Joseph P. Ansell
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781874774945
- eISBN:
- 9781789623314
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781874774945.003.0018
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter considers who or what makes a Jewish artist. The issue is one that art historians and artists alike have debated for many years. Defining what is and is not Jewish art has continued to ...
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This chapter considers who or what makes a Jewish artist. The issue is one that art historians and artists alike have debated for many years. Defining what is and is not Jewish art has continued to be a troubling issue — more so for how it relates to Arthur Szyk's work in particular. Though Szyk considered himself a Jewish artist and Jewish art and subject-matter extensively permeated his life and work, he is curiously absent from most discussions of twentieth-century Jewish artists. His work focused on Jewish subjects far more than most of the artists who have been included in that discourse. The chapter thus makes the case for Szyk's inclusion in the realm of Jewish art discourse.Less
This chapter considers who or what makes a Jewish artist. The issue is one that art historians and artists alike have debated for many years. Defining what is and is not Jewish art has continued to be a troubling issue — more so for how it relates to Arthur Szyk's work in particular. Though Szyk considered himself a Jewish artist and Jewish art and subject-matter extensively permeated his life and work, he is curiously absent from most discussions of twentieth-century Jewish artists. His work focused on Jewish subjects far more than most of the artists who have been included in that discourse. The chapter thus makes the case for Szyk's inclusion in the realm of Jewish art discourse.