Bruno Schulz Drawing of Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks

Bruno Schulz (1892 – 1942) is considered one of the great writers of the 20th century. His too brief literary career ended in the midst of World War II when he was gunned down by a Nazi officer while walking home with a loaf of bread. John Updike, one of his many later admirers, described Schulz as “one of the great writers, one of the great transmogrifiers of the world into words.” Cynthia Ozick called Schulz “one of the most original imaginations in modern Europe”. While Nobel Prize winners Isaac Bashevis Singer and Olga Tokarczuk both praised Schulz; the latter described Schulz as “the genius of the Polish language.” Schulz’s best known work, The Street of Crocodiles (1934), was itself transmogrified into a remarkable 1986 film of the same name by the Brother’s Quay. If you haven’t seen it — you must. It is extraordinary – and certainly one of the most memorable and poetic films I have ever seen!

Schulz was a Polish Jew. And regrettably, several of his works were lost in the Holocaust, including short stories from the early 1940s as well as his unfinished novel, The Messiah. Schulz was also a gifted visual artist who illustrated his own writings. In 1990, a comprehensive but not complete collection of Schulz’s drawings was published. Other of his visual work was published in the 1988 book, Letters and Drawings of Bruno Schulz. Some years ago I came across one of Schulz’s drawings, reproduced in the latter volume, which I feel depicts Marlene Dietrich and Louise Brooks. This now presumed lost pencil or charcoal drawing is titled “Encounter,” and it was published in 1930 in the Yiddish journal Custztajer (Contribution), from Lwów (then part of Poland, now part of Ukraine).

bruno schulz drawing — photo by Marek Holzman

If I am correct, this little known drawing depicts two of the most alluring stars in Europe at the time it was published, 1930. On the left, the standing Brooks-like figure with a distinct bob is garbed in showgirl attire, a la Brooks as Lulu in Pandora’s Box, while the pouting Dietrich figure is seated with legs crossed, a la Dietrich as Lola on stage in The Blue Angel. (Lulu and Lola = two sides of the same archetype.) Though published in Custztajer in 1930, the caption in Letters and Drawings of Bruno Schulz states this drawing dates from “about 1920.” If I am correct in identifying the figures as Brooks and Dietrich, then that earlier date is wrong, as neither actress was known in Europe at the time.

This drawing is typical of Schulz’s other work. I would very much like to take a look at the 1930 issue of Custztajer in which this illustration appeared. Perhaps there is some context which might further illuminate its origin or history. However, I have been stymied when trying to find this publication online. Does anyone know if it is available. I admit to not knowing on which date or in which issue it appeared. I also tried to track down the photographer of the reproduction, Marek Holzman. But he is deceased.