Drawn to Action: The Life and Work of Arthur Szyk

Drawn to Action: The Life and Work of Arthur Szyk is a special exhibition that is open from now until January 31, 2015.

Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a Polish-Jew (and in the last decade of his life, an American-Jew) most known for his political and satirical caricatures of the Axis powers and its leaders. “Art is not my aim, it is my means.” Szyk proclaimed.

You’ll notice his illustrations use a stimulating palette of color and are meticulously intricate. His great attention to detail have been compared to what you would see from medieval monks and renaissance painters.

Ironically, before Szyk had even been to the United States, he did a series that depicted scenes of George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They were purchased by President Ignacy Moscicki of Poland as a gift for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and hung in the White House until 1943.

Szyk would consider his greatest achievement to be his illustrated version of the Haggdah, which tells the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt and took him 4 years to complete.

As soon as the Nazi boots stepped onto Polish soil, Szyk reacted immediately. He expressed his feelings by fiercely taking pen to paper in a “creative fight against oppression”. He turned Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese into extensively embellished and evil caricatures.

His anti-Nazi cartoons continued to be effective propaganda when he left Europe in 1940 and settled in New York. He was on a mission, literally “to alert and inform the Americans about the gravity of the situation in Europe.” Eleanor Roosevelt described him as a “one-man army” for the Allied Cause.

After World War II, Szyk embraced the patriotism of his adopted country and was granted American citizenship in 1948. Szyk continued to work and completed illustrations of Hans Christian Anderson fairy tales and even advertisements for Coca-Cola. Ever the activist, his later artwork allowed him to continue to be a voice against injustice… specifically against Jim Crow, the KKK and lynching.

The exhibit officially opened on October 25, but be sure to catch the Opening Reception for this one-of-kind exhibition November 13 at 6:30 p.m. RSVPS are required at rsvp@dallasholocaustmuseum.org. The public is invited.

Presenting sponsors for the Drawn to Action exhibit are Kathy and Harlan Crow and Gregg and Michelle Philipson Collection and Archive. Community Partners include the Jan Karski Polish School of Dallas.

– Devynn Case, for the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance

 

July Events Promise to Enlighten and Embolden Museum Visitors

Rita Blitt

July 1:  Rita Blitt’s Reaching Out from Within: Stories of Perseverance 

Rita Blitt is an international, award winning painter, sculptor and filmmaker.

“When I create, I feel like I’m dancing on paper.” says Blitt about her passion for art. She began painting as a child and has lived a life filled with creativity and achievements.

Today, her paintings, drawings and sculptures have been featured in exhibitions in Singapore, Israel, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Norway. She also has permanent exhibits in museums, galleries and public settings around the world.  She collaborated with other artists to create films including “Blur,” “Visual Rhythms” and “Caught in Paint,” which was shown at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.  Blitt also authored The Passionate Gesture and Reaching Out From Within.

Her work goes beyond the aesthetically pleasing to her efforts to make the world a better place. “Kindness is Contagious, Catch It!” is a poster Blitt created as a gift to the STOP Violence Coalition, but its world-wide popularity resulted in her presenting prints to every member nation of the United Nations. The Blitt family underwrites the Blitt Family Creative Arts Center at Synergy Services, a violence prevention and intervention center in Parkville, Mo.

Thirteen of Blitt’s colorful and dramatic pieces of sculpture and paintings, an exhibit entitled “Reaching Out from Within: Stories of Perseverance through Art,” will be on display at the Museum from July 1 through August 25, 2013.

July 11: Iraqi war translator Munir Captain

Join the Dallas Holocaust Museum on July 11 as Iraqi war translator Munir Captain shares his stories of despair, freedom and hope.

From 2003 to 2009, Munir Captain and his brother, Omar, served as translators to U.S. forces in their native Iraq.

New residents of North Texas, these brave men still have family in Baghdad, so their personal stories are not only current but relevant as family members in Iraq have faced reprisals for the brothers’ decisions to support American forces and their decision to live as refugees in the U.S.

The brothers bring interesting perspectives on the importance of the regime change in Iraq, the nature of the long insurgency there, the character of the American soldiers, the prospects for Iraq going forward and their own assimilation into American life.

Hear Murnir Captain speak at the Museum theater, 211 N. Record Street Thursday, July 11, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

Favorite Places: The Garden of Remembrance and Tolerance

Garden of Remembrance and Tolerance

 

Last November, the Museum held a dedication ceremony for our new Garden of Remembrance and Tolerance. After a long hot summer of planning, planting, and watering, everything was in place. The garden was the Eagle Scout project of local student Brandon Ryan, and was certainly a labor of love–due to the hot summer, all the plants had to be watered every day. But before the plants could be planted, and the sculpture installed, Brandon had to start from scratch. The ground on which the garden now sits was once part of our parking lot. Brandon coordinated and participated in all aspects of the project, from breaking ground to the finishing touches.

The focal point of the garden, the sculpture, was designed by Brandon’s fellow students at the Greenhill School, Austin and Bronsin Ablon. On the meaning of the piece, Austin said, “We invite you to discover your own meaning about the sculpture but through building the memorial we have developed a sort of story of what the piece depicts. At first we had the idea to include the metal posts in the walls to represent the concentration camps as cold and hard jails. As we continued building the memorial we discovered more and more about what it meant to us. Its name, ‘Coming Together,’ embodies what happens with the sculpture when it rains. The rain drops, interrupted from their free fall paths, are collected and guided down the path until they all fall into the center star of David that sits bellow. In that action, they “come together” as one. We believe that this idea represents what happened to the Jewish people during the holocaust. Just like the rain drops, their daily lives were interrupted, they were gathered together and forced into trains, and then into concentration camps. But after all of that happened, even though they had suffered horribly, the survivors came together as the Jewish people, stronger and united – just like the rain drops.”

The Garden of Remembrance and Tolerance is one of our favorite places because it stands as a physical reminder to all who pass by that the lessons of the Holocaust are not to be forgotten. It is a special corner of growth and renewal in the center of an area surrounded by concrete and train tracks.

Close Up: The Color of Memory

Death Walk, by Julie Meetal

Exhibit: The Color of Memory

Artists: Veronique Jonas and Julie Meetal

About the Exhibit: The Color of Memory presents the multi-media work of Julie Meetal and Veronique Jonas. Their art embodies the searing effect of the Holocaust on their families and on the Jews of Europe at the hands of the German Third Reich from 1939-1945.

Question to Consider: The artists offer this question to those who see their work: “Do you think there can be beauty in horror, and horror in beauty?”

What Others are Saying:

•  “Stunning artwork and notations” — Jane P.
•  “Very moving…the paintings bring such emotion” — Carol C.
•  “Thank you for telling a story-not just in words-but in pictures and illustrations. Sheer emotion conveyed by the subconscious mind! That made it beautiful.”– Susan B.