Jewish Art 3600-SZ(L)-OG

The program of lectures has been designed to provide the audience with the broadest
possible background on Jewish art, its character, distinctiveness, and significance for the
Jewish community from ancient times until today. The course will cover all of the “history of
Israel,” both in the land of Israel and in the European diaspora.
Over the centuries the internal dynamics and development of Jewish art were influenced by
the principles of Judaism, although forms were often influenced by the art that developed in
the lands where Jews lived. To understand the distinctness of Jewish art it is important to get
to know the art of ancient Israel, including the Temple in Jerusalem – as the most important
source and model for Jewish iconography, religious symbolism and the spatial layout of
synagogues.
In the middle ages Jewish art acquired new features in Europe, and split into the art of
Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews. Of importance for the medieval period are the synagogues
preserved in Spain (Cordoba), Germany (Worms, Speyer, Mainz), Prague and Krakow. A
special unit will be devoted to Jewish art in Eastern Europe (15th-18th centuries), with
emphasis on Polish lands.
We will talk about illuminated manuscripts and the Jewish book, both as regards the
relationship between text and illustration (the Book of Esther and the Haggadah), as well as
the role of book illustration and design from the 16th century until modern times.
The 18th century ushered in new ideas which impacted the development of modern secular
culture and Jewish art, and altered synagogue architecture. New Jewish national movements
(integration, Zionism, Yiddishism) were all reflected in art. Artists took part in the creation of
a new Jewish iconosphere – a symbolic image of the nation, its history, culture, and place in
European and world culture. The 19th century saw the emergence of Jewish painters and
sculptors, including Josef Israels, Max Liebiermann, Mark Antokolski, and Maurycy Gottlieb.
The national style and iconography drew on motifs from Jewish symbolism (including religious
symbols) and folk culture. For the Jewish artists beginning their careers at the end of the 19th
century, entering the arena of culture and art meant having to take a stance on anti-
Semitism, the failure of assimilation, and Jewish nationalism. An important experience,
particularly for the artists from East-Central Europe, was the wave of pogroms that swept
through the Russian empire in 1903-1906. The paintings of Hirszenberg, Wachtel, Maimon
and Lilien spoke in a loud voice in the ideological discussion about the future of the Jews and
of their national life in Eastern Europe.
Large cities – Warsaw Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Paris, New York, and London – saw the
emergence of a Jewish public sphere, popular culture, press, theater, and exhibitions of
modern Jewish art (like the one organized in Warsaw in 1911). In Paris, a circle of artists
formed around the magazine Machmadim, (including Chagall, Szwarc, Tchaikov); similar
circles sprung up in Warsaw (I. L. Peretz and Ber Kratka), Moscow and St. Petersburg (An-ski,
Yudovin, El-Lissitzki).
The turn of the century saw the birth of modern Israeli art in Palestine, closely influenced by
European-Jewish art. The founding of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem in
1906 was key factor in this development.
The Russian revolution and the wave of pogroms during World War I shook the world of
Eastern European Jewry, as expressively portrayed in the art of Ryback, Maniewicz and
others. After the October Revolution in Russia Jewish art went through a brief period of

dynamic development (El Lissitzki, Tchaikov, the Kultur-lige). But already at the beginning of
the 20 th century the Jewish avant-garde moved to Berlin, Warsaw (Khaliastre) and Paris
(Chagall).
Jewish artists whose work did not display an overt national affiliation were also an integral
part of Jewish heritage, like the Dadaists or those who became part of the École de Paris.
During the interwar period, New York and Berlin became important centers of Jewish art.
Important art groups also sprung up in Warsaw, Lwow, Vilna and Krakow, from Yung-yidish to
Yung-vilne, exhibitions were organized and art associations founded (like the Jewish Society
for the Promotion of Fine Arts). New museums opened in Vilna and Lwow, aside from the
already existing Mathias Bersohn Museum in Warsaw.
During this time a new iconography (Ze’ev Raban) and new cities (Tel Aviv) took shape in
Palestine.
World War II brought the destruction of European Jewry along with their cultural heritage.
Jewish artists found themselves in ghettos (we will discuss examples from the Warsaw, Vilna
and Lodz ghettos), internment camps in France, concentration camps, and in all these places
they sought to continue their artistic work.
After the war, Jewish art developed in the shadow of the Holocaust. The Holocaust and
memory became important themes in the work of artists in Poland, France, the United States
and Israel.
Modern Israeli art is avant-garde, often critical of the Israeli state, exploring roots in the
diaspora.