Past Exhibitions

Past Exhibitions  |  Current Special Exhibitions   |  Upcoming Exhibitions   |  Touring Exhibitions

Oil/Water—Mother/Daughter: Video and Photography by Mor Arkadir March 09, 2008 - June 22, 2008 The documentary film Oil, Water (2005) and photograph Overlap (2004) by Mor Arkadir, winner of the 2005 Adi Prize for Jewish Expression in Art and Design, explore the intersection between the artist’s secular world and her mother’s religious observance. Oil, Water is a 14-minute film depicting a 24-hour road trip in which mother and daughter confront generational differences, conflicting belief systems, and engine troubles. Arkadir's portrait Overlap depicts a microcosm of Israeli society that is at once diverse and contradictory. more about the exhibition

Pomegranate: A Video by Ori Gersht March 09, 2008 - June 22, 2008 Referencing a still life by 16th century Spanish artist Juan Sánchez Cotán, Ori Gersht’s eerie and painterly video features a ripe pomegranate dangling from a string and framed with other freshly harvested produce in a window. In slow motion a bullet slices through the fruit—a food symbolic of Bible, Jewish law, and Near Eastern culture—spraying blood-red seeds and flesh in the air. more about the exhibition

Off the Wall: Artists at Work 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. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig November 04, 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. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Repairing the World: Contemporary Ritual Art November 04, 2007 - March 16, 2008 This exhibition highlights a group of contemporary ceremonial artworks from The Jewish Museum’s collection. These works, innovative in design and message, explore a wide range of contemporary issues facing both modern Jewish life and broader society. more about the exhibition

Object of Desire: Yael Kanarek's World of Awe October 30, 2007 - February 24, 2008 Yael Kanarek presents digital prints and online art from the third chapter of her World of Awe integrated media project. Focusing on languages, alphabets, and Near Eastern themes, she weaves English, Arabic, and Hebrew into rich narratives and dazzling visuals. Please note, this exhibition is open Sunday through Thursday. more about the exhibition

Camille Pissarro: Impressions of City and Country September 16, 2007 - February 03, 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. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Lower East Side: Photographs by Bruce Davidson September 16, 2007 - February 03, 2008 Acclaimed photographer Bruce Davidson's intimate and moving images of writer Isaac Bashevis Singer and residents of New York City’s Lower East Side -- taken from 1957 to 1990 – reveal Singer's literary world of Holocaust survivors and East European Jewish immigrants. more about the exhibition

Love and Loss: A Video Trilogy by Neil Goldberg August 18, 2007 - October 14, 2007 Neil Goldberg’s videos—at once personal and detached, humorous and poignant—are anxious reflections on aging, mourning, and death. Goldberg uses family members as willing subjects and agents in his conceptual art. more about the exhibition

The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend May 05, 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. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Dateline Israel: New Photography and Video Art March 10, 2007 - August 05, 2007 Life in Israel provides inspiration for 23 artists in this wide-ranging exhibition. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Landslide: A New Media Installation by Shirley Shor March 10, 2007 - August 05, 2007 Combining custom software, video projection, and a sculptural element, Landslide addresses geography, contested borders, and political power. more about the exhibition

Children's Exhibition Our Great Garden: Nurturing Planet Earth September 26, 2004 - July 31, 2007 The Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam translates from Hebrew to “Repairing the World.” This new exhibition for families and children explores ways in which we can fulfill this value in our daily lives, through appreciation and protection of the natural environment. more about the exhibition

Alex Katz Paints Ada October 27, 2006 - March 18, 2007 For almost fifty years, the American painter Alex Katz has painted a series of portraits of his wife, Ada. These portraits raise fascinating questions, piquing us with how much they reveal and how much they conceal about their subject. more about the exhibition

Food for Thought: A Video Art Sampler October 31, 2006 - February 28, 2007 In these four videos from two generations of artists, food is a resource for memory, a way of connecting or disconnecting with family, and above all, a means of digesting one's own identity. Works include Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen (1975), Jessica Shokrian's Ameh Jhan (2001), Boaz Arad's Gefilte Fish (2005), and Laura Kronenberg's 1973 video of Abbie Hoffman making gefilte fish in the Chelsea Hotel. more about the exhibition

