Take a Really, Really Close Look

The Scribe, 1927. Transparent and opaque watercolor. Collection of Irvin Ungar

Take a break over the holidays to look closely at Arthur Szyk’s miniature paintings and modern illuminations at the Legion of Honor. Don’t hesitate to pick up one of the magnifying glasses in the gallery to see how many of treasures you can find. Use the list below to get started, and then increase the challenge level to diabolical for fellow blog readers with your own discoveries. Comment often. The hunt is on!

• Keys
• Bagpipe
• Spurs
• Reindeer
• Airplane
• Skeleton
• Harp
• Beaver
• Train
• Jester
• Monkey with a top hat
• Microscope
• King George VI (the real king, not Colin Firth)
• U.S. dollar bill
• Medieval German tapestry
• Picasso painting
• Dragon
• Unicorn
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Empire State Building
• Hookah (tobacco water pipe)
• Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates
• Document freeing slaves (written by a friend of Thomas Jefferson)
• Female Jewish resistance fighter
• Louis Pasteur
• Frederic Chopin
• Pony Express rider
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• British military ship
• Motto of the Order of the Garter: “Evil to him who thinks evil” (hint: it’s in French)
• Adolph Hitler serving beer in a Bierpalast
• Hitler playing poker
• Arabic calligraphy
• French cook
• Benito Mussolini serving roasted pig to Germanic warriors
• Lion
• Rooster
• Coat of arms
• Westminster Abbey

Kazimierz Pulaski, from the Polish American Fraternity series, 1938. Transparent and opaque watercolor. Collection of Irvin Ungar

Bonus

• How many times does King David appear in the exhibition?
• How many Arthur Szyk self-portraits did you find?

Arthur Szyk, Paris, 1930s. Photo credit: Louvre Studio