Polish artist Arthur Szyk will be the focus of the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s new exhibit

If you’re the kind of person who gets giddy with excitement over illuminated manuscripts or political cartoons, mark your calendar: late artist Arthur Szyk is the focus of a new exhibition.

On December 7, 2025, the Museum of Jewish Heritage will open “Art of Freedom: The Life & Work of Arthur Szyk,” a major exhibition celebrating one of the most singular Jewish artists of the 20th century. Szyk, born in Łódź in 1894, was a master miniaturist, a ferocious anti-fascist and a Zionist long before it was fashionable in the art world. His work is tiny in scale but enormous in intent: richly detailed, unapologetically Jewish and focused on the fight for freedom.

The show gathers more than 100 pieces, including 18 works that have never been publicly shown and nearly 40 original drawings. For the art nerds among us, there are some real “wait, they have that?” moments: Szyk’s 1928–29 sketchbook for his “Washington and His Times” series (which hung in Roosevelt’s White House), original artwork from his famed “Four Freedoms” images and “Anti-Christ” (1942), his blistering portrayal of Hitler, which has not been seen in New York for over 80 years. Also on deck: selections from his iconic Szyk Haggadah, a lavishly illustrated Passover text that blends religious storytelling with rich symbolism and striking political commentary.

The show opens on the anniversary of America’s entry into World War II, a date that feels fitting considering Szyk’s history: during the war, he became one of the most forceful artistic voices speaking out against Nazism. Long before the scale of the Holocaust was widely acknowledged, Szyk was illustrating the horrors in real time. His work appeared in newspapers, magazines and political campaigns, urging the Allies to act faster, save Jewish lives and confront fascism head-on.

“As an institution committed to educating visitors about Jewish life before, during and after the Holocaust, we are thrilled to present Arthur Szyk’s exquisitely detailed and beautiful work, and to look back at his influential role in shaping public discourse around America’s pivotal entry into WWII,” said Jack Kliger, president and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in an official statement.

Szyk’s legacy endures: in an era still grappling with rising authoritarianism and antisemitism, his work feels urgent and resonant. In 2008, the United States Congress awarded him a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal, recognizing his contributions to American culture and his unflinching fight against tyranny through art.