here on the bottom, Lodz,
where he completed the art and which was his, home of his birth.
In 1936 it's dated here in the bottom right hand corner.
Why did Szyk dedicate the Haggadah to King George?
Two reasons, A, he was going off to London.
Makes sense, dedicate it to the king of England if you're going off
to London to have your book published.
Second of all, in 1936 Arthur Szyk saw England
at the forefront of fighting Nazism.
After all remember, America's not in the war for five more years
so Szyk dedicates his Haggadah because England is going to be
at the forefront hopefully of of rescuing his people
and of standing up to the the Nazis.
And so he dedicates this page, in English,
again an illuminated manuscript, an illuminated manuscript meant
for reproduction, quite unlike the illuminated manuscripts of the past
which were meant to be kept within the family or passed
on within their family, Szyk created an illuminated manuscript
for the purpose of reproduction.
So he hoped that everyone would see this dedication which,
in his words says, "At the feet of your most gracious majesty,
I humbly lay these works of my hands shoeing", the British word
for showing, "forth the afflictions of my people, Israel."
And he completes this in 1936 but there is a problem
with this dedication page.   What is the problem?
The problem is that in 1936 the British had begun
to pass what were called a series of white papers.
What were the white papers?
These were law law, rules and laws that restricted the flow
in immigration and the exodus of the Jews out of Europe.
The most famous white paper is the 1939 MacDonald white paper,
but they were passed as early as 1936.
Now, if you were Arthur Szyk, how would you emotionally
and intellectually handle this if you were illustrating the great book
of freedom, and the Nazis are coming like this
and the British are stopping the flow and the movement of Jews
out of Europe in the face of growing anti-Semitism and the Nazi threat?
Here's how Szyk handled it.
In the bottom right hand corner he paints the portrait
of European Jews.
Remember this is a book about the exodus
of the ancient Israelites out of Egypt.
He paints European Jews here who w- who want to leave Egypt,
want to leave Europe and in the bottom left hand corner here he
paints British castle gates and on it's there's a Hebrew word
which is [inaudible], Zion the land of Israel.
He's painting European Jews who wish to leave Europe and get to the land
of Israel and between them he actually paints a British military
ship that stands between the exodus of the Jews out of Europe
and going to the land of Israel.
For Arthur Szyk, this religious book is actually more a political book.
It's a book about tyranny.   It's a book about oppression.
It's a book about justice and about freedom.
And so this was the emphasis of of Arthur Szyk
when he created these paintings taking all of them to England,
supervising its printing through three years and and many
of these books were being published in 1940, in 1940 when the Battle
of Britain was taking place and they're, they're printing this book
but with the hope that the world ultimately would get an opportunity
to understand Jewish history and the, and tyranny versus freedom.
This first copy of this book was actually presented to George VI.
I actually have in my possession the copy of the letter written
by the librarian for the king to the Beaconsfield Press
and to Arthur Szyk in which the king acknowledges
that he's indeed honored, greatly honored and and to
to receive this great book, so magnificently made and so important.
And the king demonstrates that as the librarian says
by him keeping is personally in his possession for over a fortnight,
for over two weeks, where everyone that came to see him
in Buckingham Palace would have the opportunity
to see Arthur Szyk's great master work.
Afterwards, the king places that in Windsor Castle
for safekeeping and the war continues.
In 19, at the same time that Arthur Szyk was working on the publishing
of this Haggadah he was also creating vigorously, anti-Nazi art,
and in fact as early as the early 1930's he had done an image
of Hitler looking like Pharaoh with [inaudible] by his side sort of as
and dressed as an Egyptian as well.
And another example of Szyk's art in the 1930's
that was published is just an image of Hitler standing on top
of the Reichstag and on one hand he's holding up a swastika,
on the other hand he's holding up an olive branch.
And Szyk paints him with sheep's clothing that goes over his head.
And and do you know the expression don't trust a wolf
in sheep's clothing?
Szyk also used to say never trust a wolf
that promises to be a vegetarian.
And his art was continually published, and in fact,
in 1940 the Polish, well he's there 1939 in September,
the Germans invade Poland and later
in September the Russians invade Poland, World War II breaks out
and the Polish government relocates to London.
It is that government, the Polish government in exile and the British,
who then send Arthur Szyk to America to help bring the face of the war,
to help bring the face of the was in Europe.
This being the four questions of the of the Haggadah.
But here's what I want to come to.
It is works like this that would be published in America
in 1941 Arthur Szyk's work The New Order attacking the Nazi's New Order
through caricature, cartoon and satire, blistering and and powerful.
This was published in America, the first book
of its kind five months before the United States entered the war.
His art appeared everywhere and and magazines
and newspapers would carry articles
that here was a one man war against Hitler.
Arthur Szyk fights the dictators with pen, with brush and with venom.
His art was everywhere.
If you were a soldier who went through a USO base your art, his,
you would see his art exhibit over 500 USO bases.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor it was Arthur Szyk's art that was
on the front cover of of Time Magazine showing Admiral Yamamoto
as the aggressor.   His art was everywhere.
