Jewish Art in the Modern Era
Jewish Art in the Modern Era
- Larry SilverLarry SilverHistory of Art, University of Pennsylvania
- , and Samantha BaskindSamantha BaskindDepartment of Art, Cleveland State University
Summary
Before the 19th century, most artistic productions by Jewish makers were aligned with religious observance (“Judaica”) or consisted of printing Jewish texts after the development of the printing press and publishing houses. Over the course of the 19th century, coinciding with increasing Jewish political and intellectual emancipation, painters, sculptors, and graphic artists began to make contributions to visual culture, sometimes with markedly Jewish content, such as biblical subjects or imagery of Jewish life, but also with original contributions to favored artistic movements, such as Impressionism or 20th-century abstract art. Zionism generated a range of energetic contributions to an emerging culture, and Holocaust traumas produced powerful artistic responses. At the turn of the 20th century, leading centers of Jewish art centered on America and Israel but included the wider Diaspora.
Subjects
- Judaism and Jewish Studies
- Religion and Art