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The Four Questions

Arthur Szyk

Framed size: 28.75 in. (h) x 24 in. (w) x 1.5 in. (d)

$995.00

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Blacks and Grays, Children, Dark Colors, Figurative, Framed, Illustration, Jewish, Monochromatic, Offset Print, Post-War Twentieth Century, Prints & Multiples, Religion, Social Commentary and History, Szyk, Traditional Print

About the work

From 1934 through 1937, when Nazism was growing in power and malignancy in Europe, Polish artist Arthur Szyk wrote a new edition of the Haggadah, which tells the story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt. Szyk found that his modernized version, with the “wicked son” wearing a Hitler mustache, was unpublishable; it was not until 1937 that Szyk found a publisher when the publishing house Beaconsfield Press was founded in London solely to publish The Szyk Haggadah. The Haggadah was published in 1940 and was hailed as among the most beautiful books of all times.

Less than a year later, in May 1946 in advance of the first Passover following the end of the war, the American Jewish Congress reproduced the Four Questions from the Szyk Haggadah on the back of their News of the Month newsletter. It was meant to be a keepsake, prominently marked on the front, “DON’T THROW THIS AWAY TURN IT OVER”.

This reproduction is now quite scarce.

Attributes	Value
Medium	Lithograph
Date	1920-1940
Signing, Dating, and Titling	Signed, dated, editioned, and titled en recto at bottom
Framing	Custom framed and matted using conservation materials
Condition	Excellent Condition
Type	Old Etchings

Medium:

Offset lithograph on White Wove Paper

Date:

1946

Signature:

Unsigned

Framing:

Beautifully framed in a solid Walnut frame using strictly conservation-grade materials behind 99% UV-blocking art glass.

Condition:

This copy was kept safe for many years in a frame, albeit mounted clumsily with scotch tape. Most of the tape residue has been carefully removed but residue remains. Creased from folding, as published. Paper significantly weakened at the folds but stabilized with japan paper affixed to the recto with rice paste.

Framed Size:

28.75 in. (h) x 24 in. (w) x 1.5 in. (d)

Image Size:

22 in. (h) x 18 in. (w)