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Jewish Museum (Manhattan)

Coordinates: 40°47′7.4″N 73°57′25.9″W / 40.785389°N 73.957194°W / 40.785389; -73.957194
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The Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum is housed in the Felix M. Warburg House.
Jewish Museum (Manhattan) is located in Manhattan
Jewish Museum (Manhattan)
Location in Manhattan
Map
Interactive fullscreen map
Established1904
Location1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan, New York
Coordinates40°47′7.4″N 73°57′25.9″W / 40.785389°N 73.957194°W / 40.785389; -73.957194
TypeArt Museum
Visitors110,000 (2023)[1]
ArchitectC. P. H. Gilbert
Public transit accessSubway: "4" train"5" train"6" train"6" express train at 86th Street
Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M86
Websitethejewishmuseum.org Edit this at Wikidata

The Jewish Museum is an art museum housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the Felix M. Warburg House, along the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The museum holds a collection of approximately 30,000 objects, including religious artifacts, fine art, and media, making it one of the largest museums dedicated to the Jewish culture worldwide.[1] The museum is known for its expansive cultural and art historical scope, staging exhibitions that center "Jewish heritage and viewpoints while appealing to broader audiences."[2]

The Jewish Museum originated in 1904 with Judge Mayer Sulzberger's donation of ceremonial objects to the Jewish Theological Seminary, later expanded through gifts and works sent for safekeeping from Poland in 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II. The museum was established in the Warburg family mansion, donated in 1944 by Frieda Warburg, and opened to the public in 1947.[3] Originally designed by C.P.H. Gilbert in the châteauesque style, the building underwent expansions in 1959 and 1963.

Appointed director in 1972, Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson oversaw the acquisition of 600 ancient artifacts from Israel and the 1975 exhibition Jewish Experience in the Art of the 20th Century. Under Joan Rosenbaum's directorship (1981–2010), introduced new public initiatives—most notably the launch of the New York Jewish Film Festival in 1992—and completed a major renovation in 1993 by Kevin Roche, who added 11,000 square feet and modernized the facilities for exhibitions and education while preserving the building's Gothic revival character. In 2006, the museum adjusted its Sabbath observance policy by opening to the public on Saturdays. In 2011, Claudia Gould was appointed Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director and served in this role until her retirement in 2023. She was succeeded by James S. Snyder in November 2023.[1]

Throughout its history, the Jewish Museum has made important contributions to the study of modern and contemporary art in the United States. Described as a "leading arbiter of mid-20th-century American art", it played host to the first solo museum exhibitions of painters Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, and Ad Reinhardt; introduced Jasper Johns to the broader public through the 1957 Artists of the New York School: Second Generation;[Note 1] staged the first museum retrospective of Robert Rauschenberg in 1963; and presented the influential 1966 exhibition Primary Structures that helped launch Minimalist sculpture.[4]

History

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Founding and the prewar era

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The collection that seeded the museum began with a gift of 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. The Jewish Theological Seminary received over 400 Jewish ceremonial items and created, 'The Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects', previously the Jacob Schiff Library.[5] The collection was subsequently expanded by major donations from Hadji Ephraim Benguiat and Harry G. Friedman. In 1939, in light of WWII, Poland sent about 350 objects to New York city from homes and synagogues in order to preserve them.

After World War II (1945 to 1960s)

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Following Felix Warburg's death in 1937, in January 1944 his widow Frieda donated the family mansion to the seminary as a permanent home for the museum, and the site opened to the public as 'The Jewish Museum' in May 1947.[6] Frieda Warburg said at the opening that the museum would not be a somber memorial, but rather a celebration of the Jewish faith and traditions.[5] The first expansion of the museum was the addition of a sculpture garden in 1959 by Adam List.[5] The building was expanded in 1963.

The early 1960s marked a pivotal shift in the Jewish Museum's curatorial direction, beginning with the appointment of Alan R. Solomon as director in 1962. Solomon, a Harvard-trained art historian, brought a contemporary and rigorous vision to the institution, organizing major exhibitions of emerging American artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and Ellsworth Kelly.[4] His programming emphasized serious engagement with living artists, including mid-career retrospectives—then rare in the museum world—and explored both Jewish content and postwar modernist abstraction. Solomon's brief tenure culminated in organizing Rauschenberg's presentation at the 1964 Venice Biennale, where the artist won the grand prize, although Solomon's frequent absences eventually led to his departure.[4]

Cover of the exhibition catalogue for Primary Structures (1966) designed by Elaine Lustig Cohen

