We Are Patriarchs: Paintings by Elke Reva Sudin
One way to understand the biblical is through contemporary eyes, literally. And so artist Elke Reva Sudin has recast biblical figures through contemporary portraits. The juxtaposition is revealing.
Bradford’s Borders Revisited
John Bradford’s paintings span over 40 years of intensive exploration of the joys of the biblical narrative. He has explicated its myriad passionate moments from almost every narrative in Genesis, Exodus, Bamidbar to the stories of Tanach such as Ruth and Naomi,…
Visualizing the Bible in a New Light
The rather large grasshoppers all have different human faces. The trees have human bodies with branches sprouting out of their heads. The animals in the Peaceable Kingdom garden seated at Isaiah’s feet are painted purple, pink, blue and…
Heroes of Ancient Israel: The Playing Card Art of Arthur Szyk
Arthur Szyk (1894, Lodz, Poland–1951, New Canaan, USA) was a driven man determined to serve his people through his art. A passionate supporter of Jabotinsky’s Revisionist Zionists from at least the mid-1930s. Szyk’s art…
Chagall Redux
Chagall’s reputation needs no burnishing and yet refinements are always welcome. Indeed the Nassau County Museum of Art has mounted a wonderfully extensive survey of Chagall’s works with a unique emphasis on his 1957 Bible series of hand-colored etchings that significantly casts many…
Beyond Hasidic Expressionism
Passion of belief can certainly lead to passion of expression, especially for an artist. Rosa Katzenelson’s paintings and digital artwork currently at the Hadas Gallery in Brooklyn could easily define the very essence of religious expressionism. As a Chabad devotee, every aspect…
Jacqueline Nicholls: New Works
Jacqueline Nicholls, a Jewish artist from England, presents us with a formidable challenge. Namely; what is the role of a contemporary Jewish Woman artist and how does one confront patriarchal dominance? She presents her response to both queries in her current…
Forever Young, Forever Old: Panoramas of Israel
Photographs seems like cruel little slices from the past, frozen images of what will never be again. Since we assume that the photographic image is, by and large, a factual view of some reality, it is inherently believed…
Paintings by Diana Kurz
Reaching back in time to reclaim a family for herself and, in a yahrzeit moment, to rekindle lives snuffed out, Diana Kurz’s paintings stand as testaments to victims of the Holocaust, one by one. After a successful 20 year career as…
Bartolo’s Sacred Narrative
The Museum of Biblical Art in New York has mounted a remarkable exhibition with Bartolo di Fredi’s 14th century masterpiece, Adoration of the Magi. This small but powerful exhibition, but one of many in the 7-year history of MOBIA, is an exploration…
The Book of Lamentations: Illustrated by Mark Podwal
In 1974 Mark Podwal, noted author, illustrator and physician, created a spare, illustrated Book of Lamentations. This complete English translation is graced with 28 black and white illustrations, or more correctly, reflections, on the tragic text. Podwal…
Holzman’s Torah For the Eyes
Earlier this year I was presenting my survey of Jewish art, “A Jewish Art Primer,” in a West Hartford, Connecticut synagogue and during the intermission a local artist, David Holzman, introduced himself to me. He relayed his rich and fascinating…