Samuel Szczekacz (Polish, 1917–1983)

Left: Untitled (construction), c. 1937
Ink (typewriter, lithograph) and gouache on paper, 11 1/2 x 7 7/8” (25 x 20 cm)

Right: Untitled (composition), c. 1937
Gouache on paper, 11 3/4 x 9 3/8” (29.8 x 23.8 cm)

Born in 1917 in the midst of the First World War, Samuel Szczekacz was a full generation younger than pioneers of the Polish avant-garde such as Wladyslaw Strzemiński (1893–1952). By late 1935, when Szczekacz began to study with Strzemiński, key Polish avant-garde journals such as Blok (1924–1926) and Praesens (1926–1930) had ceased publication. Thanks to members of the
a.r. group, beginning in 1931 the city of Łódź was home to the Muzeum Sztuki, one of the first museums of modern art. Within this milieu, Szczekacz flourished as a second-generation artist, but his period of apprenticeship was short-lived. In late 1938, when Szczekacz was just 21, he left Łódź to study architecture in Belgium and the following year he emigrated to Palestine, bringing much of his work with him.

The works presented here were created in Łódź prior to Szczekacz’s emigration.

Untitled (construction), 1937
Gouache on paper, 19 1/4 x 19 1/4” (49 x 49 cm)

Untitled (construction), c. 1937
Gouache on board, 5 7/8 x 9 3/8” (15 x 24 cm)

Untitled (Unistic composition), c. 1937
Oil and string on wood, 19 1/4 x 19 3/8” (49 x 49.2 cm)

Untitled (typographic study), c. 1937
Gouache and ink on paper, 19 1/4 × 19 1/4″ (48.9 x 48.9 cm)
Formerly Merrill C. Berman Collection;
now The Museum of Modern Art, New York (505.2018)

Teka Malarska (Paintings portfolio)
Łódź: drukarnia “futurum,” 1938
Portfolio with thirteen color lithographs, mounted on paper
Cover: 12 x 8 1/2” (31 x 21.5 cm)
Lithographs: 6 x 6” (16 x 16 cm) and 4 x 6” (11 x 16 cm)

This portfolio, printed in Łódź, constituted something of a summary of Szczekacz’s work to date. In spring 1939, shortly after his arrival in Palestine, Szczekacz sent a copy to Jan Tschichold in Basel. Impressed, Tschichold showed it to his friend Hans (Jean) Arp, who in turn showed it to Sophie Taeuber-Arp for possible inclusion in her journal, Plastique. Szczekacz’s work never appeared in Plastique, however, as this journal—dedicated to international manifestations of abstraction—ceased publication with the spring 1939 issue due to the threat of war.

April 25, 2023