ARTHUR SZYK (1894-1951)
Israel Bond certificate study. Study for the first Israel Bond certificate, c. 1950. Ink and watercolor on paper, 349x489 mm; 13 3/4x19 1/4 inches (sheet). Faded signature in lower right corner, "SZYK." Israel Bonds came into existence after Israel's War of Independence, when the nation was critically short of economic resources. Realizing that the struggling country desperately needed financial resources, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared that the government bonds "must be mobilized by the Jewries of the world, and especially," he emphasized, "the Jews of the United States." Szyk's well-established love of the Land of Israel influenced his decision to create the artwork and raise funds for the newborn Jewish state. The first bond was issued in February 1951, prior to Szyk's death in September that year.Source: Israel Bonds | Invest in Israel. (n.d.). https://www.israelbonds.com/News-Events/The-Enterprise-that-Helped-Build-Israel-Turns-70.aspx