Ars Judaica: The Bar-Ilan Journal of Jewish Art, Volume 13

Following current developments in contemporary art history, historiansof Jewish art increasingly redefine themselves as studying Jewish visualculture and also distance themselves from any single definition of ‘Jewish’.Focusing instead on the range and flexibility of both individual and collectiveJewish self-identification, the trend today is to consider artistic creativity,messages, and reception in multiple intracultural settings.

Reflecting this trend, the volumepresents a round-table discussion and selected papers from Constructing andDeconstructing Jewish Art, an international symposium held at Bar-IlanUniversity in 2015. Accordingly, Steven Fine questions the role of ideologiesand the limits of semantic analysis in contemporary readings of ancient Jewishart. Sergey Kravtsov traces the transmission of legends about the Jewish pastthrough cultures and artistic practices. Larry Silver proposes that in modernsocieties, all artists of Jewish origin are marked by their Jewishness anddevelop a minority self-consciousness. Ben Schachter notes how criticism of religiousart has neglected the material and artistic process and focused only onspirituality and theology. Kathrin Pieren discusses the role of public displaysin negotiating the relationship between art and identities. The volume alsoincludes two articles on the effects of displacement on the art oftwentieth-century Jewish artists of Russian origin; description of a forgottenmasterpiece by Hermann Struck; and book reviews.

ArsJudaica is an annual publication of the Department ofJewish Art at Bar-Ilan University. It showcases the Jewish contribution to thevisual arts and architecture from antiquity to the present from a variety ofperspectives, including history, iconography, semiotics, psychology, sociology,and folklore. As such it is a valuable resource for art historians, collectors,curators, and all those interested in the visual arts.

Contributors: Ziva Amishai-Maisels, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Maya Balakirsky Katz, Touro College, New York, Samantha Baskind, Cleveland State University, Asher Biemann, University of Virginia, Monika Czekanowska-Gutman, University of Warsaw, Marina Dmitrieva, Leibniz-Institut für Geschichte und Kultur des Östlichen Europa, Leipzig, Steven Fine, Yeshiva University, New York, Eva Frojmovich, University of Leeds, Batsheva Goldman-Ida, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, William L. Gross, collector, Tel Aviv, Felicitas Heiman-Jelinek, independent scholar and curator, Vienna, Ahuva Klein, independent researcher, Tel Aviv, Rudolf Klein, Szent István University, Budapest, Lola Kantor Kazovsky, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Katrin Kogman-Appel, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Sergey R. Kravtsov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Shulamit Laderman, Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, Irit Miller, University of Haifa, Kathrin Pieren, University of Southampton, Mirjam Rajner, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Ilia Rodov, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Ben Schachter, Saint Vincent College, Pennsylvania, Larry Silver, University of Pennsylvania, Daniel Sperber, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Annette Weber, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg, Gil Weissblei, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Bracha Yaniv, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan

Volumes of Ars Judaica are distributed bythe Littman Library of Jewish Civilization throughout the world, except Israel.Orders and enquiries from Israeli customers should be directed to:

Ars Judaica

Department of Jewish Art

Bar-Ilan University

Ramat-Gan 52900

telephone 03 5318413

fax 03 6359241

email ajudaica@mail.biu.ac.il