Curators Sam Hunter and Kynaston McShine continued the museum's engagement with contemporary art. McShine, who served as curator from 1965 to 1968, curated Primary Structures (1966), a landmark exhibition that introduced Minimalist sculpture to a broad audience and featured artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Carl Andre.[7] This avant-garde focus peaked with Karl Katz's controversial 1970 exhibition Software, which explored early digital art but led to Katz's resignation following institutional backlash.[4]

Later years (1970s to 1990s)

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In the ensuing years, the museum redirected its focus toward Jewish identity and cultural heritage under Joy Ungerleider-Mayerson, who was appointed director in 1972, aligning its programming with broader trends in identity-based museum practice while maintaining its influence in shaping debates around contemporary art and culture.[8] During her tenure, the museum shifted its focus toward Jewish themes and Israeli artists. One of her initial responsibilities as director involved securing a collection of 600 ancient artifacts from Israel, and a notable exhibition held under her leadership in 1975 was titled Jewish Experience in the Art of the 20th Century.[4]

In 1980, the museum presented Andy Warhol's Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century, a series of 40-inch square silk-screened canvases produced earlier that year. The project, initiated by art dealer Ronald Feldman in response to a request from an Israeli dealer for a portrait of Golda Meir, featured notable Jewish figures such as Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin, and Meir herself.[9]

The series was highly controversial and widely criticized by art critics at the time; reviewers described it as exploitative and superficial, with The Philadelphia Inquirer labeling it "Jewploitation" and The Village Voice and The New York Times offering similarly harsh assessments.[9] Warhol himself acknowledged minimal engagement with the subjects beyond an aesthetic interest in their faces. Despite the initial controversy, the series was subsequently exhibited in a range of Jewish cultural and synagogues across the United States, often meeting with positive reception.[9]

From 1990 through 1993, director Joan Rosenbaum led the project to renovate and expand the building and carry out the museum's first major capital campaign, of $60 million. The project, designed by architect Kevin Roche, doubled the size of the museum, providing it with a seven-story addition. 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.[citation needed]

In 1997, curator Norman Kleeblatt organized Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities, which examined Jewish identity through the lens of postwar American culture, consumerism, and gender.[10] Featuring works by 23 artists, many of whom were third- or fourth-generation American Jews, the show combined painting, installation, video, and popular media to explore the intersection of stereotypes, assimilation, and self-representation.[10] Although controversial for its provocative content—including matzoh-inspired sculptures, reimagined Jewish American Princess stereotype, and gender-bending imagery—the exhibition was noted for expanding the discourse on Jewish identity within the broader framework of identity politics in American art.[11]

21st century (2000 to present)

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Andy Warhol at the Jewish Museum in 1980

Today, the museum also provides educational programs for adults and families, organizing concerts, films, symposiums and lectures related to its exhibitions. Joan Rosenbaum was the museum's director from 1981 until her retirement in 2010. In 2006, the museum broke with its longstanding policy of being closed for Sabbath observance by offering free of charge public admission on Saturdays.[12] In 2011 the museum named Claudia Gould as its new director.

In 2020, the museum commissioned conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner to create a public work in the form of a large banner hung on the museum's facade. Facing 5th Avenue, it was titled All the stars in the sky have the same face, with text in English, Hebrew and Arabic.[13]

In 2022, Yale University historian Michael Casper criticized the museum's exhibition on Jonas Mekas for its lack of treatment of Mekas's role in editing two pro-Nazi newspapers during World War II.[14] Cultural historian Jeffrey Shandler told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "It would be problematic anywhere, in any museum. But I think it is doubly so in a Jewish museum. It really raises questions about their understanding of their mission."[15]

The Russ & Daughters Cafe at the museum closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.[16] In November 2024, the restaurateur David Teyf opened a restaurant named Lox in the museum.[17][18]

Building

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Felix M. Warburg House, 1908

The Felix M. Warburg House was constructed in François I (or châteauesque) style, 1906–1908 for Felix and Frieda Warburg, designed by C.P.H. Gilbert. François I style was originally found in New York City in the late 19th century through the works of Richard Morris Hunt.[19] Hunt was a renowned architect throughout the Northeast, particularly in New England and was one of the first American architects to study at the elite Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.[20] C.P.H. Gilbert was an apprentice of Hunt and emulated Hunt's classic Châteauesque style for the Warburg house while also adding some Gothic features.[19] The original house is built in limestone with mansard roofs, dripping moldings, and gables.[21] This architectural style was based on French revivalism and exuded wealth, a point which Felix Warburg wanted to make to his neighbors. It featured a green yard in front of the house, which was later converted into the museum's entrance.[5]

Renovations

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Interior exhibit of the Jewish Museum

