Page 47 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana w Łodzi. Artur Szyk, Man of Dialogue.

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Foreign Affairs in the Second Republic of Poland. In
in the Jewish Museum in New York.
1932–1933, a Traveling Exhibition of the Works of
–
So far, six copies of Szyk's work have been found
Artur Szyk was organized, featuring the Statute and
other works of the artist at exhibitions in 14 Polish
in Polish collections; perhaps there are more.
cities – it was enthusiastically received everywhere it works to an American collector. Now, they are kept 4 47
Recently, it was discovered that one copy is stored in
went. During the exhibition at the National Museum the Musicology Institute of the Jagiellonian STATUTE OF KALISZ
in Warsaw the entire diplomatic world of the capital University – it is a copy from Ignacy Paderewski's
was in attendance. In 1933, the exhibition was collection. The remaining ones are in Warsaw (copy
opened in London. The Ambassador of Poland at number one is at the National Library) as well as in
that time, Alfred Chłapowski, on behalf of the Polish Kalisz, where the Jewish privileges were granted and
government gave a copy of the Statute to Nachum in Łódź, the native city of the artist. The Łódź
Sokołow, a Zionist leader for the Hebrew University drawings from the collection of the Józef Piłsudski
in Jerusalem as a token of good relations between Public Library were presented at the exhibition
Poles and Jews. In late 1933, upon an invitation ARTUR SZYK – MAN OF DIALOGUE, exactly
from the Polish government, the artist exhibited his 60 years after the artist's death and 85 years after the
work in the U.S. in several venues, including the work was created, inspired by the May Coup d'état.
Brooklyn Museum and the the Library of Congress.
It was a service to the idea of tolerance and freedom
to which he wanted to remain faithful.
Showing the Statute to Americans, Artur Szyk
spoke of the traditions of Polish tolerance but also of
the once−again uncertain future of Poland in the face
of the growing and increasingly aggressive politics of
the Nazi Third Reich: "In the face of Hitlerism, the
Statute gains a new meaning. Until recently, an
American Jew thought of Poland exactly what a
German wished him to think – the opposite of
truth. Poverty affects all Poles, not just the Jews. In
comparison to other European countries, such as
Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, Austria or
Germany, Poland is an oasis of peace and
safety for the Jews. It is one of very few such
countries in Europe," he emphasized.
After his return from the United States,
the artist, depressed with the situation in
Europe, began working on the
Haggadah, in order to show the greatest
moment of the Jewish history – the
liberation from Egyptian captivity. The
Statute was exhibited on rare occasions
only and just as a selection of single plates.
The illuminated manuscript of Artur
Szyk's work has never again been shown in
its entirety.
Artur Szyk intended to donate the originals to
Poland, he wrote about it in letters but eventually it
did not happen. In 1937, he took them first to
London and later to Canada and the U.S. After the
artist's sudden death, his widow sold the illuminated An English advertisement for the Statute of Kalisz and the
logotype of the La Table Ronde publishing house