Jewish art
- Art made by Jews; or Judaica — objects associated with Jewish religious figures, places, practices, or
beliefs. [Expect
a more in-depth article to appear here soon!]
The Israel Museum says "It is customary to see Israeli art as beginning with the founding of the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem in 1906. The teachers who were brought to the school from Europe are considered the first Israeli artists."
The word "Semite" denotes a member of Semitic-speaking people: a member of a Semitic-speaking people of Southwest Asia, including the Arab and Jewish peoples, and the ancient Assyrians, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Phoenicians. This word is also loosely used in slang for a Jew, and such uses are always offensive.
Semitic culture: the customs, traditions, language, and characteristics of Semitic people
"Semitism" can be the customs, manners, and ideas characteristic of the Semites, especially those of the Jews. It often stands for policies favorable to Jews, or any predisposition in favor of Jews.
Anti-Semitism is the strong dislike or cruel and unfair treatment of Jewish people. There is a history of anti-semitic propaganda, for instance. Anti-Semitic art — ant-Semitica — can have all the potential xenophobic ugliness found in hate art of all sorts. Typical of its ilk are stereotypical ways in which Jewish people are portrayed, generally as hook-nosed power-grabbers who are the causes of all manner of problems. "There are two
Examples:
Foundation Stone from the Third Wall of Jerusalem, 41-70 C.E., carved limestone, 22 x 40 x 20 inches (55.9 x 101.6 x 50.8 cm), The Jewish Museum, NY.
Rome, 3rd - 4th century C.E., Burial Plaque, carved and painted marble, The Jewish Museum, NY. See Roman art.
Italian, Torah Ark: Urbino Ark, c. 1500, refurbished 1624, carved and painted wood, 94 1/8 x 109 13/16 x 34 inches (239 x 279 x 86.4cm), The Jewish Museum, NY.
Samuel Hirszenberg (Polish, 1865-1908).
Marc Chagall (French, born Belarus, 1887-1985; in France 1910-14, 1923-41; U.S.A. 1941-48; France 1948-85), Standing Nude, 1904, pencil on paper, 12 x 8 1/8 inches (30.5 x 20.7 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Marc Chagall, I and the Village, 1911, oil on canvas, 6 feet 3 5/8 inches x 59 5/8 inches (192.1 x 151.4 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. See Surrealism.
Marc Chagall, The Poet with the Birds, 1911, oil on canvas, 28 1/2 x 39 inches, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Marc Chagall, Birthday (L'Anniversaire), 1915, oil on cardboard, 31 3/4 x 39 1/4 inches (80.6 x 99.7 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. Chagall's Study for Birthday, 1915, pencil on paper, 9 x 11 1/2 inches (22.9 x 29.2 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Marc Chagall, Over Vitebsk (Au dessus de Vitebsk), 1915-20 (after a painting of 1914), oil on canvas, 26 3/8 x 36 1/2 inches (67 x 92.7 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Marc Chagall, Homage to Gogol (design for curtain [not executed] for Gogol festival, Hermitage Theatre, St. Petersburg, 1919), 1917, gouache and pencil on paper, 15 1/2 x 19 3/4 inches (39.4 x 50.2 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Marc Chagall, The Red Bouquet, 1969, color lithograph, 56 x 38 cm, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran.
Chaïm Soutine (Russian-French, 1893/4-1943), The Bellhop, 1928, oil on canvas, 98 x 80.5 cm, Georges Pompidou Center, Paris. See Expressionism.
Ben Shahn (American, born Lithuania, 1898-1969), The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti, from the series "The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti", 1931-32, tempera on canvas, 84 1/2 x 48 inches (214.6 x 121.9 cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. See social realism.
Raphael Soyer (American, born in Russia, 1899-1987), Entering the Studio, c. 1935, oil on canvas, Columbia Museum of Art, SC. See studio.
Mark Rothko (American, 1903-1970), Number 10, 1950, oil on canvas, 7 feet 6 3/8 inches x 57 1/8 inches (229.6 x 145.1 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY. See Abstract Expressionism.
Mark Rothko, Number 73, 1952, oil on canvas, 55 3/8 x 30 3/8 inches, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.
Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1968, synthetic polymer paint on paper, 17 7/8 x 23 7/8 inches (45.4 x 60.8 cm), Museum of Modern Art, NY.
Isaac Soyer (American, 1907-1981), Employment Agency, 1937, oil on canvas, 34 1/4 x 45 inches (87 x 114.3 cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, NY. See social realism.
George Segal (American, 1924-2000). See Pop Art and sculpture.
Louis Goldman (American, born Germany, 1925-1996).
Nancy Spero (American, born 1926), Masha Bruskina, 1995, synthetic polymer on canvas, 122 1/4 x 146 1/2 inches (310.5 x 372.1 cm), The Jewish Museum, NY.
Yaacov Agam (Israeli, 1928-).
Magdalena Abakanowicz (Polish, 1930-), Hand-LikeTree: Cecyna, 1994, cast bronze, height 12 feet, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ.
Robert Arneson (American, 1930-1992)
R. B. Kitaj (American, 1932-), Study for the Jewish School (Joe Singer as a Boy), 1980, pastel and charcoal on paper; sheet: 30 3/4 x 23 inches (78.1 x 58.4 cm), The Jewish Museum, NY.
Haim Steinbach (Israeli, 1944-)
David Reeb (Israeli, 1952-).
Deborah Kass (American, 1952-), Double Red Yentl, Split (My Elvis), 1993, screenprint and synthetic polymer on canvas; overall: 72 1/4 x 72 inches (183.5 x 182.9 cm); right panel: 72 x 36 1/8 inches (182.9 x 91.8 cm); left panel: 72 1/4 x 36 inches (183.5 x 91.4 cm), Jewish Museum, NY. See feminist art.
Nan Goldin (American, 1953-), Self-portrait in Blue Bathroom, London, 1980, silver dye bleach print, The Jewish Museum, NY. See feminist art and photography.
Michael David (American, 1954-).
Joel Otterson (American, 1959-).
Tova Beck-Friedman (American, born in Israel), Excerpts of a Lost Forest: Homage to Ashera, 1992, ferro-cement, vinyl concrete, black pigment, five elements, each about 96 inches high, Grounds For Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ.
Also see Roman, Byzantine, ethnic, and Islamic art.
