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The Jewish Museum is an
art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily co ...
and repository of cultural artifacts, housed at 1109
Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping ...
, in the former
Felix M. Warburg House The Felix M. Warburg House is a mansion located on 1109 Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The house was built from 1907 to 1908 for the German-American Jewish financier Felix M. Warburg and his ...
, along Museum Mile on the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the we ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. 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 Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewis ...
excluding Israeli museums, more than 30,000 objects. While its collection was established in 1904 at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
, the museum did not open to the public until 1947 when Felix Warburg's widow sold the property to the Seminary. It focuses both on artifacts of
Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
and on modern and contemporary art. The museum's collection exhibition, ''Scenes from the Collection'', is supplemented by multiple temporary exhibitions each year.


History

The collection that seeded the museum began with a gift of
Jewish ceremonial art Jewish ceremonial art, also known as Judaica (), refers to an array of objects used by Jews for ritual purposes. Because enhancing a mitzvah by performing it with an especially beautiful object is considered a praiseworthy way of honoring God's ...
objects from Judge
Mayer Sulzberger Mayer Sulzberger (June 22, 1843 – April 20, 1923) was an American judge and Jewish communal leader. Biography Mayer Sulzberger was born at Heidelsheim, Bruchsal, Baden on June 22, 1843. He went to Philadelphia with his parents in 1848, and wa ...
to the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...
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. The collection was subsequently expanded by major donations from Hadji Ephraim Benguiat and
Harry G. Friedman Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
. In 1939, in light of
WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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. 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. The first expansion of the museum was the addition of a sculpture garden in 1959 by Adam List. The building was expanded in 1963 and further by architect
Kevin Roche Eamonn Kevin Roche (June 14, 1922 – March 1, 2019) was an Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning architect. He was responsible for the design/master planning for over 200 built projects in both the U.S. and abroad. These projects in ...
in 1993. In the 1960s, the museum took a more active role in the general world of contemporary art, with exhibitions such as ''
Primary Structures Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors was an exhibition presented by the Jewish Museum in New York City from April 27 to June 12, 1966. The show was a survey of recent work in sculpture by artists from the Northeast United Sta ...
,'' which helped to launch the
Minimalist art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially Visual arts, visual art and Minimalist music, music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-es ...
movement. In the decades since, the museum has had a renewed focus on Jewish culture and Jewish artists. From 1990 through 1993, director
Joan Rosenbaum Joan Rosenbaum (born in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American curator and was the director of the Jewish Museum from 1981 until September 2011 when she retired. Rosenbaum is a speaker and panelist on art and Jewish culture related subjects. She al ...
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 Film at Lincoln Center, previously known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center until 2019,Aridi, Sara (April 28, 2019).. ''The New York Times''. nytimes.com. Retrieved April 29, 2019. is a film society based in New York City, United States. Fou ...
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. In 2011 the museum named
Claudia Gould Claudia Gould is an art curator and the Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director of The Jewish Museum in New York City. Life and work Claudia Gould was born and raised near New Haven, Connecticut. She had a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother. She ...
as its new director. In 2012 Claudia Gould hired
Jens Hoffmann Jens Hoffmann Mesén (born 1974 in San José, Costa Rica) is a writer, editor, educator, and exhibition maker. His work has attempted to expand the definition and context of exhibition making. From 2003 to 2007 Hoffmann was director of exhibitio ...
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 ehavingin a bullying, intimidating, harassing, or sexually inappropriate manner."


Architecture

The
Felix M. Warburg House The Felix M. Warburg House is a mansion located on 1109 Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The house was built from 1907 to 1908 for the German-American Jewish financier Felix M. Warburg and his ...
was constructed in
François I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...
(or
châteauesque Châteauesque (or Francis I style,Whiffen, Marcus, ''American Architecture Since 1780: A guide to the styles'', The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1969, p. 142. or in Canada, the Château Style) is a Revivalist architectural style based on the F ...
) style, 1906-1908 for Felix and Frieda Warburg, designed by
C.P.H. Gilbert Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (August 29, 1861 – October 25, 1952) was an American architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries best known for designing townhouses and mansions. Background and early life Born in New York Cit ...
. François I style was originally found in New York City in the late 19th century through the works of
Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of American architecture. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 entrance fa� ...
. 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. 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 Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
features. The original house is built in limestone with mansard roofs, dripping moldings, and gables. 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.


