“Family at the Seder” from The Szyk Haggadah published by Abrams © 2008 Historicana, artwork © 1940 Arthur Szyk
Arthur Szyk (1894–1951), the Polish-Jewish artist and activist, was an acclaimed illuminator and political illustrator. During World War II, his anti-Nazi caricatures were widely published in the United States, most memorably as covers for news magazines such as Time and Collier’s. Eleanor Roosevelt once called Szyk a “one-man army” against fascism, and indeed Szyk himself spoke often of his role as a “soldier in art.”
The illustration, “Family at the Seder,” which graces the cover of the AJW’s Passover special edition (April 15), is from “The Szyk Hagaddah” (Abrams). The large-format volume features Szyk’s dramatic artwork, in the style of medieval illuminated manuscripts, as a visual commentary on the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the birth of the Jewish people.
