This presentation lays the groundwork for appreciation of Arthur Szyk’s masterwork, evaluating the historical development of his Passover Haggadah and its carefully constructed miniatures. Drawn and first published during the rise of Hitler, The Haggadah is a triumphant work of courage and hope, its style, and themes remarkably prescient and enduringly relevant. A Polish Jew keenly aware of current events, Arthur Szyk fused his two passions—art and history—into a visual commentary on the dangerous parallel between the Exodus narrative of Egyptian oppression and alarming developments unfolding in Nazi Germany.

Bio

Irvin Ungar, a former pulpit rabbi and antiquarian bookseller, has devoted the past quarter-century to scholarship on Arthur Szyk. He has curated and consulted for numerous Szyk exhibitions, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Deutsches Historisches Museum (Berlin), the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Library of Congress, and the New-York Historical Society. Ungar is the author of Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art, co-producer of the documentary film, "Soldier in Art: Arthur Szyk," and the creator and publisher of the luxury limited edition of The Szyk Haggadah. He has also served as the curator of The Arthur Szyk Society in Burlingame, California.

Prime Time Club is a monthly gathering featuring lunch and interesting guest speakers for congregants and guests 65 (or getting there) and older.