New York art lovers have a rare treat this fall: The Metropolitan Museum of Art is showing The Parade (ca. 1950), an extraordinary cycle of 63 drawings by Polish-born artist Si Lewen, in the first public exhibition of the complete work since the Museum acquired it in 2024.
On view through January 5, 2027, in Gallery 690 at The Met Fifth Avenue, the charcoal, pencil, and ink drawings unfold like a silent visual story, moving from military pageantry through conflict and mourning, all the way to reflection on the human condition. Lewen himself described his work as a wordless novel: “there are no words… just the picture itself is the narrative.”
The exhibition also honors a remarkable life. Born in Poland to Jewish parents and raised in Germany, Lewen fled Nazi persecution with his family in 1933 and later immigrated to the United States. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as one of the Ritchie Boys, a unit of German-speaking soldiers, and was present at Buchenwald shortly after its liberation in 1945.
Curated by Maria Castro, There Are No Words: Si Lewen’s Parade highlights one of the Museum’s most meaningful recent acquisitions and offers visitors a chance to discover an artist whose work speaks across generations through the quiet power of drawing.
Photo: Estate of Si Lewen and James Cohan, New York
