Arthur Szyk - Background and Youth

Background and Youth

Arthur Szyk (pronounced "Shick") was born into a Jewish family, as a son of Solomon Szyk and his wife Eugenia, in Łódź, in Russian-occupied Poland, on June 16, 1894. The family of the future artist belonged to the upper class. Solomon Szyk was a textile factory director, an occupation that, eventually, tragically determined his fate: in June 1905, during the so-called Łódź insurrection, he lost his eyesight after one of his workers threw acid in his face.

Little Arthur showed artistic talent as a child; when he was six years old, he reportedly drew sketches of the Boxer Rebellion in China. Even though his family was culturally assimilated and did not practice Orthodox Judaism, Arthur also liked drawing biblical scenes from the Hebrew Bible. These interests and talents prompted his father, upon the advice of Szyk's teachers, to send Szyk to Paris to study at Académie Julian, a studio school popular among French and foreign students. In Paris, Szyk was exposed to all modern trends in art; however, he decided to follow his own way, which hewed closely to tradition. He was especially attracted by the medieval art of illuminating manuscripts, which greatly influenced his later works. When studying in Paris, Szyk remained closely involved with the social and civic life of Łódź. During the years 1912-1914 the teenage artist produced numerous drawings and caricatures on contemporary political themes that were published in the Łódź satirical magazine Śmiech ("Laughter").

After four years spent in France, Szyk returned to Polish lands in 1913 and continued his studies in Teodor Axentowicz's class at Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, which was under Austrian rule at that time. He not only attended lectures and classes, but he also actively participated in Kraków's cultural life. He did not forget about his home city Łódź either – he designed the stage sets and costumes for the Łódź-based Bi Ba Bo cabaret. The political and national engagement of the artist also deepened during that time – Szyk regarded himself as a Polish patriot but he was also proud of being Jewish and he often opposed antisemitism in his works. At the beginning of 1914, Szyk and a group and other Polish-Jewish artists and writers set off on a journey to Palestine, which was organized by the Jewish Cultural Society Hazamir (Hebrew: nightingale). There he could observe the efforts of Jewish settlers who were working for the benefit of the future Jewish state.

The visit was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I. Szyk, who was a Russian subject, had to leave Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time, and go back to his home country in August 1914. He was conscripted into the Russian army and fought at the battle of Łódź in November/December 1914, but at the beginning of 1915 he managed to escape from the army and spent the rest of the war in his home city. He also used the time spent in the Russian army to draw Russian soldiers and published these drawings as postcards in the same year (1915). On September 14, 1916, Arthur Szyk married Julia Liekerman. Their son George was born in the following year, and their daughter Alexandra in 1922.