us-005578-irn519984-irn520204
history: The postage stamps were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2002 by Felix Berkovich.
identifier: irn520204
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn519984-irn520204/acquisitions/1
title: Postage stamps
type: RecordSet
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
has record set type: Item
has or had holder: us-005578
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
history: Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was born to Jewish parents, Solomon and Eugenia Szyk in Łódź, Poland, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. He had his first public art exhibition at age 15, and then went to Paris, France, for formal art training at the Academie Julian. He visited Palestine in 1914 with a group of Polish-Jewish artists and studied Muslim art. Upon his return, he was conscripted into the Russian Army and served in World War I. He married Julia Liekerman in 1916, and they had a son, George, in 1917. In 1918, Poland regained independence, but continued to fight a series of regional wars to secure its boundaries. Between 1919 and 1920, during Poland's war against the Soviet Bolsheviks, Syzk served as a cavalry officer and artistic director of the Department of Propaganda for the Polish Army in Łódź. In 1921, he and his family moved to Paris where his daughter, Alexandra was born the following year. Szyk was well known for his illuminations and book illustrations, in a style reminiscent of Persian miniatures. He worked on several significant projects in France, including illustrating the Statute of Kalisz, the Haggadah, and a series of watercolors on the American Revolutionary War. The themes of his most admired works, democracy and Judaism, were already well established, earning him both fame and significant commissions. In 1934, Szyk traveled to the United States for exhibitions of his work and to receive the George Washington Bicentennial Medal, awarded by the US Congress. He resided in England from 1937-1940 to supervise the publication of the Haggadah. In 1939, following Germany's invasion of Poland, he focused on producing anti-Nazi editorial cartoons published in many Western newspapers and magazines. During the German occupation of Poland, his 70 year old mother, Eugenia, and her Polish companion were forced to live in the Łódź ghetto. In 1943, they were transported to Majdanek concentration camp and killed. In late 1940, Szyk immigrated to th…
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Block of four postage stamps from Liberia, denomination of 1, with art work by Arthur Szyk. Stamps are multi-colored and show two male figures walking along with baskets on their backs.
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn519984-irn520204/alternateIDs/1
is or was included in: us-005578-irn519984
date: 1949 April 12