Light x Eight: The Hanukkah Project November 25, 2006 - February 04, 2007 In celebration of Hanukkah, this exhibition will explore how eight contemporary artists use the transformative properties of light to create luminous, magnificent visual objects and spaces. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Masters of American Comics September 15, 2006 - January 28, 2007 Throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, comic strips and comic books have been a tremendously influential form of mass media. Masters of American Comics brings together the work of fourteen artists, from Winsor McCay to Chris Ware, who have defined and expanded the possibilities of a vastly popular art form. more about the exhibition

Superheroes: Good and Evil in American Comics September 15, 2006 - January 28, 2007 Comic book superheroes created from 1938 to 1950, such as Superman and Batman, are presented in this exhibition. The show includes art by 15 Jewish comic book artists and writers—among them, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, and Bob Kane and Bill Finger—and illuminates how the comic characters these artists created explored the battles of good and evil before, during, and after World War II. more about the exhibition

Idol Worship: Video by Ariela Plotkin and Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay July 03, 2006 - October 26, 2006 Casting themselves in star roles, artists Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay, and Ariela Plotkin use music video and celebrity pop culture as a means to transgress conventions and to resist the allurements of contemporary society. more about the exhibition

Counting Omer April 18, 2006 - October 22, 2006 Count the omer with this interactive version of Saphyr, the omer calendar by Tobi Kahn. more about the exhibition

Eva Hesse: Sculpture May 12, 2006 - September 17, 2006 The first major New York museum exhibit of Eva Hesse’s sculpture since 1972 will focus on large-scale works she created in the years 1965-70. Also featured: never-before-exhibited family diaries, photos, and letters. more about the exhibition

Max Liebermann: From Realism to Impressionism March 10, 2006 - July 30, 2006 Approximately 45 paintings by Max Liebermann (1847-1935)—the majority of which have never been seen by an American audience—will highlight stylistic changes in Liebermann's art, as he introduced modernism to Germany, and became one of his country's most renowned cultural figures. more about the exhibition

Homecooked: Video by Guy Ben-Ner, Silvia Gruner, and Ohad Meromi March 01, 2006 - June 29, 2006 more about the exhibition

Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama December 02, 2005 - April 02, 2006 The first major museum show ever devoted to the great French actress will illuminate her life and art through painting, sculpture, photography, costumes, jewelry, stage designs, her furniture and personal effects, as well as selected films and recordings. more about the exhibition

On View in the Goodkind Media Center: Mix and Match: Love, Religion, and Cultural Diversity on TV November 01, 2005 - February 28, 2006 This 30-minute compilation of video clips from the Museum’s broadcast archive examines portrayals of interfaith and intercultural love on television. more about the exhibition

The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography September 23, 2005 - January 29, 2006 Through works by distinguished contemporary photographers and video artists, this exhibition will explore the remarkably diverse face of Jewish life in the United States today. more about the exhibition

On View in the Goodkind Media Center: Old Country July 01, 2005 - October 31, 2005 This film, adapted from a stage work by a Toronto-based dance company, offers a contemporary perspective on a European community confronted with the Holocaust. more about the exhibition

Joan Snyder: A Painting Survey, 1969-2005 August 12, 2005 - October 23, 2005 Over 30 of Joan Snyder's major works are presented in the most comprehensive museum survey of this influential artist's paintings to date. This exhibition incorporates groundbreaking 1970s "stroke paintings" and subsequent works expressing Snyder's political and social concerns and personal associations. more about the exhibition

Inner Realities: Self-Taught Artists from The Jewish Museum Collection September 02, 2005 - October 23, 2005 Drawn from the collection of The Jewish Museum, paintings by self-taught Israeli and American artists encompass Jewish holidays, scenes of daily life, and biblical themes running the gamut from the joyous to the tragic. Memory and vivid imagination act as catalysts in the creation of astonishing pictorial worlds. more about the exhibition

Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak April 15, 2005 - August 14, 2005 Through original drawings, sketches, costumes, and sets, this exhibition will examine Sendak’s art, his Jewish identity, and his latest work, Brundibar — a picture book and opera created in collaboration with Tony Kushner. more about the exhibition

