Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the visual arts, including painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and crafts.
Visual Art
The Latest
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Culture Pop artist Peter Max’s court battles are a clash between children of Holocaust survivors
Daughter Libra Max says a court-appointed guardian is keeping her Berlin-born father isolated in his Upper West Side apartment
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Yiddish World Issachar Ber Ryback’s art is a revelation!
On March 6, when the horror and shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were still intensely fresh, the Forverts ran an article about Kropyvnytskyi-born Jewish artist Issachar Ber Ryback. I was instantly hooked by the accompanying image: an Old World Jewish craftsman, laboring in a candle-lit workshop. When I began to read through the Yiddish…
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Yiddish World Ryback’s art captured Ukrainian shtetl life before it disappeared
As Russia’s bloodletting in Ukraine continues, we have begun sharing stories about the great contribution that Ukrainian Jews have made to our rich Jewish culture and to the world at large. Today we’ll focus on the renowned avant-garde Jewish painter Issachar Ber Ryback, whose lithographs and paintings portrayed traditional Jewish life in the Ukrainian shtetl,…
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Culture A way to forgive debts and leave fields fallow — even if you’re not a farmer in Israel
What’s the best way to observe the shmita year? Perhaps a seven stranded havdalah candle, or a special set of bowls — we use special dishes for Passover, after all. For those of us who don’t work in agriculture, shmita can be easily overlooked. But “The Shmita Project,” a new exhibit at the Osher Marin…
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Art ‘Blue Like Me’: Indian-Jewish roots explored in artist’s latest books
Siona Benjamin was raised Jewish in India’s Hindu and Muslim society where she attended Catholic and Zoroastrian schools. A two-time Fulbright scholar, author and book illustrator, she now lives in America where she creates art that explores her identity and transcultural issues. Benjamin’s work is inspired by styles of Indian and Persian miniature painting, Christian…
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Culture In Baltimore, a Jewish museum captures the precarity — and beauty — of American Jewish life
The improbable hybrid of a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl, and a sajjada, a Muslim prayer rug. A family recipe for an Iraqi date pastry that evokes layers of Arab-Jewish identity. Glazed stoneware for trans Jews to use in ritual practice. A film of screen recordings and Zoom exchanges about disability and displacement. These works,…
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Fast Forward Emerson professor who ‘sarcastically’ gave Nazi salute in class takes leave of absence
A professor at Emerson College in Boston is being investigated after performing a Nazi salute in class last semester. The accused professor, Brian McNeil, told The Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s student newspaper, that his behavior was meant to parody Nazis, but also acknowledged how his actions could have been “perceived the wrong way.” The incident, which…
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Culture The most powerful Jewish artist you’ve never heard of
A massive exhibit at one of Miami’s leading art museums is reclaiming a place in art history for an iconoclastic but little-known Jewish artist and Holocaust survivor. . The show, “My Name Is Maryan”, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Miami, explores the legacy of the Polish-born artist Maryan, who survived an…
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Opinion Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go
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Fast Forward Mamdani tells Colbert — and a national audience — why NYC Jews shouldn’t fear him as mayor
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Opinion Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement
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Fast Forward The Boulder firebomb attack has killed Karen Diamond, who leaves behind a Jewish legacy
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Fast Forward Supreme Court allows US terrorism victims to sue Palestinian entities
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News No Jews allowed: White supremacists are building a segregated community in Arkansas, but is it legal?
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Fast Forward Trump administration finds Harvard violated Jewish student’s civil rights, threatens termination of all federal funding
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