The United States of America (Heritage of the Nations Series)

Accession Number	Type
2017.5.1.180	Art & Artifacts

Description

One of twelve works in the series "Heritage of the Nations" created by Arthur Szyk between 1945-1951 and commissioned by the Canadian stamp dealer Kasimir Bileski. At the top center of the piece is the Great Seal of the United States; a bald eagle wi…

Artifact Details
Alternate Titles	The United States of America (United Nations Series), The United States of America (Visual History of Nations Series)
Classification	PAINTINGS
Artist/Creator	Arthur Szyk
Creation Place	United States, New York
Date Created	1945
Physical Description	Full color watercolor, gouache, ink and graphite painting on board. Design depicting a decorative border, with handlettering "The United States of America". In the top center of the border is a bald eagle with a banner "E Plurubus Unum" in its beak, and an olive branch and golden arrows in its talons. Portraits and scenes of the country are all around the border including such monuments as Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate bridge, steamships and steam trains, an oil refinery, a city skyline, and depictions of soldiers, laborers, migrants, and indigenous folk. Below the title sit two white men looking in opposite directions, one is a farmer and the other is a train engineer based on the pitchfork and wrench they hold respectively. Around these are depictions of vegetation and other decorative elements, and noticably white stars in blue circles proliferating the border. Signed and dated on bottom: "1945 Arthur Szyk. N.Y."
Medium	watercolor and gouache, pen and ink and pencil on board
Credit Line	The Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, University of California, Berkeley