The collection of Polish art at the Józef Piłsudski Institute of America includes many works that, beyond their artistic value, testify to a unique Polish-American dialogue. One such piece is a graphic work portraying the first American president, George Washington. The context of this work is particularly rich and multifaceted.
Let us begin with its author, Arthur Szyk. Born in Łódź in 1894 into a Jewish family of industrialists, Szyk harmoniously combined his Jewish identity with a deep love for Poland. Educated at art academies in Kraków and Paris, he developed his career as an illustrator, caricaturist, and visual artist. Among other pursuits, he collaborated with Julian Tuwim as a set designer and poster artist for the Bi-Ba-Bo cabaret. During the Polish-Bolshevik War, he joined the army but was quickly reassigned from the front to the Army Propaganda Department in Łódź, where he created striking anti-Soviet and patriotic caricatures.
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) wikipedia
Following the May Coup of 1926, Szyk began work on one of his most important pieces: The Statute of Kalisz. At a time when avant-garde art and modernist trends dominated, Szyk deliberately turned to the past, embracing the medieval technique of illumination—an intricate, ornate form of manuscript decoration. Dedicated to Marshal Piłsudski and bearing the meaningful incipit Ad maiorem Poloniae gloriam, The Statute of Kalisz narrates the centuries-long, proud history of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It begins with Bolesław the Pious and the granting of special rights to Jews, continues through their participation in uprisings and patriotic struggles, and concludes with Bronisław Mansperl, a Jewish hero of the Polish-Bolshevik War. Szyk perfected this illumination technique, which brought him recognition in both Europe and America.
Szyk, Artur "The portrait of George Washington"
The portrait of George Washington was created in this very style. It forms part of a larger series titled Glorious Days of the Polish-American Fraternity. This set of 20 prints was produced for the 1939 World's Fair in New York and illustrated the shared values and mutual heroes of Poland and the United States. The portrait of Washington includes the inscription: “I wished always to Poland well, and that with all my heart.” Other prints in the series depict Ignacy Paderewski and Woodrow Wilson signing a plan for postwar international relations that included an “independent Polish state,” as well as battle scenes featuring Kazimierz Pułaski and Tadeusz Kościuszko.
The timing of this series also marked a turning point in Szyk’s career. When World War II broke out, he was in London. Mobilized by the Polish government-in-exile, he was sent to the United States to advocate for the Polish cause through his art. Once again, political caricature became his primary weapon. In one striking image, he portrays a metaphorical Polish soldier being stabbed in the back by Stalin while simultaneously fighting Hitler with knives. Szyk identified American liberalism as the central force in the struggle against totalitarianism. In the style of medieval miniatures, he personified the Four Freedoms, giving visual form to President Roosevelt’s famous 1941 speech. He also created powerful caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, sharply criticizing the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany.
After the war, Szyk continued to produce works focused on American history, including illustrated interpretations of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. He closely followed Jewish affairs and openly supported the creation of the State of Israel. His artwork consistently expressed a deep reverence for the freedoms that form the foundation of the United States. This also made him a vocal critic of American contradictions, such as racism and Cold War-era McCarthyism. In 1948, he became a U.S. citizen and remained in the country until his death in 1951.
The figure of Arthur Szyk, and the meaning of his work, resonate strongly in today’s cultural and geopolitical climate. Focusing on enduring values, Szyk championed the building of bridges—between eras and nations, between Polish and Jewish cultures, between Poland and the United States, and between the past and the present. He connected the heroic deeds of historical figures with contemporary moral attitudes. George Washington, who appears in many of Szyk’s prints, served as one such symbolic link between values and action. Rendered in the meticulous style of a medieval miniature, the portrait presents one of the Founding Fathers not only as a mythical icon, but also as a timeless and approachable figure—relevant even today.
Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National
Heritage of the Republic of Poland
