Robert Levitt collection

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625514
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of the Simchat Torah celebration, created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts the male members of a Jewish congregation traditionally celebrating the religious holiday, Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Torah) by carrying the Torah scrolls (handwritten copy of the Torah, the five books of Moses) around the bimah (podium where the Torah and Prophets are read) and the synagogue while singing, dancing, and reciting chants. The Simchat Torah marks and celebr...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625528
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of a traditional Succoth meal created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts a family sitting down to eat in a sukkah (temporary hut with a thatched roof that represents the huts the Israelites dwelt in after leaving Egypt), and gathering palm, myrtle, willow (lulav), and citron (etrog), which is traditionally held and shaken. The Sukkot holiday celebrates the gathering of the harvest and commemorates the protection God provided for the children of Israel w...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625529
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of a traditional communal Hanukkah celebration created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts several members of a community gathering to celebrate Hanukkah by lighting a Hanukkiah (a candelabrum that holds eight candles for the eight nights of Hanukkah, plus the Shamash [attendant] that is used to light the other candles), playing games, serving Latkes, and singing Hanukkah songs. Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem during the J...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625530
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of a traditional Rosh Hashanah liturgy created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts the reading of the Mahzor (the prayer book for the high holidays) during a morning service inside of a synagogue with a congregation member preparing to blow a shofar (a hollow animal horn used as a musical horn), a symbolic act that only occurs during Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Jewish new year and is a time for celebration and introspection. Born to Jewis...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625531
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of a communal Purim celebration created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts the reading of the Scroll of Esther (the Megillah) and a man and boy celebrating in costume. Purim celebrates Esther, a Queen of Persia, saving of the Jewish people from a massacre planned by an advisor to the King. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with wild abandon and with the giving of gifts to friends and the poor. Born to Jewish parents in Łódź, Poland, Szyk studied a...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625532
• English
• 1948
• overall: Height: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm) | Width: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print of a Passover Seder (ritual meal) created by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. The image was originally printed in the book, Six paintings of Jewish holidays, in 1948. The print depicts an extended family seated at a table reading the Book of Exodus and waiting for food to be served. Passover commemorates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and celebrates God as the liberator of humanity. The name comes from the miracle in which God “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the tenth plague. Born to Jewish parents in Łódź, Poland, Szyk studied a...

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• irn625533
• English
• 1945
• overall: Height: 10.250 inches (26.035 cm) | Width: 9.000 inches (22.86 cm)
• Updated 8 months ago

Color lithographic print from the United Nations Series, originally painted by Arthur Szyk in New Canaan, Connecticut. Each image in the series was to be a highly detailed single-page piece that combined symbols, scenes, portraits, and decorative motifs to create a visual history of each member country of the United Nations. The series was commissioned by Kasimir Bileski, and the images were meant to be cover pages for an international stamp book. Szyk was to continue painting these histories as new countries joined the United Nations, but he only completed nine before his death in 1951. Bo...