“Man Reading,” or “Man Liberated by Books”

The Ukrainian-born artist Jacques Hnizdovsky was a student when the outbreak of World War II forced him to flee. He ultimately settled in the East Bronx, where he became a leading printmaker and painter best known for refined depictions of subjects ranging from flora and fauna to portraiture. In this powerful canvas, Hnizdovsky depicts an individual calmly reading a book while bound, mummy-like. Unclear is whether we see the reader in the act of being wrapped, or if, as an alternate title suggests, the act of reading is freeing the figure from its bonds.

This painting, with Hnizdovsky’s papers and additional prints and designs, were donated by the artist’s family. The collection forms part of the Library’s extensive holdings of Slavic and Eastern European materials.