In 1945 the war's over and Szyk continues to create his work.
In 1951, Szyk dies as I mentioned earlier in my introduction.
In 1956, his Passover Haggadah is republished in Israel.
10,000 copies are reproduced on paper sometimes
with a blue velvet cover and you'll see one of those copies also
in the room behind me after the presentation.
1956, '57, then 60's, 80's, 90's right on up to 2000.
I've always been interested in arth- well not always been interested
in Arthur Szyk but if you ask Peggy Pearlstein she would tell you
that I've thought about Arthur Szyk
from when I was in utero, right Peggy?
No. In any case, I was invited to Jerusalem in 1994 to give a talk
about Arthur Szyk at the Hebrew University and in the middle
of the talk I actually said that Szyk was born on June 3rd,
1894 and I realized that the first public talk that I was ever giving
about Arthur Szyk was actually now June 3rd, 1994.
It was 100 years to the very day
that I gave my first presentation about Szyk.
Now, I'm not really a great mystical guy but I'm sort of mystical
in a way but I want you to follow me on this journey just a little bit.
After I gave the talk someone came up to me and suggested
that maybe I should consider maybe publishing a new edition
of the Szyk Haggadah.
And I said why and he said well you know no one's ever really seen how
brilliant the colors are of the original art,
maybe you ought to consider that.
Well I sort of filed that idea away and then I began to to think
about that and in 1997 I actually curated my first museum exhibit
of of Arthur Szyk's art in Chicago and it turned out the person
who owned the original art, all 48 paintings of the Szyk Haggadah was
in Chicago so I got to examine all of them in preparation
for that exhibition and other works of art.
And it turns out that then in the year 2000,
an exhibition of Arthur Szyk's art was held here
at the Library of Congress.
It was the first exhibition of the new millennium
and it was called Arthur Szyk Artist for Freedom and it was at that time,
someone anonymously donated to the Library
of Congress Arthur Szyk's original of the Declaration of Independence
of the United States which he completed in 1950 while living
in New Canaan, Connecticut and which was first unveiled
to the public on July 4th, 1950.
And so that was part of the exhibition here and and I continued
to curate other museum exhibits following that.
well back in 2005 I got up the nerve to go and see the the person
in Chicago who owns all of the original Szyk paintings.
And by profession I'm an antiquarian bookseller.
I went to him and being a great lover now
of Arthur Szyk I asked him what his plans were to,
with the original paintings and he said that he wasn't quite sure.
And I said to him well, Dick if you ever decide you want to sell them,
I'd like to represent you in this sale.
Now, it turns out that he being a lawyer he asked me well A,
what do you think you can get for it,
and why do you think you can sell it.
Well I convinced him that I thought I can get a lot of money for it
and I convinced him that I could sell it and we signed a contract.
I'd never signed such a long contract in representing someone
as a bookseller but I was happy to do it in this case;
Szyk certainly deserved that.
I then after I signed this agreement,
I actually had several people come and,
oh before that I went actually back to my reference library and I looked
up where Dick had obtained these.
He had told me, he bought them at an auction at Sotheby's in 1982.
So I went back to that auction catalog and I looked up and I read
about each one of the the the paintings that had sold
and then I turned to the cover of the auction catalog,
and do you know what the date was on the cover of that auction catalog?
It was June 3rd.   It was Arthur Szyk's birthday
on which the Haggadah originals were sold.
I don't think the family knew or the consigners
or the person who purchased it.
Okay you're sitting there saying okay is this guy, what is he making
of this June 3rd business.
But in any case to me, that was significant.
I represented Dick for 6 months, showed the the Haggadah
to some perspective buyers and then realized neither
of them were buying it and the contract was, ran out
and I went back to the contract and I looked at it and I said,
oh my gosh, the date that we had signed the contract here was
June 3rd.
He gave me another month and private clients of mine actually flew
out to Chicago and they actually purchased all
of the original paintings of the Haggadah.
When, when they came back to their home and in northern California,
I asked them if they had shown it to their children yet 'cause they they,
you know they're, they have three children who know
that they collect Szyk and they know that they they love Jewish objects
and they they're a very close family and I asked them
if they had shown it to them yet and they said no.
I called a a few weeks later, they call
and Sherri said no we didn't we didn't get it together yet,
we we just, we just haven't.
I said, then I finally called and they said yes,
we showed it this past Saturday.
I said, that's when your family got together and everybody looked
at it for the first time?
I said do you know what date that is?
It was June 3rd.
So at that point, with all of the works of art there being
in California, I decided to embark on this thought that had come to me
in 1994 about someday reproducing an entirely new edition 'cause I had
access to all the original paintings close by
and I hi- I brought the photographer from Jerusalem
who came to my dining room.
He had just finished photo- photographing the Dead Sea Scrolls
for the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem and the [inaudible]
for the Vatican, and I thought to myself, you know if he's good enough
for the Israel Museum,
and the Vatican then certainly he could come photograph the Szyk
Haggadah and he did.   He came to to my dining room.
