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Go Fish

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Looking out the windows of the Warburg Mansion, it is clear to see the subtle signs of autumn’s impending return. Golden leaves peek from a handful of trees in Central Park; jeweled-toned mums have replaced the fiery red geraniums in the window boxes along Fifth Avenue; and whimsical displays of pencils, rulers and back-to-school clothes grace the windows of the local shops on Madison Avenue. At The Jewish Museum, staff are gearing up for our big fall shows—Shifting the Gaze: Painting and Feminism opens on September 12 and on October 29, Houdini: Art and Magic will be on view. In the meantime, The Jewish Museum offers a late summer amuse-bouche for the hungry visitor who eagerly awaits the return of the fall art season in New York City.

Fish Forms: Lamps by Frank Gehry presents 8 lamps by the internationally acclaimed architect Frank Gehry (b. 1929, Toronto, Canada). Known for his colorful and sculptural buildings, Gehry’s New York ventures include the IAC building in Chelsea, which peers over the Westside Highway with its undulating white exterior, and the newly erected Beekman Tower in Lower Manhattan. Inspired by The Jewish Museum’s own fish lamp, curator Ruth Beesch has organized an intimate exhibition in Offit Gallery. In this diverse selection of Gehry’s lamps, she illustrates the significance of fish form in his work. Click to continue »

Scene + Heard: Director of Publications

Friday, August 20th, 2010

When I found out that Mike Sittenfeld, Director of Publications at The Jewish Museum, received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in English, I felt that sense of camaraderie I like to imagine all English majors feel amongst each other. Mike understands just how delicate the editing process is. He acknowledges that his job requires much sensitivity. Writers often become tied to their words and are resistant to outside editing. However, Mike’s favorite part of the editing process is clarifying a text so that the author’s intentions can be fully realized. With his help, The JM publishes two to three books a year. Click to continue »

Scene + Heard: Security Guard

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

The Jewish Museum is known to have pretty tight security, but for good reason! We value our art, our visitors and our staff. Our museum guards are essential for ensuring that everyone has an enjoyable and safe experience each time they visit.

So, meet Carl. He has been a guard at The Jewish Museum for twelve years. Although he says he fell into his position here because of a recommendation, Carl has now come to appreciate art and culture in a new way. His favorite part of working at The Jewish Museum is getting a privileged inside look at the art world through his job. Carl says he has learned a lot since beginning his work at The Jewish Museum. The most challenging aspect is dealing with the public which can also be a rewarding experience as well. Click to continue »

Scene + Heard: Collections Manager

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Collections Manager Katherine Danalakis gave me an impromptu tour of one of the Museum’s onsite art storage rooms and, like a kid in a candy store, I was wide eyed and thrilled to be there. The room is narrow and long, with rows of large paintings stored vertically and smaller objects and works on paper in flat drawers. To give a sense of how large the room is, think about this: Like most other museums, only about 2% of The Jewish Museum’s collection is ever on view at a time.

Katherine says the most challenging part of her job is keeping up with the process of the Museum’s many new acquisitions. A recent example is Melissa Meyer’s Lilith, a large scale painting from 1992, that will be shown in the upcoming exhibition Shifting the Gaze: Painting and Feminism. That process, which consists of photographing, numbering, cataloguing, and storing new works, is one of Katherine’s major responsibilities. Click to continue »

A South African Artist Confronts Social Injustice

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

William Kentridge (South African, b. 1955),  Atlas Procession I, 2000Works by socially conscious artists form a vital part of The Jewish Museum’s collection. William Kentridge’s politically charged work is just one example of how artists have responded to the struggle for human rights. As a South African Jew of Lithuanian and German descent, Kentridge has said that he can relate to the marginal status of minority groups in his country.

Acquired as a purchase in 2004, Kentridge’s etching, Atlas Procession I (2000), complements the artist’s film series Drawings for Projection (1989–91)––also in the collection. Although best known for his animated films, Kentridge began his artistic career as a printmaker. His prints recapitulate his ongoing attempts to make sense of South Africa’s troubled history, the deep-seated effects of European colonialism, and his own family background and identity.

