The graphic works by Artur Szyk in the collection of the Kościuszko Foundation in New York date from the artist's wartime period. His works were a form of opposition, a mobilisation to fight and a declaration of conviction that Poland would survive.

When the world stood on the threshold of war on 1 September 1939, Artur Szyk was in London with his family. The artist felt that the moment had come to undertake - to use his own words - 'a private war against Hitler'. His reaction to terror was drawing and colour, whose intensity carried the weight of a document. He created illustrations showing suffering and resistance. He depicted victims and simple Polish soldiers coming to their rescue, often with the Virtuti Militari cross visible. The artist's work during this period was a form of defiance and a declaration of belief that Poland, despite humiliation and losses, would survive. The titles of the illustrations - "We will continue to fight", "We are united" - were mobilising. - on the other hand, had a mobilising character. In January 1940, Szyk organised an exhibition in London entitled "War and Culture in Poland". About half of the works on show at the time already depicted life under occupation. Proceeds from publications and postcards were donated by the artist to the Polish Relief Fund.

Artur Szyk in America - wartime caricatures

Artur Szyk treated his decision to emigrate to the United States in 1940 as a strategic action. America could have become another battleground for the involvement of countries and people in aid activities for the fighting Poland and to improve the situation of Jews. The artist's prints and caricatures were published in major illustrated magazines such as Time and Esquire, and on many other magazine covers such as Answer and Collier's, and exhibitions of his work found their way into prominent museums.

In 1941, the New York Public Library showed his series The New Order, dubbed by the press as 'a load of dynamite thrown at Berlin'. Szyk's illustrations, published in book form, showed the brutality and violence of the Nazi 'new order' in Europe. In them he attacked Adolf Hitler directly, but also Benito Mussolini, Hirohito and Joseph Stalin. One of the works that begins the publication shows a simple Polish soldier fighting Hitler, who is stabbed in the back by Stalin . This is how the artist depicted the situation of Poland in September 1939. The style of the works created in Artur Szyk's characteristic manner with miniature precision, dense visual narration and often rich ornamentation - contrasted with the brutality of the subject matter. Each illustration was at once an image and a political commentary.

Artur Szyk as a "one-man army"

From the 'New Order' series comes a work depicting a couple of elderly people, of peasant origin, being expelled from their farm because of the war effort. This human exodus, so typical of the Second World War period, evoked great emotion and sympathy from the artist. Arthur Szyk's art was always committed to the side of the simple man, whether it concerned the Second World War, its Polish or Jewish victims, or the defence of human rights.

To achieve the emotional involvement of his audience, the artist used national, religious and historical symbols. These included the eagle, the Virtuti Militari cross or the menorah, which were understandable to a wide audience . In the case of the aforementioned work, a copy of the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa and a cross hanging from the neck of an elderly woman can be seen behind the cushion. The faces of the two elderly people are frozen in despair and hopelessness. Artur Szyk may have seen similar images during the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik war, during which he served as a cavalry officer and was artistic director of the army's propaganda department in Łódź.

The artist depicted the world under occupation as a place of violence . His works struck at the mechanisms of totalitarianism, exposing them through grotesque and satire. He portrayed totalitarianism as a political and spiritual problem, requiring a response.

Between 1942 and 1943, The New York Museum of Science and Industry hosted the exhibition Poland's Part in the War, where Artur Szyk presented his works . He also visited military bases and academies to encourage soldiers to fight. In total, his works were seen by more than a million soldiers. Eleonora Roosevelt called the artist "a one-man army".

It is likely that the engraving depicting the battle with the dragon comes from this collection. One can see the artist's typical miniature techniques. The figures are created with exceptional care. The engraving depicts a simple man, in peasant styled attire, with a typical Polish 'confederate' cap (a soft cornet, which became widespread in Poland as a headgear during the period of the Bar Confederation, 1768-1772, and was later adapted as the headgear of the regular National Cavalry). The man in the graphic has a cross and feather pinned to his cap. He is a peasant becoming a soldier in a situation of danger. He is fighting a dragon - a symbol of evil, created from swastikas themselves. In this work, the artist alludes to the iconographic representation of St George's fight with the dragon, known since the Middle Ages. Szyk's character, dealing a blow, stabs a spear with the inscription People's Poland. Despite the coincidence of words, this is an expression of faith in the Polish people and not an anticipation of the imminent communistisation of Poland. For Szyk was a staunch opponent of the Soviet system.

The artist worked according to a style developed over the years. His line - precise, stylised, seemingly decorative - served to attack tyrants and support victims. He combined classical form with topical subject matter. As a result, he became one of the best-known artist-propagandists during the Second World War.

Artur Szyk - short biography

He was born in 1894 to a family of Jewish origin, in Łódź, where he began his artistic education. He continued it at the Académie Julian in Paris (1908) and at the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts (1913) as a free student in the studio of Teodor Axentowicz . During the First World War he was conscripted into the Russian army, from which he managed to escape. After returning to Lodz, he took up caricature - his works were published in numerous satirical magazines. In 1920, he took part in the Polish-Bolshevik war, also creating mobilisation posters for the Voluntary Army.

In 1921 he moved to Paris , where his well-known illustration series were created, including those for the 'Book of Esther' and 'The Temptation of St Anthony ' . He received the French Order of Academic Palms , and critics called him the 'Master of Miniature'. In 1926, he began work on a monumental series of illustrations to the "Statute of Kalisz" , a medieval privilege issued in 1264 by Boleslaw the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland, regulating the rights of Jews. Exhibitions of this work were presented at home and abroad.

After Hitler came to power (1933), Artur Szyk became involved in anti-fascist activities. He settled in London in 1937 and moved to the United States in 1940. He created drawings depicting the drama of war, the fate of Jews and Poles, published, among others, in the English-language press. After the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), he created a series of moving works dedicated to those who fought.

In 1948, he accepted American citizenship. He died in 1951 in New Canaan (USA). He remains one of the most outstanding Polish artists of the 20th century, a renowned graphic artist, illustrator, caricaturist and illuminator.