Aquarela Sobre Papel, 21x14,8cm , 2015.

It’s Sukkot time by Oliver Hammond Via Flickr: Time for a break from the parade of destruction. If you’re Jewish, Sukkot means that you’re supposed to take your meals and play host to visitors inside a small outdoors hut. In Minnesota in late Sept/Oct, that can be a bitch. Coindidentally, this year Ramadan overlaps with the Yamim Noraim, which Sukkot is part of. During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating or drinking or generally doing anything enjoyable between sunrise and sunset. Fortunately, Autumn daylight in Minnesota is fairly short-lived.

Pouran Jinchi, Black and Blue at Leila Heller Gallery through October 24, 2015.

Lady in gold : the extraordinary tale of Gustav Klimt’s masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer / by Anne-Marie O'Connor

Contributor to the Washington Post Anne-Marie O’Connor brilliantly regales us with the galvanizing story of Gustav Klimt’s 1907 masterpiece—the breathtaking portrait of a Viennese Jewish socialite, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The celebrated painting, stolen by Nazis during World War II, subsequently became the subject of a decade-long dispute between her heirs and the Austrian government.

Some of the very charming,stylish and jewish related pictures of Jacob Steinhardt. Read about him here.

Jewish Art in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium

“In the first centuries C.E., Jewish communities could be found in every corner of the Roman empire, from Sardis (Turkey) to Ostia (Italy), from Hamman Lif (Tunisia) to Intercisa (Hungary). The archaeological remnants and literary attestations of more than 150 synagogues throughout the empire make clear that Jews were integral to the urban landscape of late antiquity, well beyond the borders of Roman Palestine. In early Byzantine synagogues, specifically Jewish symbols—shofarot (ram’s horns), menorot (branched lamps), and Torah shrines—might appear alongside pomegranates, birds, lions, and fountains. Asia Minor, in particular, boasted numerous, and often prosperous, Jewish communities. The third-century synagogue in the Roman garrison town of Dura-Europos, like the Christian meeting house and the shrine devoted to the Persian god Mithras that stood just yards away, was adorned with sumptuous painting. Splendid murals with narrative scenes from the Bible covered the synagogue’s walls; painted tiles of zodiacal symbols ornamented its ceiling. Plaques with dedicatory inscriptions give some indication of the individuals and families who funded the building of such synagogues. ”

An auctioneer scores a book deal, a museum receives a $70 million gift, and Sotheby’s announces the sale of an extraordinary work by Lucian Freud — this and more in this week’s news.

Read more in ARTPHAIRE.

Lucian Freud, “Head on a Green Sofa (1960-61)” Estimate: 2,500,000-3,500,000 GBP. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Old Jewish cemetery #bosnia #sarajevo #streets #anti_fascism (at Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

This is a JMN Poster (Jewish Multiracial Network) aimed at advancing Jewish diversity through community building and empowerment with Jewish people of Color and Jewish multiracial families.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Moses and the Burning Bush, Moses receives the Tablets of the Law, Moses reading the Torah, Moses at Mount Nebo - Dura-Europos synagogue, Syria, c. 244 CE. Tempera over plaster. One of the oldest synagogues in the world, the Dura-Europos synagogue preserves some of the most precious and unique examples of Jewish art in history. These four portraits of Moses are found on the center of the synagogue’s western wall, above the Torah niche. Note his depiction with a square halo.