Click to continue »

The Art of Architecture: Candida Höfer and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Synagogue

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Updated July 2010: We’re pleased to announce that this photograph is a new acquisition to the Museum’s permanent collection.


Good relationships can be hard to find, but a relationship that has continually  proven to be rewarding is that of American synagogues and contemporary artists, architects, and designers.  An example of this successful collaboration is clearly visible in the current exhibition, Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb, which features Abstract Expressionist art commissioned for a modern synagogue in 1951. In conjunction with the exhibition, The Jewish Museum has borrowed a related contemporary piece, a large-scale color photograph of Beth Sholom Synagogue in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.  Opened in 1959, Beth Sholom was the only synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the last project completed before his death. The photograph, on loan from Sonnabend Gallery in New York, is by German artist Candida Höfer.

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Building a Model of Percival Goodman’s Millburn, NJ Synagogue

Monday, March 1st, 2010

In preparation for Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb we hired Pre_Post to develop a scale model of Percival Goodman’s Millburn, NJ synagogue to be included in the exhibition.

“We are creating 1/8″ scale model made from a combination of laser cut and hand finished bass wood. Working with scans of the original drawing set by Percival Goodman, we redrew the building on the computer, using the digital drawings for laser cutting and as the guide for the hand finished work,” explain the principals of Pre_Post.

“Throughout this process, we cross checked the drawings with archival photos and renderings in an effort to get a complete picture of the synagogue and its site. The scale model artworks were produced based on archival photos and the original pieces.”

Pre_Post is also producing to-scale artworks for the model based on archival photos and the original pieces.

Related Links:
Exhibition:
Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb (Mar 14 – Aug 1, 2010)
Blog: Conserving Adolph Gottlieb’s Torah Ark Curtain (1/7/2010)
Restoring & Installing Motherwell’s The Wall of the Temple (2/17/2010)
Online Collection works by: Herbert Ferber / Adolph Gottlieb / Robert Motherwell
Flickr: More photos of the model, conservation and exhibition install

Adapting Tours for Children with Autism

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I recently received an email asking how our access tours for students with special needs differ from our general school tours–and more specifically, how our school programs are adapted for children on the autism spectrum.

This is a difficult question to answer without knowing more about the specific needs and abilities of each individual student in the class. Yet knowing little to nothing about each student’s disability is one of the most consistent challenges facing our access educators, a wonderful group of museum educators who are trained specifically to work with children who have developmental, learning and physical disabilities. Click to continue »

Restoring & Installing Motherwell’s The Wall of the Temple

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

During nearly sixty years since Robert Motherwell’s installation of his mural The Wall of the Temple in the lobby of Congregation B’nai Israel synagogue in Millburn, NJ, it accumulated quite a bit of dust and grime. Conservator Dana Cranmer and her staff recently cleaned and restored the 1952 mural for its upcoming presentation in Modern Art, Sacred Space at The Jewish Museum. Now the original colors—bright oranges and blues and shades of brown and grey—give the mural renewed vibrancy and dynamism. Click to continue »

Access Programs: Materials & Techniques

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Within the museum world, collaboration is not a new concept. For years, museums have been joining forces to accomplish a range of goals including mounting exhibitions, purchasing works of art and coordinating programming. Cross-institutional partnerships allow for cost-sharing in the face of increasing acquisition and insurance rates, as well as the sharing of research, scholarship, and other resources.

Education departments of museums regularly collaborate with schools, libraries, or service organizations – and more and more, they are partnering with each other to tackle issues of marketing, space and programming to offer innovative programs to diverse audiences. The Education Department at The Jewish Museum had been contemplating the idea of offering art-making experiences to adults with disabilities for awhile before reaching out to MoMA’s CreateAbility program as both model and partner. Click to continue »