Postal and Philatelic Art of Arthur Szyk

The artist Arthur Szyk is widely regarded as the greatest miniaturist of modern times. Szyk (pronounced shick) was born in a Jewish family in 1894 in Łódź in Russian Poland. He studied art at Kraków and Paris in the early 20th century. With the rise of fascism in Europe, he emigrated to England and then to the United States.From youth to maturity Szyk dedicated his talents to political causes. He became best known for his anti-Nazi caricatures during World War Two. Szyk's slogan was "Art is not my aim; art is my means." His art promoted human rights, civil liberties, and the liberal outlook of the New Deal: democracy, racial and religious tolerance, individual dignity, and relief from injustice, hunger and privation. He became a leading champion of a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.To carry these political messages, Szyk's art was reproduced in formats designed to be mailed: first post cards, then charity and poster stamps, and finally actual postage stamps. From this foundation, his work embraced an explicitly philatelic direction, including a series of stamp album title pages whose radiance has never been surpassed. Read more