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Jewish Museum (Manhattan)

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This article is about the museum on Fifth Avenue. For the museum in Battery Park City, see Museum of Jewish Heritage.

The Jewish Museum is an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in the former Felix M. Warburg House, along the Museum Mile on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The first Jewish museum in the United States, as well as the oldest existing Jewish museum in the world, it contains the largest collection of art and Jewish culture excluding Israeli museums, more than 30,000 objects.[1] While its collection was established in 1904 at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the museum did not open to the public until 1947 when Felix Warburg's widow sold the property to the Seminary.[2] It focuses both on artifacts of Jewish history and on modern and contemporary art. The museum's collection exhibition, Scenes from the Collection, is supplemented by multiple temporary exhibitions each year.[3]

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
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

History

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See also: Jews in New York City

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.[1] 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.

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.[4] 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.[1] The first expansion of the museum was the addition of a sculpture garden in 1959 by Adam List.[1] The building was expanded in 1963 and further by architect Kevin Roche in 1993.

 
Museum in 2004

In the 1960s, the museum took a more active role in the general world of contemporary art, with exhibitions such as Primary Structures, which helped to launch the Minimalist art movement.[5] In the decades since, the museum has had a renewed focus on Jewish culture and Jewish artists.[6] 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.

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.[7]

In 2011 the museum named Claudia Gould as its new director. In 2012 Claudia Gould hired Jens Hoffmann Deputy Director, Exhibitions and Public Programs. In early December 2017, the Jewish Museum suspended Hoffmann from his position following allegations of sexual harassment leveled against him by multiple staff members. In the wake of that decision, the Honolulu Biennial cut its ties with Hoffmann, the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit suspended him from his role as chief curator at large (a position from which he resigned later that month) and the Kadist Art Foundation similarly suspended him from his position as curator and adviser. The 3rd People's Biennial was supposed to take place at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art in 2019, with Hoffmann co-directing; however, the museum suspended its involvement with Hoffmann after the sexual harassment allegations at the Jewish Museum were not resolved. On December 17, 2017, the Jewish Museum terminated Hoffmann after a review of the allegations. Hoffmann denied "knowingly or purposefully [behaving] in a bullying, intimidating, harassing, or sexually inappropriate manner."

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.[8] 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."[9]

The Russ & Daughters Cafe at the museum closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.[10] In November 2024, the restaurateur David Teyf opened a restaurant named Lox in the museum.[11][12]

Building

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Main article: Felix M. Warburg House
 
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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[13] The original house is built in limestone with mansard roofs, dripping moldings, and gables.[15] 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.[1]

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.[16] 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.[17] 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.[16]

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.[16]

Collections

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Gallery talk about the exhibition "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker"[18]

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.[5] Artists included in the museum's collection include James Tissot, Marc Chagall, George Segal, Eleanor Antin and Deborah Kass.[19] This represents the largest collection of Jewish art, Judaica and broadcast media outside of museums in Israel.[20] 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.

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)[21]
  • 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)[22]
  • "Chagall, Lissitzky, Malevich: The Russian Avant-Garde in Vitebsk, 1918-1922" (September 14, 2018 – January 6, 2019)[23]
  • "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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Programs

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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.[32][33] 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.[34][35] 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."[36]

Programming at the Jewish Museum caters for many different constituents, from live musical performances to events specifically curated for children, and families.[37] Events can be co-sponsored or in conjunction with other museums, particularly those located nearby on Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile.[38] 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.[39]

Management

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As of 2013, the Jewish Museum operates on a $17 million annual budget.[40] 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.[41] 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.[42] In 2013, the museum's board chose Claudia Gould, former director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, as its new director.[42]

In 2015 Kelly Taxter was named one of the top 25 female curators in the world by ArtNet.[43]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "The Jewish Museum History". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on November 22, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Exhibitions". Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "The David Berg Foundation Underwrites Free Saturdays at the Jewish Museum". Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2020.
  8. ^ "World War II Revisionism at the Jewish Museum". Jewish Currents. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ McDowell, Michael (November 8, 2024). "New Restaurant Now Open At Jewish Museum: Report". Upper East Side, NY Patch. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Landmarks Preservation Commission" (PDF). NYC.Gov. November 24, 1981. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. ^ Roth, Leland (2009). "Hunt, Richard Morris". North Carolina Architects and Builders. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  15. ^ Gray, Christopher (August 11, 1991). "The Warburg Mansion". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "Reclaimed: Paintings from the Collection of Jacques Goudstikker". Archived from the original on January 25, 2009.
  19. ^ Masterworks of The Jewish Museum. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004
  20. ^ "Jewish Museum Reopens Sunday". The New York Times. June 6, 1993. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  21. ^ 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
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  25. ^ "Female Votive Head". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  26. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  27. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  28. ^ "Thomas Sully, Sally Etting, Paintings". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013.
  29. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  30. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  31. ^ The Jewish Museum[permanent dead link‍]
  32. ^ "Jewish Museum (Manhattan, NY)". UrbanAreas.net. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  33. ^ "Programs". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  34. ^ "The Jewish Museum". New Learning Times. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  35. ^ "Programs - Visitors with Disabilities". The Jewish Museum. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  36. ^ "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.
  37. ^ "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.
  38. ^ Kressel, Hannah (June 26, 2019). "Interning at the Jewish Museum in Manhattan". Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ Allan Kozinn (February 12, 2013), A Museum Broadens Its Identity Archived November 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  41. ^ Robin Pogrebin (November 30, 2010), Director of Jewish Museum to Step Down Archived June 16, 2013, at the Wayback Machine New York Times.
  42. ^ 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.
  43. ^ "25 Women Curators On the Rise - artnet News". March 17, 2015. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
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