Jewish Museum (New York)

For the children's museum, see Jewish Children's Museum.

The Jewish Museum of New York
The Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue
Location of the Jewish Museum in New York City
Established	1904
Location	1109 5th Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan, New York
Type	Art Museum
Public transit access	86th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
Website	www.TheJewishMuseum.org

The Jewish Museum of New York, an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, is the leading Jewish museum in the United States. With over 26,000 objects, it contains the largest collection of art and Jewish culture outside of museums in Israel. The museum is housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the former Felix M. Warburg House, along Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.

While its collection was established in 1904 at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the museum did not open to the public until 1947. It focuses both on artifacts of Jewish history and on modern and contemporary art. Its permanent exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, is supplemented by rotating exhibitions and special exhibitions.

History

The Jewish Museum in New York, 1908

The collection that seeded the museum began with a gift of 26 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 and set aside in a room entitled 'The Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects'. The collection was subsequently expanded by major donations from Hadji Ephraim Benguiat and Harry G. Friedman.

In January 1944, Frieda Schiff Warburg, widow of philanthropist Felix M. Warburg (d.1937), donated the family mansion as a permanent home for the museum, and the site opened to the public as 'The Jewish Museum' in May 1947. The building was expanded in 1963 and 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 like Primary Structures, which helped to launch the Minimalist art movement. In the decades since, the museum has had a renewed focused on Jewish culture and Jewish artists. In 1992, the Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center teamed up to create The New York Jewish Film Festival, which presents narrative features, short films and documentaries.

Today, the museum also provides educational programs for adults and families, sponsoring concerts, films, symposia and lectures related to its exhibitions. Joan Rosenbaum has been the museum's director since 1981.

Collection

Gallery talk about the exhibition "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker"

The museum has over 26,000 objects including paintings, sculpture, archaeological artifacts, Jewish ceremonial art and many other pieces important to the preservation of Jewish history and culture. Artists included in the museum's collection include James Tissot, Marc Chagall, George Segal, Eleanor Antin and Deborah Kass. This represents the largest collection of Jewish art, Judaica and broadcast media outside of museums in Israel. It has a permanent exhibition called Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey, which explores the evolution of Jewish culture from antiquity to the present. The museum's collection includes objects from ancient to modern eras, in all media, and originated in every area of the world where Jews have had a presence.

Collection highlights

"Chagall and the Artists of the Russian Jewish Theater" exhibition in The Jewish Museum New York

Gallery talk about the exhibition "Shifting the Gaze : Painting and Feminism"

"Houdini: Art and Magic" exhibition in The Jewish Museum New York

• Man Ray Self-Portrait with Camera, 1930
• Andy Warhol, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, 1980
• Eva Hesse, Untitled, 1863–64
• 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
• Adolph Gottlieb, Return of the Mariner, 1946
• Johann Adam Boller Hanukkah menorah,Frankfurt am Main (Germany), 1706–32
• Torah Ark from Adath Yeshurun Synagogue, Abraham Shulkin, 1899

Art Exhibitions

Over the past twenty years, some of the museum's important exhibitions have included:

• 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 Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee (1997)
• An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim 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)
• 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 sisters of Baltimore (2011)

Current

• The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936-1951 (November 4, 2011 - March 25, 2012)
• The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats (September 9, 2011 - January 29, 2012)

Gallery

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  Horse Figurine,Israel, 1000-586 B.C.E.

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  Thomas Sully, Portrait of Sally Etting, 1808

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  Seder Plate, Tiered Seder Set, Eastern Galicia or Western Ukraine, 18th-19th century

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  Female Votive Head Cyprus (?), early 5th century B.C.E

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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, 1833-34

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  Torah Ark from Adath Yeshurun Synagogue, Abraham Shulkin, 1899

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  New Year Greeting, Germany, early 20th century

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  Female Figurine, Israel, 800 -700 B.C.E.

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  Hanukkah Lamp, Eastern Galicia or Western Ukraine, 18th to mid-19th century

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  Marriage Contract, Vercelli (Italy), 1776

See also

• Carnegie Hill
• Education in New York City
• List of magic museums
• List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
• Museum Mile, New York City
• Upper East Side

Sources

• The Jewish Museum New York, Vivian Mann, Emily D. Bilski, Scala Publishers, 1993

External links

• The Jewish Museum official website
• "Current Exhibitions" at the Jewish Museum website
• "Past Exhibitions" at the Jewish Museum website