Once converted into a museum, the architect Kevin Roche, who also designed additions to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was selected to design additions to the Jewish Museum.[22] After $36 million, the development of 11,000 more square feet of exhibition space, and two and a half years, Roche finished his additions in June 1993.[23] He intended his additions to be a continuation of the museum's Gothic revival features. This is especially clear in the Fifth Avenue facade and the auditorium. The Fifth Avenue facade, made of Indiana limestone, is carved in Gothic revival style. The auditorium is set in a retrofitted Gothic revival style ballroom and finds uses for the mansion's stained-glass dome and screen. The cafe in the basement has stained glass windows.[22]

Although these additions that were intended as a continuation of the museum's Gothic revival features, Roche also included additions that were meant to prevent the museum from appearing outdated and modernizing the facilities. For instance, Roche ensured that the education center and the auditorium would have the appropriate technology for their purposes, such as interactive visual displays.[22]

Collections

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The museum has nearly 30,000 objects including paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, Jewish ceremonial art and many other pieces important to the preservation of Jewish history and culture.[7] Artists included in the museum's collection include James Tissot, Marc Chagall, George Segal, Eleanor Antin and Deborah Kass.[24] This represents the largest collection of Jewish art, Judaica and broadcast media outside of museums in Israel.[25] It has a collection exhibition called Scenes from the Collection, which displays works of art 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.

Public programs

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Gallery talk about the exhibition "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker"[26]

The Jewish Museum has a vast array of public educational programs which include talks and lectures, performances, hands on art making, group visits, specialist programming for visitors with disabilities, and resources for Pre-K-12 teachers.[27][28] Programming for visitors with disabilities can take a unique and special form, with exclusive access to the museum one day a month for a program like the Verbal Description Tour.[29][30] Participants are guided around sections of the empty museum by an art educator, who provides detailed, verbal descriptions of the art work, shares touch objects, and encourages discussion amongst the visitors. One participant described the ability to touch the art work as "...an honor, to be able to touch it. It felt like we were doing something so special, that other people can't do. So it actually creates an experience where you feel a connection to the art."[31]

Programming at the Jewish Museum caters for many different constituents, from live musical performances to events specifically curated for children, and families.[32] Events can be co-sponsored or in conjunction with other museums, particularly those located nearby on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile.[33] Part of the goal of family programming is to help foster a younger audience for the museum, with Sunday being "family day", with a variety of activities on offer including gallery tours, free art workshops and parent-children storybook readings. Activities are designed to cross cultures, and explore subjects that can appeal to any race or religion, such as archaeological digs or an examination of color and impressionistic landscapes.[34]

Management

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As of 2013, the Jewish Museum operates on a $17 million annual budget.[35] Under Joan Rosenbaum's leadership the museum's collection grew to 26,000 objects, its endowment to more than $92 million and its annual operating budget to $15 million from $1 million in 1981.[36] Rosenbaum chose to emphasize the Jewish side of the museum's identity, creating the permanent exhibition "Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey," while also mounting shows of modern Jewish artists such as Chaïm Soutine and contemporary artists such as Maira Kalman.[37] In 2013, the museum's board chose Claudia Gould, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, as its new director.[37]

In 2015 Kelly Taxter was named one of the top 25 female curators in the world by ArtNet.[38]

In 2012 Claudia Gould hired Jens Hoffmann Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs. In December 2017, the Jewish Museum suspended Jens Hoffmann following multiple allegations of sexual harassment by staff members. Several institutions, including the Honolulu Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Kadist Art Foundation, and the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, subsequently cut ties or suspended their collaborations with him. After reviewing the allegations, the Jewish Museum terminated Hoffmann on December 17, 2017. Hoffmann denied acting in a knowingly inappropriate or harassing manner.[citation needed]

Highlights

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Selected art exhibitions

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Some of the museum's important exhibitions have included:

  • Primary Structures (1966)
  • 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 Chaïm 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)[39]
  • 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)
  • The Radical Camera: New York's Photo League, 1936–1951 (2012)
  • The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats (2012)
  • Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel (2012)
  • Édouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890–1940 (2012)
  • "Crossing Borders: Manuscripts from the Bodleian Library" (September 14, 2012 – February 3, 2013)
  • "Sharon Lockhart Noa Eshkol" (November 2, 2012 – March 24, 2013)
  • Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television (May 1 to September 27, 2015)
  • "Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design" (November 4, 2016 – March 24, 2017)[40]
  • "Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918–1922" (September 14, 2018 – January 6, 2019)[41]
  • "The Sassoons" Exhibit from March 3 to August 13, 2023. Review in The New York Times. Review in The Wall Street Journal.
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Sheets, Hilarie M. (August 14, 2023). "International Museum Leader to Head Jewish Museum". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  2. ^ "James S. Snyder Named Director of Jewish Museum". Artforum. August 14, 2023. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  3. ^ "Felix Warburg Mansion" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 24, 1981. LP-1116. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e Lubow, Arthur (July 23, 2020). "How New York's Jewish Museum Anticipated the Avant-Garde". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d "The Jewish Museum History". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  6. ^ Stern, Robert A. M.; Mellins, Thomas; Fishman, David (1995). New York 1960: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Second World War and the Bicentennial. New York: Monacelli Press. p. 1110. ISBN 1-885254-02-4. OCLC 32159240. OL 1130718M.
  7. ^ a b Kimmelman, Michael (June 13, 1993). "A Museum Finds Its Time". The New York Times. p. H33. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  8. ^ Smith, Roberta (June 11, 1993). "Jewish Museum as Sum of Its Past". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Johnson, Ken (March 28, 2008). "Funny, You Don't Look Like a Subject for Warhol". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  10. ^ a b McKenna, Kristine (February 2, 1997). "'Too Jewish?' Hardly". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  11. ^ Ockman, Carol (September 1, 1996). ""Too Jewish? Challenging Traditional Identities"". Artforum. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  12. ^ "The David Berg Foundation Underwrites Free Saturdays at the Jewish Museum". Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Passy, Charles (December 3, 2020). "Museum Facades Are New York City's Latest Canvas for Art". WSJ. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  14. ^ "World War II Revisionism at the Jewish Museum". Jewish Currents. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  15. ^ Elia-Shalev, Asaf (May 12, 2022). "Historian accuses NY's Jewish Museum of sanitizing filmmaker's World War II record in new exhibit". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  16. ^ Cramer, Philissa (April 12, 2022). "It's official: Russ & Daughters' kosher outpost at the Jewish Museum won't return". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  17. ^ Keys, Lisa (November 7, 2024). "At last, a new restaurant opens at the Jewish Museum in the space vacated by Russ & Daughters". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  18. ^ McDowell, Michael (November 8, 2024). "New Restaurant Now Open At Jewish Museum: Report". Upper East Side, NY Patch. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  19. ^ a b "Landmarks Preservation Commission" (PDF). NYC.Gov. November 24, 1981. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  20. ^ Roth, Leland (2009). "Hunt, Richard Morris". North Carolina Architects and Builders. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  21. ^ Gray, Christopher (August 11, 1991). "The Warburg Mansion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  22. ^ a b c Muschamp, Herbert (June 11, 1993). "Review/Architecture; Jewish Museum Renovation: A Celebration of Gothic Style". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  23. ^ "TRAVEL ADVISORY; Jewish Museum Reopens Sunday". The New York Times. June 6, 1993. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  24. ^ Masterworks of The Jewish Museum. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
  25. ^ "Jewish Museum Reopens Sunday". The New York Times. June 6, 1993. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  26. ^ "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker". Archived from the original on January 25, 2009.
  27. ^ "Jewish Museum (Manhattan, NY)". UrbanAreas.net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  28. ^ "Programs". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  29. ^ "The Jewish Museum". New Learning Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  30. ^ "Programs – Visitors with Disabilities". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  31. ^ "The Jewish Museum". Seen In NY. Episode 217. June 14, 2017. New Learning Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  32. ^ "Check Out What's Happening at The Jewish Museum This Spring". renoirhouse.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  33. ^ Kressel, Hannah (June 26, 2019). "Interning at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan". Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  34. ^ Markovitz, Jennifer B. (December 2008). "A Multi-Cultural Destination Sharing Jewish Art and Traditions With a Diverse Audience". Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses: 20–22pp. Archived from the original on May 31, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  35. ^ Allan Kozinn (February 12, 2013), A Museum Broadens Its Identity Archived November 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  36. ^ Robin Pogrebin (November 30, 2010), Director of Jewish Museum to Step Down Archived June 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  37. ^ a b Kate Taylor (August 23, 2011), Jewish Museum Picks Director From Art World Archived November 11, 2020, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  38. ^ "25 Women Curators On the Rise – artnet News". March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  39. ^ Modigliani: Beyond the Myth Exhibition press release, The Jewish Museum, New York 2004 Archived March 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 7, 2011
  40. ^ Smith, Roberta (November 3, 2016). "The Virtual Splendor of Paris's Glass House". New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  41. ^ "Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918–1922". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  42. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  43. ^ "Female Votive Head". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  44. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  45. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  46. ^ "Thomas Sully, Sally Etting, Paintings". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013.
  47. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  48. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  49. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link]
  50. ^ [1]
  51. ^ [2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Art dealer Leo Castelli first saw Jasper Johns's work during this exhibition, precipitating the artist's commercial success. Lubow 2020
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