INSCRIBED BY ARTHUR SZYK: LARGE, BEAUTIFULLY CALLIGRAPHED AND EMBELLISHED ISRAELI DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

SZYK, Arthur. The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel. New Canaan, Connecticut, 1948. Large color lithographic print, measuring 20-1/2 by 16-1/4 inches; handsomely framed, entire piece measures 22 by 17-3/4 inches. $5500.

First impression, presentation copy, of Szyk’s stunning color lithograph of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, inscribed in the bottom margin: "New Canaan 1949. To Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Edward Lentz with my compliments. Arthur Szyk." Text in Hebrew.

On May 14, 1948, in accordance with the U.N. resolution, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel's independence, ignoring last-minute admonitions from Washington and overruling doomsday predictions by some of his closest associates. His Declaration of Independence is commemorated by this wonderfully engrossed and embellished version by Arthur Szyk. "Upon hearing of the establishment of the State of Israel, Arthur Szyk turned to the new Israeli government and requested permission to illustrate the Israeli Declaration of Independence and the declaration that immigration to Israel was now free and open for the Jewish Diaspora" (The National Library of Israel). Working in the style of 16th-century miniaturist painters, Szyk used colors "with the luminosity of Gothic stained glass windows. His Hebrew lettering was superbly decorative and his illuminations showed a close acquaintance with Jewish Legend" In addition to the beautifully calligraphed text of the Declaration, this striking lithographic print depicts symbolic figures in its decorative borders, above the mottos: "They who sow in tears will reap in joy" (in the right-hand border) and "If I am not for myself who will be for me" (in the left). (Encyclopedia Judaica). "In essence, within this border decoration, Szyk summarized the history of the country and of the Jewish people" (Ungar, 86). Ungar 26.

Signature slightly faded but very readable, now preserved behind UV protectant plexiglass; handsomely framed.