Three Works of Jewish Art
"And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee…" (Devorim 28:66). Rav interpreted this as applying to Israel in the time of Haman (Esther Rabbah, Proem). This time may be upon us. There can be no certainty when war is…
Times Of Hope, Seasons Of Despair
The auction of fine Judaica at Kestenbaum & Company unfolds a quilt of diverse Jewish history. As they are auctioned off to the highest bidder, the saga of the Jewish people is traced in these objects and in their…
36 Paintings
Janet Shafner is one of the most exciting and intelligent painters I have come across in many years. As an observant Jewish artist she has chosen Tanach, Midrash, Talmud and its commentaries as her inspiration and subject matter. In crafting her complex images…
Reflections of Biblical Texts by John Bradford
Form, content and meaning are the essential elements of every work of art. Form is the specific means and manner of expression a work of art assumes. Style and process are extensions of form. Content is the subject…
Hyman Bloom's Journey
A creative life is laid out before us, how do we understand it? And since it is definitely not finished (the artist is ninety and still painting in a newly constructed studio in Nashua, New Hampshire), it is a travesty to attempt…
The Inner View of Isidor Kaufmann
The Portrait of a Young Boy by Isidor Kaufmann, offered at auction on November 12, 2002 by Kestenbaum & Company, is one of many singular paintings by this unappreciated master of Jewish art. This modest little portrait, only nine…
The Choice of Photography
What makes a great photograph? Is it something that merely warms the heart or unlocks the memory? Or might it be something more? Great photographs rise above our individual loves and ethnic interests and exhibit at least four essential elements; compelling…
New York: Capital of Photography at the Jewish Museum
"I think there are two kinds of photography—Jewish photography and goyish photography. If you look at modern photography, you will find, on the one hand the Weegees, the Diane Arbuses, the Robert Franks—funky photographs. And then…
Sacred, Profane or Art?
PART I
Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art, which opened at the Jewish Museum on March 17, consistently elicits either passionate denunciation or thoughtful praise. Edward Rothstein, commenting on the show in The New York Times, characterizes this phenomenon as a result…
The Painted Shul
First Study Hall, Hebron, Mural by Archie Rand, 1978, B’nai Yosef Synagogue, Brooklyn, New York
In 1978, almost a year after Archie Rand had finished the upstairs murals at the B’nai Yosef synagogue in Brooklyn, he was invited to create additional murals downstairs…
The Painted Shul
“Stylistic unity is blasphemy in synagogue decoration. Such unity becomes an act of hubris on the part of the artist,” declares artist Archie Rand, explaining the aesthetics of the wildly diverse murals at the B’nai Yosef synagogue in Brooklyn. His unique artistic…
The Painted Shul
At the corner of Ocean Parkway and Avenue P in Brooklyn stands Congregation B’nai Yosef, a distinguished Sephardi synagogue affectionately known as the “Painted Shul.” From the street it is an unremarkable structure; a freestanding early nineteen-seventies building sporting a three-story brick…