Four Free Lectures on Jewish Art and Architecture by Sam Gruber
As it happens I'll be giving five talks and lectures on Jewish topics in Syracuse and Dewitt this month hand next. Four are deal specifically with Jewish art and architecture and are free and open to the public.
In addition, this Wednesday (February 5th), I'll be speaking about Jews and the Civil War at Syracuse Stage in conjunction with the current production of The Whipping Man, a play by Matthew Lopez, before the 2 pm matinee performance.
Here is information about talks at congregation Beth Sholom-Cheva Shas (February 16) and Temple Adath Yeshuran (March 9, 23, 30)
Sunday, February 16, 2014 (10:30
AM)
Sponsored By CBS-CS HAZAK, Men’s Club, Women’s Connection (Sisterhood)
Great Synagogues
of the World
Jews are the “People of Book”, but
surprisingly to many, they are also “People of the Building.” Given the opportunity, Jews have built
beautiful synagogues for their communities for hundreds of years. Inspired by the detailed architectural
accounts in the Bible, and also by their contemporary surroundings, Jews in
many places have fulfilled the concept of Hiddur Mitzvah (glorify the
commandment) through architecture and architectural decoration. Great synagogues have been built in Europe of
since Middle Ages, but especially since the lavish inauguration of the
Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam in the late 17th century the stream of
impressive Jewish buildings has continued with little interruption on every
inhabited continent throughout the world.
This lecture illustrates this architectural and artistic heritage with
historic and contemporary images, and traces its survival in the 21st century
with special emphasis on lesser known “great synagogues,” on recently restored
buildings, and on some of the newest synagogues built.
Three Lectures on Jewish
Art: Between Modernity and Modernism
The 19th century was a transformative period in
Jewish art. It was the century when
Jewish art and art by Jews moved from the synagogue and the home into the
public sphere. These three lectures
address different aspects of the new development in a variety of setting as
Jews encountered new media (oil painting, sculpture and photography) and
experimented with new themes and styles.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
(refreshment 9:30 AM; lecture at 10:00 AM)
Jewish Artistic
Identity and a New Jewish Art: 1825
-1925
Following the French Revolution, Jews gradually
achieved more and more political freedom in Europe, and by 1825 many Jews had
received secular educations and begun to participate in broad cultural and
artistic activities. Jews attended art,
design and architecture schools and began to compete in open competitions, and
also for private commissions. Throughout
a growing number of artists attended painting academies and exhibited in public
exhibition. While much of their work
reflect popular taste and common secular and even Christian religious themes,
they also produced a body of work based on the Hebrew Bible, synagogue life and
the Jewish in which they were raised and sometimes still were grounded. By the end of the 19th century,
academically trained artists were most overtly addressing Jewish social and
political themes in their art as well as religious traditions. In the independent studios of the early 20th
century many of these trends continued, though styles changes. Many Jewish artists actively engaged in and
promoted new art styles including impressionism, Art Nouveau, cubism, fauvism,
expressionism and constructivism – sometimes distancing themselves from all
things Jewish, and sometimes building on Jewish themes.
Sunday, March 23,
2014 (refreshment 9:30 AM; lecture at 10:00 AM)
Describing Jews:
Photography of Jews and Jewish Photographers
Art and ethnography came together in the
first part of the 20th century as Jewish photographers began to
document traditional Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Some of the intent was preserve memories of a
culture that was clearly changing; another part was already nostalgia –
something Jewish painters had already pioneered. From America, Jewish charities hired
photographers to document the needy conditions of Jews in order to help promote
aid programs and stimulate private contributions. But Jewish artists – including many women –
embraced photographer for its experimental and expressive qualities, too, and
Jewish photographers joined the new artistic avante-garde of Expressionism,
Constructivism and Dada, and also the new field of photo-journalism. In the
post-World War II period, American Jewish photographers turned their camera on
themselves and their more immediate environment. The New York School of photographers blended
autobiography, existentialism and a gritty realism to present a more varied
look at American than found in advertising and the mainstream media.
Sunday, March 30,
2014 (refreshment 9:30 AM; lecture at 10:00 AM)
Recent Trends in
Jewish Art: Who is Jewish and Whose Judaism?
In the past three decades Jewish art – and Jewish
artists as become self-aware. New
museums and galleries, and lectures like these have once again stirred debate
about what is “Jewish art?” Post-war Jewish artists grew up in a world
where Judaism was often defined by the Holocaust and Israel. But many artists raised on pop art, comic
books and TV, and having also witnessed the civil rights movement, ethnic
politics, feminism and other group empowerment programs, have pushed
traditional definitions of Jewish art to include new media and a whole new
range of subject matter. Importantly,
they have been quick to identify their work as Jewish or even “too Jewish” and
have used irony and often irreverent humor to address questions of religious,
cultural and ethnic identity. This
lecture looks are some of the many and often competing trends and some of the
most accomplished and sometimes provocative artists.
