Too Jewish or Not Jewish Enough

Ritual Objects and Avant-Garde Art at the Jewish Museum of New York

Jeffrey Abt (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

352 Seiten

2024
Berghahn Books (Verlag)
978-1-80539-277-4 (ISBN)

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Displays of Jewish ritual objects in public, non-Jewish settings by Jews are a comparatively recent phenomenon. So too is the establishment of Jewish museums. This volume explores the origins of the Jewish Museum of New York and its evolution from collecting and displaying Jewish ritual objects, to Jewish art, to exhibiting avant-garde art devoid of Jewish content, created by non-Jews. Established within a rabbinic seminary, the museum’s formation and development reflect changes in Jewish society over the twentieth century as it grappled with choices between religion and secularism, particularism and universalism, and ethnic pride and assimilation.

Jeffrey Abt is Professor Emeritus at Wayne State University. Prior to that he worked at the Wichita Art Museum; the Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago; and Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art. An artist and writer, his artwork is in several museum and corporate collections. His books include American Egyptologist: The Life of James Henry Breasted and the Creation of His Oriental Institute and Valuing Detroit's Art Museum: A History of Fiscal Abandonment and Rescue. He co-edited and is on the editorial board of the Museum History Journal.

Prologue

Museum Culture

The Contours of Secularization

Secularizing Sacred Objects

Ritual Objects and Art

Chapter 1. Entering the Contact Zone

From Ritual Objects to Cultural Artifacts

Expositions, Subalterns, and the Public Sphere

Placing Judaism on Display

Chapter 2. Seeding a Seminary Museum

“Jewish Ecclesiastical Art”

Judaica for a National Museum

The Museum of Jewish Ceremonial and Historical Objects

Finding an Audience

Chapter 3. A New Venue, a New Purpose

Reimagining the Museum: Interfaith Dialogue

Reimagining the Museum: Cultural History

Reimagining the Museum: Modern Jewish Art

Art’s Usefulness for Jews

Abstraction, Renunciation, Faith

Chapter 4. Creating a Way and Space for Contemporary Art

The Premise of Universality

Reshaping the Museum

The Art World’s 92nd Street Y, New School, and Commentary

Inaugurating the List Addition

Chapter 5. The Avant-Garde or Judaica?

The Nature of a Real Explosion

Pursuing a Greater Balance

The Museum, the Seminary, and Conservative Judaism

Ethnography, History, or Art

Chapter 6. Secular Paths Through the Avant-Garde, the Lower East Side, and Ancient Israe

Reaffirming the Avant-Garde

Heritage Rather Than Religion

The Lower East Side and Masada

Victim of Confusion | An Institution Adrift

Chapter 7. The Jewish Jewish Museum

The Soul Museum

Pushing Boundaries: Ethical, Social, Financial

Denouement

Cultural History, Ethnicity, and Jewish Experience

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Endnotes

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	10.01.2024
Reihe/Serie	Museums and Collections
Verlagsort	Oxford
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Themenwelt	Kunst / Musik / Theater
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Hilfswissenschaften
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien
ISBN-10	1-80539-277-8 / 1805392778
ISBN-13	978-1-80539-277-4 / 9781805392774
Zustand	Neuware