We, I I hired a filmmaker and we captured all this on film
and I hired a designer from north, eventually from North Carolina
and a printer from Philadelphia.
After all if I'm gonna re-print the Passover Haggadah,
a book about freedom, why not do it someplace right across the street
from the Liberty Bell, and I did.
And I found a book binder who actually binds books
for various presidents and the White House and for Robin Williams
and Oprah Winfrey and others and I hi- I assembled this team
and decided to publish a new edition of the Szyk Haggadah
with a different commentary and translation from that of 1940
and to print this book as the first book in the world actually
to be printed by totally by, on this scale that is 300 copies
as a limited edition, entirely by inkjet printing.
And so this is printed by digital printing and a copy of that,
the premier edition of that book you'll see
in the, in the room behind me.
And so this was published in 2008 and produced a companion volume
with it called Freedom Illuminated: Understanding the Szyk Haggadah.
But that still wasn't enough.
It seemed that everyone had to have access to this book,
and so just a few weeks ago Abrams Books
in New York actually published this as a popular trade edition.
Transliteration has been added for those
who may not read Hebrew sitting
at the Passover table at the Seder meal.
Instructions have been expanded in the commentary section in the back
and following this presentation I understand
that there will be copies available that people can purchase if they'd
like from the Library of Congress.   But this is the narrative.
This is the tale.
This is the story behind the story of the story.
It has so many layers just like Szyk's art has so many layers
and I hope that this has given you some brief introduction
and some overview that you can take away with you just
like that teacher did when the teacher looked at this piece
of paper and learned what the girl was drawing.
The very last image in Szyk's Passover Haggadah is another
dedication page.
This one is in French, more an international language at the time,
just like you have the King George dedication page in English,
you have this at the end.
And here in French, Szyk writes, "I am but a Jew praying in art.
If I've succeeded in any measure, if I've gained the power
of reception among the elite of the world,
I owe it all to the teachings, to the traditions,
and to the eternal virtues of my people."
Thank you very much.   [ Applause ]
>> Thank you very much.   We have time for a couple
of questions before we invite you into the back.
Yes?   >> [Inaudible]
>> And can you please talk loudly?   >>
[ Inaudible audience question ]   >> Are there, are there records
of the original purchases of the 1940 edition?
>> Yes the, the, yes there are some records.
The chairman of the Beaconsfield Press actually had prepared the list
of the some of the initial purchasers of it
and so there's a partial list and 125 copies were numbered
for distribution in the United Kingdom and 125 were sent to America
for distribution here, but we do have a partial list
but not a complete list and it's very partial.
>> Audrey?
>> The 1933 exhibit that was here, was was that of the 38 items
or what was actually on display here?
>> Yeah, the the question was what was on exhibition
when the the exhibition of Arthur Szyk was held here
at the Library of Congress.
It actually, in 1934, he came here in December of '33, the exhibit was
in 1934, it was it was not only Washington and his times,
it also included other illustrated works, I I, at the time.
I don't have a complete checklist but it was not the only work
that was being exhibited here, but it would be great if you could find
in some records here so we could all know what exactly was
exhibited here.   I'd love to know.
>> One last question.   Yes?
>> [Inaudible]   >> No, right here.
>> [Inaudible]
>> Well then he'll be able to speak to them.
>> [Inaudible]   >> All right one last question.
[ Inaudible audience question]
>> When Szyk was here in '33, '34, Columbia Pictures contacted Szyk
and he actually illustrated the front cover for their 1934
and 1935 yearbook for Columbia Pictures.
Also at the end of his life he was in contact with many people who were
in Hollywood or in the theater in New York who came to visit him both
in New York and in New Canaan, Connecticut where he moved in 1945.
So he was constantly surrounded by people who were active
and who were being looked at by, by [inaudible] the McCarthyites
at the time and though Szyk was, and and as it turned
out he was actually, I hate to end on this note as the last question
but but maybe I'll I'll reverse it a little bit.
You know even though in 1949 [inaudible] published a publication
in which Szyk was named to be a member
of seven subversive organizations, this by the way
after Eleanor Roosevelt regularly wor- wrote about him in her columns,
after his works were at the White House,
after at Mitchell Field they called him citizen soldier
of the free world.
This is after this great patriot who came to America, they named him
to be a member of seven subversive organizations with Albert Einstein
and others, this is when a- he created his greatest Americana,
as I mentioned earlier, the Bill of Rights.
And that Declaration of Independence that he illuminated,
the boys- in New Canaan, Connecticut when it was unveiled, the boy scouts
and girl scouts had lined the streets,
the marching band was there, Szyk was on the [inaudible],
they unveiled the Declaration of Independence and hailed him really
as a great citizen soldier and American patriot of the free world.
This was Arthur Szyk who loved three countries during his lifetime,
Poland the land of his birth, although he didn't
like the anti-Semitism that he was and experienced; Israel which he saw
as the land of his people, and America,
which he saw as the land of his ideals.
Thank you.
>> Thank you very much, that was terrific.
As I said, books are available for sale, hard back and soft back.
>> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress.