Jewish Museum (Manhattan)
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Website | thejewishmuseum |
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The Jewish Museum is an
History
The collection that seeded the museum began with a gift of Jewish ceremonial art objects from Judge Mayer Sulzberger to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America on January 20, 1904, where it was housed in the seminary's library. The collection was moved in 1931, with the Seminary, to 122nd and Broadway. The Jewish Theological Seminary received over 400 Jewish ceremonial items and created, 'The Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects', previously the Jacob Schiff Library.[1] The collection was subsequently expanded by major donations from Hadji Ephraim Benguiat and Harry G. Friedman. In 1939, in light of WWII, Poland sent about 350 objects to New York city from homes and synagogues in order to preserve them.
Following Felix Warburg's death in 1937, in January 1944 his widow Frieda donated the family mansion to the seminary as a permanent home for the museum, and the site opened to the public as 'The Jewish Museum' in May 1947.[4] Frieda Warburg said at the opening that the museum would not be a somber memorial, but rather a celebration of the Jewish faith and traditions.[1] The first expansion of the museum was the addition of a sculpture garden in 1959 by Adam List.[1] The building was expanded in 1963 and further by architect Kevin Roche in 1993.
In the 1960s, the museum took a more active role in the general world of contemporary art, with exhibitions such as
Today, the museum also provides educational programs for adults and families, organizing concerts, films, symposiums and lectures related to its exhibitions. Joan Rosenbaum was the museum's director from 1981 until her retirement in 2010. In 2006, the museum broke with its longstanding policy of being closed for Sabbath observance by offering free of charge public admission on Saturdays.[7]
In 2011 the museum named Claudia Gould as its new director. In 2012 Claudia Gould hired Jens Hoffmann Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs. In early December 2017, the Jewish Museum suspended Hoffmann from his position following allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him by multiple staff members. In the wake of that decision, the Honolulu Biennial cut its ties with Hoffmann, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit suspended him from his role as chief curator at large (a position from which he resigned later that month) and the Kadist Art Foundation similarly suspended him from his position as curator and adviser. The 3rd People's Biennial was supposed to take place at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art in 2019, with Hoffmann co-directing; however, the museum suspended its involvement with Hoffmann after the sexual harassment allegations at the Jewish Museum were not resolved. On December 17, 2017, the Jewish Museum terminated Hoffmann after a review of the allegations. Hoffmann denied "knowingly or purposefully [behaving] in a bullying, intimidating, harassing, or sexually inappropriate manner."
In 2022, Yale University historian Michael Casper criticized the museum's exhibition on Jonas Mekas for its lack of treatment of Mekas's role in editing two pro-Nazi newspapers during World War II.[8] Cultural historian Jeffrey Shandler told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "It would be problematic anywhere, in any museum. But I think it is doubly so in a Jewish museum. It really raises questions about their understanding of their mission."[9]
Building
The Felix M. Warburg House was constructed in François I (or châteauesque) style, 1906-1908 for Felix and Frieda Warburg, designed by C.P.H. Gilbert. François I style was originally found in New York City in the late 19th century through the works of Richard Morris Hunt.[10] Hunt was a renowned architect throughout the Northeast, particularly in New England and was one of the first American architects to study at the elite Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.[11] C.P.H. Gilbert was an apprentice of Hunt and emulated Hunt's classic Châteauesque style for the Warburg house while also adding some Gothic features.[10] The original house is built in limestone with mansard roofs, dripping moldings, and gables.[12] This architectural style was based on French revivalism and exuded wealth, a point which Felix Warburg wanted to make to his neighbors. It featured a green yard in front of the house, which was later converted into the museum's entrance.[1]
Renovations
Once converted into a museum, the architect Kevin Roche, who also designed additions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was selected to design additions to the Jewish Museum.[13] After $36 million, the development of 11,000 more square feet of exhibition space, and two and a half years, Roche finished his additions in June 1993.[14] He intended his additions to be a continuation of the museum's Gothic revival features. This is especially clear in the Fifth Avenue facade and the auditorium. The Fifth Avenue facade, made of Indiana limestone, is carved in Gothic revival style. The auditorium is set in a retrofitted Gothic revival style ballroom and finds uses for the mansion's stained-glass dome and screen. The cafe in the basement has stained glass windows.[13]
Although these additions that were intended as a continuation of the museum's Gothic revival features, Roche also included additions that were meant to prevent the museum from appearing outdated and modernizing the facilities. For instance, Roche ensured that the education center and the auditorium would have the appropriate technology for their purposes, such as interactive visual displays.[13]
Collections
The museum has nearly 30,000 objects including paintings,
Highlights
- Man Ray, Self-Portrait with Camera, 1930
- Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century, 1980
- Eva Hesse, Untitled, 1963–64
- Richard Avedon, Jacob Israel Avedon portraits, 1969–73
- Adolph Gottlieb, Return of the Mariner, 1946
- Deborah Kass, Double Red Yentl, Split, from My Elvis series, 1993
- Jan Pogorzelski, Hanukkah menorah, 1893
- James Tissot, Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise, c. 1896–1902
- Alfred Stieglitz, The Steerage, 1907
- Reuven Rubin, Goldfish Vendor, 1928
- Marc Chagall, Old Man with Beard, c. 1931
- Johann Adam Boller Hanukkah menorah, Frankfurt am Main (Germany), 1706–32
- Torah Arkfrom Adath Yeshurun Synagogue, Abraham Shulkin, 1899
Selected art exhibitions
This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2022) |
Some of the museum's important exhibitions have included:
- Primary Structures (1966)
- The Circle of Montparnasse: Jewish Artists in Paris, 1905–1945 (1985)
- The Dreyfus Affair: Art, Truth, and Justice (1987)
- Painting a Place in America: Jewish Artists in New York, 1900–1945 (1991)
- Too Jewish?: Challenging Traditional Identities (1996)
- Assignment: Rescue, The Story of Emergency Rescue Committee(1997)
- An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaïm Soutine (1998)
- Voice, Image, Gesture: Selections from The Jewish Museum's Collection, 1945–2000 (2001)
- Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art (2002)
- New York: Capital of Photography (2002)
- Modigliani Beyond the Myth (2004)[18]
- Eva Hesse: Sculpture (2006)
- Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940-1976 (2008)
- Shifting the Gaze: Painting and Feminism (2010–2011)
- Harry Houdini: Art and Magic (2010–2011)
- Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World) (2011)
- Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone sistersof Baltimore (2011)
- The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951 (2012)
- The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats (2012)
- Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel (2012)
- Édouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940 (2012)
- "Crossing Borders: Manuscripts from the Bodleian Library" (September 14, 2012 – February 3, 2013)
- "Sharon Lockhart Noa Eshkol" (November 2, 2012 – March 24, 2013)
- Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television (May 1 to September 27, 2015)
- "Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design" (November 4, 2016 – March 24, 2017)[19]
- "
- "The Sassoons" Exhibit from March 3 to August 13, 2023. Review in The New York Times. Review in The Wall Street Journal.
Gallery
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Female Figurine, Israel,[21] 800 -700 B.C.
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Female Votive Head Cyprus (?),[22] early 5th century B.C.