The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons March 04, 2005 - July 10, 2005 The exhibition will examine representative salons from Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, New York, and Milan, their hosts, participants, and the art that flourished as a result of the contacts and conversations that took place there. more about the exhibition

On View in the Goodkind Media Center: Body Politic: Recent Video by Israeli Artists March 09, 2005 - June 30, 2005 In this exhibition of recent videos, Alona Friedberg, Limor Orenstein, Sharon Glazberg, and Hilla Lulu Lin use the human body and stunning imagery to examine nationhood, landscape, and personal history. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Collective Perspectives: New Acquisitions Celebrate the Centennial November 05, 2004 - March 06, 2005 Featuring highlights from among new acquisitions, this exhibition includes major works by Christian Boltanski, Adolph Gottlieb, Anselm Kiefer, Adi Nes, Chana Orloff, Jules Pascin, and Man Ray. Newly commissioned works of Judaica by contemporary artists and designers including Lyn Godley, Chunghi Choo, and Karim Rashid will also be shown. more about the exhibition

On View in the Goodkind Media Center: Aleph: A Film by Wallace Berman January 04, 2005 - March 06, 2005 Aleph is an artist’s meditation on life, death, mysticism, politics, and pop culture. Berman uses Hebrew letters to frame a hypnotic, rapid-fire montage that captures the energy of the 1960s. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Innovator, Activist, Healer: The Art of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis September 10, 2004 - January 16, 2005 This is the first full-scale exhibition celebrating the art, teaching methods and spirit of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (1898-1944), the remarkable Bauhaus artist and art teacher who taught children in the Terezín ghetto and concentration camp. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Re/collecting: A Centennial Installation by Shimon Attie with Norman Ballard June 25, 2004 - January 16, 2005 On the occasion of The Jewish Museum’s centennial, artist Shimon Attie, in collaboration with Norman Ballard, presents a year-long, multimedia installation that illuminates the shifting conversations that have shaped the museum’s mission over the last century. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Arnold Newman October 03, 2004 - January 16, 2005 Training his lens on the most illustrious cultural and intellectual figures of the twentieth century, Arnold Newman forged a new tradition of portrait photography. This exhibition of 21 portraits includes Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keefe, Marc Chagall, Louise Nevelson, Leonard Bernstein, and David Ben-Gurion. more about the exhibition

On view in the Goodkind Media Center December Dilemma: Jews, Television, and the Holiday Season November 02, 2004 - January 02, 2005 A compilation of video clips from educational and entertainment programs provides an overview of conflicted emotions surrounding the December holidays. more about the exhibition

On view in the Goodkind Media Center Urban Eden: Three Videos by New York Artists July 01, 2004 - October 31, 2004 In this collection of videos, three artists examine the pleasures and pains of city life. Works by Jem Cohen, Neil Goldberg, and Shalom Gorewitz. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Modigliani: Beyond the Myth May 21, 2004 - September 19, 2004 The Jewish Museum will present the first major exhibition of Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) in New York since his 1951 retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition My America: Art from The Jewish Museum Collection, 1900-1955 March 26, 2004 - July 25, 2004 Works by such prominent artists as Ilse Bing, Morris Louis, Elie Nadelman, Ben Shahn, and Alfred Stieglitz, among others, illuminate the intersection of American art and Jewish-American history in the first half of the 20th century. more about the exhibition

On view in the Goodkind Media Center Gate of Death April 18, 2004 - June 30, 2004 Ghosts and memories linger in Gate of Death, a melancholy and haunting video meditation on the Holocaust, presented in conjunction with Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) on April 18. more about the exhibition

Children's Exhibition Camels and Caravans: Daily Life in Ancient Israel September 09, 2001 - June 20, 2004 An exhibition for children offering hands-on interaction in a simulation home and marketplace. Visitors will learn about daily life in 1st century CE Jerusalem. more about the exhibition

Centennial Exhibition Focus on the Soul: The Photographs of Lotte Jacobi February 06, 2004 - April 11, 2004 Jacobi learned the principles of photography from her father, and, in 1927, took over the family portrait studio in Berlin. more about the exhibition

