Arthur Szyk – Enlumineur
Arthur Szyk – Illuminator
um 1935
Feder und Tinte
Highland Beach, Florida: Alexandra Braciejowski

The form and design of this self-portrait, drawn before World War II, bring to mind a seal from the time of the Renaissance, as if Szyk intended to “seal” the authenticity of his self-representation. Szyk said he was a proud Pole and Jew; he presents himself here with his hand over his heart, adorned with medals, the Polish eagle, and a neckerchief embellished with a stylized menorah.
Szyk cites his name twice. In Hebrew letters he juxtaposes it with Psalm 137, which invokes eternal loyalty to Jerusalem. In Latin script, he states his self-assigned artistic commission: as an Enlumineur (Fr.: illuminator), Szyk seeks to suffuse texts with lumen (Lat.: light) and to make them visually intelligible. The coats of arms with lion and boat motifs are not authentic, but rather symbolic references to Jerusalem, the object of Jewish yearnings, and Łódź, Szyk’s birthplace.