Artur Szyk - the Łódź artist Hitler wanted dead

Few residents of Łódź know that the city was the birthplace of an artist whose painting once hung in the White House, and whose political drawings were as popular among Allied soldiers during World War II as photos of Hollywood stars. Artur Szyk, a draughtsman, painter and book illustrator, faded into obscurity in Europe after the war - but in the United States he is still regarded as one of the most important political artists of the 20th century.

Childhood in Łódź

Artur Szyk was born in June 1894 in Łódź, near today's Piotrkowska street, into a wealthy, assimilated Jewish family - his father Salomon was the director of the Fuchs textile factory. Even as a child he drew portraits of house guests, passers-by on the street, biblical scenes and sketches of city life. In 1910 he left to study art in Paris, and two years later returned to Łódź to work for the satirical weekly "Śmiech" (Laughter), creating his first caricatures.

Miniaturist and political satirist

Szyk became known as a master of stylized miniature painting in the spirit of medieval illuminations - a technique he used both in book illustrations and in politically charged drawings. While living in Paris, he illustrated, among other works, the "Statute of Kalisz", published in Munich in 1932, and also created the historical series "Washington and His Times", dedicated to the first president of the United States. That very painting, made in Paris, was bought by Polish president Ignacy Mościcki and given to Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a gift from the Polish nation to America - the work later hung in the White House.

Hitler's death sentence

When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, Szyk almost immediately began attacking him through his art - his caricatures from the 1930s exposed the resurgent antisemitism and aggressive policy of the Third Reich. In the autumn of 1939, while in London, he prepared a series of anti-Nazi caricatures that highlighted the heroism of Polish soldiers while also showing the tragedy of European Jews in the first months of the war. The drawings were so cutting that Hitler is said to have demanded the death penalty for the artist.

America and the fight with a pen

In 1940 Szyk emigrated to the United States, where he threw himself into open propaganda warfare against fascism. His satirical drawings, caricatures, posters and postcards were known throughout America - among Allied soldiers they were as popular as photos of Hollywood stars. From 1948, after obtaining American citizenship, he lived in New Canaan, Connecticut, where he died on 13 September 1951.

Forgotten in Europe

After the war, in a devastated Europe and in communist Poland, Szyk's work fell into obscurity - for decades none of his pieces could be found in Łódź museums. Only in recent years, thanks to exhibitions organized in cooperation with American collectors among others, has the artist begun to return to the awareness of the residents of his hometown. Fragments of his work have also been shown in the halls of the Museum of the City of Łódź, which regularly hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to forgotten Łódź artists.

Memorial plaque in Łódź

Szyk is commemorated in Łódź with a memorial plaque unveiled on the building at Więckowskiego 20, where the artist lived before the war. It was designed by Teresa Maj and funded by the artist's daughter Alisia Braciejowska, American collector Alex Lauterbach, and Aleksander Skotnicki, curator of exhibitions dedicated to Szyk's work.

Other forgotten Łódź natives

Szyk's story fits into a broader thread of Łódź artists who are now forgotten, including composers Aleksander Tansman and Roman Ryterband, and astronautics pioneer Ary Sternfeld - all born in prewar, multicultural Łódź, all now known mainly abroad.

Why he deserves to be remembered

Szyk's story, like that of Ary Sternfeld or Aleksander Tansman, shows how many outstanding artists and scientists came from prewar, multicultural Łódź - and how many of them vanished from Polish collective memory after the war, even though they were still recognized and admired abroad.

Practical info: where to see traces of Szyk

The memorial plaque is located on the building at Więckowskiego 20, in Łódź's city centre, close to the plaque dedicated to Ary Sternfeld at Więckowskiego 21 - both can be visited during a single short walk, near the main Piotrkowska street. More profiles of forgotten Łódź residents can be found in other articles in the "Poznaj Łódź" (Discover Łódź) series, linked from here. It is also worth checking the current schedule of temporary exhibitions in Łódź museums, as Szyk's works occasionally appear in Poland as part of travelling exhibitions organized in cooperation with American institutions.