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Contemporary Jewish Art

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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…
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…
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…
Itshak Holtz Drawings Examining a choice selection of drawings done by Itshak Holtz over 30 years ago is a rare pleasure that allows for the appreciation of his unique sensitivity and insights.  I was afforded that pleasure at the inaugural exhibition of the Betzalel Gallery…
Robert Feinland’s Paintings One thing is certain about Robert Feinland.  He has shuls on his mind.  His career has spanned over 40 years, exploring landscape, cityscape, sculpture and abstraction.  For many of those years he has focused on the relentlessly changing urban landscape of New…
At the Bialystoker Home A quiet monument to the courage and determination of hundreds of thousands of Jews sits vulnerable on the Lower East Side at 228 East Broadway.  This location was the former of home of the Bialystoker Center, built in 1931.  For many…
The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936-1951 Boy Jumping into the Hudson River (1948) by Ruth Orkin reflects a tragic moment in the history of the New York photographic group, the Photo League.  On the surface simply a carefree moment of urban youth, and…
Making Torah Manifest: Nathan Hilu “Man must make the Torah manifest” in every action, speech and creative act.  That is clearly the credo of Nathan Hilu; master-artist of the Lower East Side, Torah, Tanach, midrash, Gemara and beyond.  There is seemingly nothing that doesn’t fall…
Zaslavsky’s Jews Jewish artists do the darndest things. The Chassidic Art Institute, expertly directed by Zev Markowitz, is currently showing Venyamin Zaslavsky, a Ukrainian Jewish artist who has devoted the last 20 years to depictions of pious Jewish life in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

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