On view in the Goodkind Media Center Elijah Chair: Art, Ritual, and Social Action February 06, 2004 - April 11, 2004 Elijah Chair, a video sculpture on view in the new Goodkind Media Center, was created for the Times Square Seder, a public art and social action project which took place in New York in 2002. more about the exhibition

Schoenberg, Kandinsky, and the Blue Rider October 24, 2003 - February 12, 2004 More than sixty artworks by Kandinsky, Schoenberg, and other German expressionists in the Blaue Reiter group. more about the exhibition

On view in the Goodkind Media Center Bel Canto(r): Jewish Superstars of Song October 24, 2003 - January 30, 2004 This 30-minute video, on view in the new Goodkind Media Center, celebrates the careers of mid-20th century Metropolitan Opera superstars Robert Merrill, Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker and critically examines the media's role in the creation of music heroes. more about the exhibition

Signs from Berlin: A Project by Stih and Schnock September 05, 2003 - January 04, 2004 Installed throughout the Bayerisches Viertel neighborhood in 1993 the project consists of eighty signs. On one side is printed a Nazi ordinance restricting the rights of Jews, and on the other is a color pictogram created by the artists that corresponds to the restriction. more about the exhibition

Frida Kahlo's Intimate Family Portrait September 05, 2003 - January 04, 2004 Based on a schematic family tree, My Grandparents, My Parents and I provides a direct visual expression of Kahlo's genealogical identity. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Erwartung/Expectancy: A Video Installation by Dara Birnbaum September 05, 2003 - January 04, 2004 Contemporary artist Dara Birnbaum reflects on Arnold Schoenberg's opera, Erwartung. more about the exhibition

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. more about the exhibition   |   launch the online feature

Contemporary Art/Recent Acquisitions April 11, 2003 - July 27, 2003 Featuring works acquired within the past two years and created since 1970, the exhibition highlights video, installation art and photography, and also includes drawing, painting, and sculpture. more about the exhibition

Adolph Gottlieb: A Survey Exhibition October 11, 2002 - March 02, 2003 Gottlieb, like most Abstract Expressionists, endeavored to make his paintings a reflection of his unconscious. more about the exhibition

Light x Eight: The Hanukkah Project 2002 November 22, 2002 - February 02, 2003 An interactive, multimedia exhibition of eight works of contemporary art displayed in unexpected locations throughout the Museum. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

The City of K: Franz Kafka and Prague April 11, 2002 - January 05, 2003 This exhibition uses space, sound, light, and image to explore the complex universe of Franz Kafka, what his native city of Prague did with him, and the city’s subsequent metamorphosis in his remarkable and profound literary achievements. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

To Commemorate September 11 September 11, 2002 - September 18, 2002 Photograph by Jeff Mermelstein Untitled, September 11, 2001 more about the exhibition

New York: Capital of Photography April 28, 2002 - September 02, 2002 Taken between 1900 and the 1990s, these photographs embody a critique of social conditions while conveying the exhilaration of New York. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art March 17, 2002 - June 30, 2002 A selection of works by thirteen internationally recognized artists, all of whom make new and daring use of imagery taken from the Nazi era. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

An Artist's Response to Evil: We Are Not the Last by Zoran Music March 17, 2002 - June 30, 2002 This series reinterprets drawings of the dead that Music originally made during his two-year internment at Dachau. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

