Synopses & Reviews
Covering nearly two centuries, Jewish Art examines the art made by Jews across Europe, America, and Israel. Through nearly a hundred and fifty illustrations, many published here for the first time, Samantha Baskind and Larry Silver present a broadly accessible survey of Jewish art.
Baskind and Silver ask specifically “What is Jewish art?” and examine the ambiguities of the Jewish experience, both religious and cultural. Rather than providing reductive classifications of the subject, they consider the variety of ways Jewish artists have defined themselves and their works. Looking at the work of European and American artists, including Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, Maurycy Gottlieb, Camille Pisarro, Marc Chagall, Miriam Schapiro, Eva Hesse, Barnett Newman, and Archie Rand, in addition to contemporary Israeli artists, Jewish Art provides a comprehensive and approachable account of a complex subject.
Review
and#8220;Jewish Art accomplishes the impossible. A readable survey (for the general reader); a concise overview (perfect for class use), a theoretical critique (for the art historian as well as the Jewish Studies specialist). This volume makes the question of Jewish Art and the Jewish Artist central to its history, beginning with the questions of and#8216;whoand#8217; and and#8216;whatand#8217; and ending with the conflicts and confluences between Israeli and Diaspora Jewish culture. A must buy.and#8221; and#8212; Sander L. Gilman, Emory University
Review
and#8220;
Jewish Art: A Modern History is a beautiful book and an impressive achievement. Addressing what it means to make, or to witness, Jewish art, Baskind and Silver have compiled this most complete overview of those factors, which bind a historical trajectory to contemporary developments. It is both an accessible academic resource and a rich introduction for the interested reader, offering a history of both the social and personal conditions which have continued to generate art objects that reflect on Jewishness. The generous arc of balance, in its erudition and analysis, is bracing, making
Jewish Art an important contribution to studies in art history.and#8221;and#8211;and#8211;Archie Rand
Synopsis
Looking at the work of European artists including Moritz Daniel Oppenheim and Maurycy Gottlieb, Camille Pissarro and Marc Chagall, to those in the United States, such as Miriam Schapiro and Eva Hesse, Barnett Newman, and Archie Rand, as well as contemporary Israeli artists, Jewish Art: A Modern History provides a comprehensive, probing and lucid account of a complex subject. It is ideal for all general readers interested in the subject, and invaluable to students of Jewish art and history, as well as scholars in the field.This lavishly illustrated volume, featuring numerous works published for the first time, offers a coherent discussion of the vexed question of what constitutes Jewish art today.
About the Author
Samantha Baskind is associate professor of art history at Cleveland State University and specializes in modern American art and culture as well as twentieth-century Jewish art across borders. She is the author of Raphael Soyer and the Search for Modern Jewish Art (2004) and Encyclopedia of Jewish American Artists (2007), a College and Research Libraries Selected Reference Work, 2006-7. The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches (co-edited with Ranen Omer-Sherman), was published in 2008. She served as editor for U.S. art for the 26-volume revised edition of the Encyclopedia Judaica. Recent articles have appeared in Art Criticism, American Art, Jewish Social Studies, and History of Photography.LARRY SILVER, the Farquhar Professor of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania, is a specialist in painting and graphics of Northern Europe and has authored books in art history ranging from a general survey text (Art in History, 1993) to an exhibition of prints by modern Jewish artists (Transformation: Jews and Modernity, 2001).and#160; He is the author of several recent books: Pieter Bruegel (2011); The Essential Danduuml;rer (with Jeffrey Chipps Smith, 2010); Rembrandtandrsquo;s Faith (with Shelly Perlove, 2009); Marketing Maximilian (2008), Hieronymus Bosch (2006); and Peasant Scenes and Landscapes (2006).and#160; He has also contributed to numerous print exhibitions, most notably Grand Scale: Monumental Prints in the Age of Danduuml;rer and Titian (with Elizabeth Wyckoff, 2008).and#160; Recent publications on topics related to Jewish art include essays and reviews in anthologies by Oxford, Cambridge, and Routledge as well as the Jewish Quarterly Review (with Samantha Baskind).and#160; He taught previously at Berkeley and Northwestern.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. A Prequel to Modernity
2. Inventing the Jewish Artist in Europe
3. Revolutions in Art and Politics
4. Art, America and Acculturation
5. Art and the Holocaust, Survival and Remembrance
6. Home to Israel
Conclusions: Diaspora and Homeland(s)
References
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index