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Seder Plate, Tiered Seder Set, Eastern Galicia or Western Ukraine,[24] 18th-19th century
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Thomas Sully, Portrait of Sally Etting,[25] 1808
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Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, The Return of the Volunteer from the Wars of Liberation to His Family Still Living in Accordance with Old Customs,[26] 1833–34
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Solomon Alexander Hart, Simchat Torah at the Synagogue of Livorno, c. 1850
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New Year Greeting, Germany,[28] early 20th century
Programs
The Jewish Museum has a vast array of public educational programs which include talks and lectures, performances, hands on art making, group visits, specialist programming for visitors with disabilities, and resources for Pre-K-12 teachers.[29][30] Programming for visitors with disabilities can take a unique and special form, with exclusive access to the museum one day a month for a program like the Verbal Description Tour.[31][32] Participants are guided around sections of the empty museum by an art educator, who provides detailed, verbal descriptions of the art work, shares touch objects, and encourages discussion amongst the visitors. One participant described the ability to touch the art work as "...an honor, to be able to touch it. It felt like we were doing something so special, that other people can't do. So it actually creates an experience where you feel a connection to the art."[33]
Programming at the Jewish Museum caters for many different constituents, from live musical performances to events specifically curated for children, and families.
Management
As of 2013, the Jewish Museum operates on a $17 million annual budget.[37] Under Joan Rosenbaum's leadership the museum's collection grew to 26,000 objects, its endowment to more than $92 million and its annual operating budget to $15 million from $1 million in 1981.[38] Rosenbaum chose to emphasize the Jewish side of the museum's identity, creating the permanent exhibition "Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey," while also mounting shows of modern Jewish artists such as Chaïm Soutine and contemporary artists such as Maira Kalman.[39] In 2013, the museum's board chose Claudia Gould, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, as its new director.[39]
In 2015 Kelly Taxter was named one of the top 25 female curators in the world by ArtNet.[40]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e "The Jewish Museum History". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ "Felix Warburg Mansion" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 24, 1981. LP-1116. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
- ^ "Exhibitions". Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
- OL 1130718M.
- ^ a b Kimmelman, Michael (June 13, 1993). "A Museum Finds Its Time". The New York Times. p. H33. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Roberta (June 11, 1993). "Jewish Museum as Sum of Its Past". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- ^ "The David Berg Foundation Underwrites Free Saturdays at the Jewish Museum". Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
- ^ "World War II Revisionism at the Jewish Museum". Jewish Currents. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ Elia-Shalev, Asaf (May 12, 2022). "Historian accuses NY's Jewish Museum of sanitizing filmmaker's World War II record in new exhibit". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ a b "Landmarks Preservation Commission" (PDF). NYC.Gov. nyc.gov. November 24, 1981. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ Roth, Leland (2009). "Hunt, Richard Morris". North Carolina Architects and Builders. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (August 11, 1991). "The Warburg Mansion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
- ^ a b c Muschamp, Herbert (June 11, 1993). "Review/Architecture; Jewish Museum Renovation: A Celebration of Gothic Style". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker". Archived from the original on January 25, 2009.
- ^ Masterworks of The Jewish Museum. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
- ^ "Jewish Museum Reopens Sunday". The New York Times. June 6, 1993. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
- ^ Modigliani: Beyond the Myth Exhibition press release, The Jewish Museum, New York 2004 Archived March 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 7, 2011
- ^ Smith, Roberta (November 3, 2016). "The Virtual Splendor of Paris's Glass House". New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
- ^ "Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Female Votive Head". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Thomas Sully, Sally Etting, Paintings". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013.
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Jewish Museum (Manhattan, NY)". UrbanAreas.net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "Programs". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "The Jewish Museum". New Learning Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "Programs - Visitors with Disabilities". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- New Learning Times. Archivedfrom the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ "Check Out What's Happening at The Jewish Museum This Spring". renoirhouse.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Kressel, Hannah (June 26, 2019). "Interning at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan". Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- ^ Markovitz, Jennifer B. (December 2008). "A Multi-Cultural Destination Sharing Jewish Art and Traditions With a Diverse Audience". Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses: 20–22pp. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
- New York Times.
- New York Times.
- ^ New York Times.
- ^ "25 Women Curators On the Rise - artnet News". March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- "Current Exhibitions" at the Jewish Museum website
- "Past Exhibitions" at the Jewish Museum website
- Jewish Museum (Manhattan) within Google Arts & Culture