- 4
Arthur Szyk
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 USD
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Description
- Arthur Szyk
- A Young Scholar
- signed Arthur Szyk and dated London 1940 (lower right)
- gouache, pen and ink, pencil and gum arabic on heavy paper
- 13 5/8 by 7 3/4 in.
- 34.6 by 19.7 cm
Condition
Pen and ink, wash, pencil, and gum Arabic on thick paper. There is light and mat stain over the entire work. It has been glued at the upper corners and lower left corner to its current mount; it would benefit from being removed from this mount. Aside from some minor rippling near the subjects face, the work is in generally fair condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Arthur Szyk, Artist and Activist
Arthur Szyk was one of the most unique figures in the art of the 20th Century. Espousing a style of painting that is reminiscent of medieval manuscript illumination and Persian miniatures, he is said to have worked without a magnifying glass and sometimes with the single hair of a brush. His current show Soldier in Art, at the New York Historical Society through January 29, 2018, has been called a “jewel box” (J. Hoberman in Tablet Magazine).
Having left his native Poland in 1909 to study in Paris, Szyk continued to feel a powerful connection to Poland’s deep Jewish culture and to the plight of its people, as evidenced in his painting of a young Yeshiva student, possibly a war refugee, painted in London in 1940 (lot 4). Szyk’s genius found full expression in his illustrations for bible stories and other tales ( lot 5), his illuminated Haggadah, (lot 155), and his seminal political satires, which took on the Nazi menace and the Axis allies (lot 6).
Arthur Szyk was one of the most unique figures in the art of the 20th Century. Espousing a style of painting that is reminiscent of medieval manuscript illumination and Persian miniatures, he is said to have worked without a magnifying glass and sometimes with the single hair of a brush. His current show Soldier in Art, at the New York Historical Society through January 29, 2018, has been called a “jewel box” (J. Hoberman in Tablet Magazine).
Having left his native Poland in 1909 to study in Paris, Szyk continued to feel a powerful connection to Poland’s deep Jewish culture and to the plight of its people, as evidenced in his painting of a young Yeshiva student, possibly a war refugee, painted in London in 1940 (lot 4). Szyk’s genius found full expression in his illustrations for bible stories and other tales ( lot 5), his illuminated Haggadah, (lot 155), and his seminal political satires, which took on the Nazi menace and the Axis allies (lot 6).