The Emergence of Jewish Artists in 19th Century Europe November 18, 2001 - March 17, 2002 In post-Enlightenment Europe, opportunities arose for Jews to establish themselves as professional artists for the first time. The paintings shown here highlight the complexities faced by minority artists in a dynamic European art world. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Ben Katchor: Picture Stories September 09, 2001 - February 10, 2002 more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Doug and Mike Starn: Ramparts Café September 09, 2001 - February 10, 2002 Created to commemorate the three-thousandth anniversary of Jerusalem in 1995, Ramparts Café is a meditation on the ancient and modern aspects of the city. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Arnold Dreyblatt: The Re-Collection Mechanism September 09, 2001 - February 10, 2002 This installation is a container of a vast and mysterious series of spoken and projected words that recall Central and Eastern European lives in 1933. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Marc Chagall: Early Works from Russian Collections April 29, 2001 - October 14, 2001 These early years in Russia — from 1907 to 1922 — provide the key to Chagall’s long and prolific career. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Voice, Image, Gesture: Selections from the Jewish Museum's Collection, 1945 - 2000 March 25, 2001 - August 05, 2001 Selections from the Museum's broadcast media, fine arts, and ceremonial arts collections reflect a diversity of perspectives on Jewish history and contemporary culture. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Charlotte Salomon: Life? or Theatre? December 10, 2000 - March 25, 2001 Salomon combines painting with text and musical cues to tell a compelling autobiographical coming-of-age story set during World War II amid increasing Nazi oppression. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Morocco: Jews and Art in a Muslim Land September 24, 2000 - February 11, 2001 Many strands of history and culture have gone into the making of Morocco's people during the past three thousand years. Together, Muslims and Jews forged a common spiritual culture and an artistic culture that reflects the dominant aesthetics of Islamic art. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Drink and Be Merry: Wine and Beer in Ancient Times July 30, 2000 - November 05, 2000 Drink and Be Merry examines the subject of wine and beer in antiquity – their production and trade to their central role in ritual, festive celebrations and everyday life. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Anni Albers May 28, 2000 - August 20, 2000 Anni Albers is considered the foremost textile artist of the twentieth century. She bravely broke from the tradition in which textiles reproduced naturalistic imagery or decorative ornament. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Paris in New York: French Jewish Artists in Private Collections March 05, 2000 - June 25, 2000 From about 1907 to shortly after World War I, these Jewish painters and sculptors, predominantly from Eastern Europe, experimented with the stylistic innovations of the key avant-garde figures of the period, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Berlin Metropolis: Jews and the New Culture, 1890 - 1918 November 14, 1999 - April 23, 2000 The city dweller confronted the vitality and diversity of urban life in the form of crowds, new modes of transportation, and a barrage of images and texts from store displays, kiosks, newspapers, and posters. The art and literature of Berlin during these years reflect this dynamism. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the Wertheimer Family October 17, 1999 - February 06, 2000 All twelve formal portraits displayed here have been reunited for the first time in more than sixty years. They tell the story of a friendship between artist and client, and offer a glimpse into the world of a privileged family of English Jews who lived nearly a century ago. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

The Changing Face of Family: Photographs from the Collection of the Jewish Museum October 17, 1999 - February 06, 2000 This exhibition assembles images of the Jewish family from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present. Its chronological breadth reveals a significant theme: time. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Sigmund Freud:Conflict and Culture April 18, 1999 - September 09, 1999 Our notions of identity, memory, childhood, sexuality, and, most generally, of meaning have been shaped in relation to—and often in opposition to—Freud's work. This exhibition examines Freud's life and his key ideas and their effect upon the twentieth century. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Ikat: Splendid Silks of Central Asia February 07, 1999 - May 16, 1999 In the barren landscape of Central Asia, ikat hangings and robes lent vibrant color to daily life and ceremonies, creating the atmosphere of a garden, an enduring metaphor of Paradise in both Jewish and Islamic lore. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

After Rabin: New Art from Israel September 13, 1998 - January 03, 1999 Created during the three years since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, the art on view in this exhibition communicates the flavor of a turbulent, splintered, dynamic time in Israeli society. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

George Segal, a Retrospective: Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings June 14, 1998 - October 04, 1998 more about the exhibition

An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine April 26, 1998 - August 16, 1998 Known as a "painter's painter," Soutine's work is characterized by his energetic, lively brushwork and bold use of color. This exhibition, the first major presentation of the artist in New York in nearly fifty years, brings together some of Soutine's most extraordinary works. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite

Assignment: Rescue, The Story of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee November 23, 1997 - March 29, 1998 A dramatic installation recounts the daring mission of Varian Fry, who was responsible for rescuing some 2,500 Jews and opponents of the Nazis, including such great figures as Marc Chagall, Hannah Arendt, Max Ernst, and Jacques Lipchitz. more about the exhibition   |   launch the archived microsite