
Crossing Borders: Manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries
September 14, 2012 - February 3, 2013
Over fifty manuscripts, many of them illuminated, from the renowned Bodleian Libraries at Oxford, highlight the role of Hebrew books as a meeting place of cultures in the Middle Ages. Many of these works are on view in the United States for the first time.
Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940
May 4, 2012 - September 23, 2012
This exhibition features key works in various media by Edouard Vuillard, the twentieth-century master whose unique blend of tradition and modernity evokes the refined and sophisticated society of his patrons, many of whom were Jewish.
Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel
March 9, 2012 - July 29, 2012
Contemporary American painter Kehinde Wiley’s new series The World Stage: Israel—vibrant large-scale portraits of Israeli youths from diverse ethnic and religious affiliations, each embedded in a unique background influenced by Jewish ritual objects—is featured along with the artist’s selection of traditional Jewish papercuts and textiles from The Jewish Museum’s collection.
The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951
November 4, 2011 - March 25, 2012
The Radical Camera offers a comprehensive look at the Photo League, a group of politically engaged street photographers who captured city life from the end of the Great Depression to the start of the Cold War. Featuring more than 140 works by some of the most noted 20th-century photographers, including Berenice Abbott, Sid Grossman, Lisette Model, Aaron Siskind, Paul Strand, and Weegee.
The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats
September 9, 2011 - January 29, 2012
This exhibition features over 80 original works by the award-winning author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day, the first modern full-color picture book to feature an African-American protagonist.
Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore
May 6, 2011 - September 25, 2011
Featuring over 50 works of art—by Matisse, Picasso, Gauguin, Renoir, van Gogh and more—from The Baltimore Museum of Art’s world-renowned Cone Collection, this exhibition focuses on the remarkable vision of two Jewish sisters and collectors, Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, and the personal relationships they formed with artists such as Matisse and Picasso, as they shaped their extraordinary collection.
Shifting the Gaze: Painting and Feminism
September 12, 2010 - January 30, 2011
This exhibition explores the origins and impact of feminism on contemporary painting from the 1960s to now. Eva Hesse, Joan Snyder, Deborah Kass, and many other artists forged new avenues for painting by expanding its subjects and inventing new techniques in abstraction, collage, and realism.
Curious George Saves the Day: The Art of Margret and H.A. Rey
March 14, 2010 - August 1, 2010
America’s favorite monkey, the irrepressible Curious George, is always in trouble! In a great turn of fate, he helped his creators get out of life-threatening danger. Nearly 80 original drawings for Margret and H. A. Rey's children’s books and documentation related to their escape from Nazi-occupied Europe are on view.
Reinventing Ritual: Contemporary Art and Design for Jewish Life
September 13, 2009 - February 7, 2010
Reinventing Ritual is the first international exhibition to survey Jewish ritual as a vital site of experimentation in contemporary art and design since the 1990s. Nearly sixty groundbreaking works in diverse media, from jewelry to video to architecture, by 58 leading artists reveal the intersections of creative freedom and ethical practice.
They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust
May 10, 2009 - October 1, 2009
They Called Me Mayer July presents over 80 paintings and drawings by Mayer Kirshenblatt vividly chronicling life in Opatów, Poland (Apt in Yiddish) in the 1920s and early 30s. Kirshenblatt left for Canada in 1934 and taught himself to paint at age 73 so he could share his memories of the vibrant Jewish world found in the Poland of his youth.
Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker
March 15, 2009 - August 2, 2009
This exhibition presents rarely-seen Old Master paintings collected by Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Jewish art dealer in Amsterdam prior to World War II. In 1940, Goudstikker was forced to flee war-torn Europe. His gallery, which contained approximately 1,400 works of art, was looted by the Nazis. Recently his family reclaimed 200 paintings from the Dutch government; the finest of these works will be on view in this exhibition.
Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater, 1919-1949
November 9, 2008 - March 22, 2009
Through paintings, costume and set designs, posters, photographs, film clips and theater ephemera this exhibition brings to light an exhilarating but fleeting moment in the cultural history of the Soviet Union when innovative visual artists joined forces with avant-garde playwrights, actors, and theatrical producers.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Mysteries of the Ancient World
September 21, 2008 - January 4, 2009
In 1947, a significant discovery of ancient Jewish texts was made in a cave near the Dead Sea. These and other Dead Sea Scrolls found later have shed light on the major transformations and debates that occurred in ancient worship during the first centuries BCE and CE, that contributed to the development of early Judaism and Christianity. This exhibition will present six Dead Sea Scrolls complemented by objects excavated from the site near where they were found. Three of the scrolls have never been exhibited, including a portion of one of the three earliest copies of the Hebrew Bibles in existence, and three others have never been shown in New York.
March 16, 2008 - March 27, 2008
Off the Wall: Artists at Work is a two-week open studio project featuring 11 artists working and performing in the galleries. Representing a new generation with strong Jewish social networks or a familiarity with Jewish rituals and symbols, artists will create a work-in-progress and exhibit other work in various media including fashion, music, performance art, video and new technologies. Events include concerts, salons, a runway show, and a Purim party.
From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig
November 4, 2007 - March 16, 2008
William Steig was a brilliant cartoonist for The New Yorker and an award-winning, beloved author of children's books, including Shrek! and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. This exhibition delves into every phase of Steig's prolific career, which spanned eight decades.
Camille Pissarro: Impressions of City and Country
September 16, 2007 - February 3, 2008
Camille Pissarro was among the preeminent French Impressionists. Nearly 50 paintings and works on paper--including rarely-seen masterworks--explore his interest in the urban environment and rural countryside outside Paris where he lived and worked.
The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend
May 5, 2007 - September 16, 2007
Louise Nevelson, a towering figure in 20th century American art, continues to inspire artists today through her pioneering installations and sculptures made of found wood. This exhibition, the first major survey of Nevelson's work since 1980, includes 66 sculptures, works on paper, and two room-size masterworks.
Entertaining America: Jews, Movies, and Broadcasting
February 21, 2003 - September 14, 2003
Over the past century, the various connections between American Jews and the nation's entertainment media have generated a discussion that has been extensive, passionate, and, at times, contentious.