Renovations

Once converted into a museum, the architect
Kevin Roche Eamonn Kevin Roche (June 14, 1922 – March 1, 2019) was an Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning architect. He was responsible for the design/master planning for over 200 built projects in both the U.S. and abroad. These projects in ...
, who also designed additions to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, was selected to design additions to the Jewish Museum. 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. 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. 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.


Collections

The museum has nearly 30,000 objects including paintings,
sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, archaeological artifacts,
Jewish ceremonial art Jewish ceremonial art, also known as Judaica (), refers to an array of objects used by Jews for ritual purposes. Because enhancing a mitzvah by performing it with an especially beautiful object is considered a praiseworthy way of honoring God's ...
and many other pieces important to the preservation of
Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jews, and their nation, religion, and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions, and cultures. Although Judaism as a religion first appears in Greek records during the Hellenisti ...
and culture. Artists included in the museum's collection include
James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), anglicized as James Tissot (), was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of fashionable, modern scenes and society life in Paris before moving to London in 1871 ...
,
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
,
George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...
,
Eleanor Antin Eleanor Antin (née Fineman; February 27, 1935) is an American performance artist, film-maker, installation artist, conceptual artist and feminist artist. Early life and education Eleanor Fineman was born in the Bronx on February 27, 1935. Her p ...
and
Deborah Kass Deborah Kass (born 1952) is an American artist whose work explores the intersection of pop culture, art history, and the construction of self. Deborah Kass works in mixed media, and is most recognized for her paintings, prints, photography, sculp ...
. This represents the largest collection of Jewish art, Judaica and broadcast media outside of
museums in Israel A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
. 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

*
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...
, Self-Portrait with Camera, 1930 *
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
, '' Ten Portraits of Jews of the 20th Century'', 1980 * Eva Hesse, Untitled, 1963–64 *
Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', ''Vogue'' and ''Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and danc ...
, Jacob Israel Avedon portraits, 1969–73 *
Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker. Early life and education Adolph Gottlieb, one of the "first generation" of Abstract Expressionists, was born in New York ...
, Return of the Mariner, 1946 *
Deborah Kass Deborah Kass (born 1952) is an American artist whose work explores the intersection of pop culture, art history, and the construction of self. Deborah Kass works in mixed media, and is most recognized for her paintings, prints, photography, sculp ...
, Double Red Yentl, Split, from My Elvis series, 1993 *Jan Pogorzelski,
Hanukkah menorah A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah,Also called a chanukiah ( he, מנורת חנוכה ''menorat ḥanukkah'', pl. ''menorot''; also he, חַנֻכִּיָּה ''ḥanukkiyah'', or ''chanukkiyah'', pl. ''ḥanukkiyot''/''chanukkiyot'', or yi, ח ...
, 1893 *
James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), anglicized as James Tissot (), was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of fashionable, modern scenes and society life in Paris before moving to London in 1871 ...
, Adam and Eve Driven From Paradise, c. 1896–1902 *
Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
, The Steerage, 1907 *
Reuven Rubin Reuven Rubin ( he, ראובן רובין; November 13, 1893 – October 13, 1974) was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania. Biography Rubin Zelicovici (later Reuven Rubin) was born in Galaţi to a poor Rom ...
, Goldfish Vendor, 1928 *
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
, Old Man with Beard, c. 1931 *Johann Adam Boller
Hanukkah menorah A Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah,Also called a chanukiah ( he, מנורת חנוכה ''menorat ḥanukkah'', pl. ''menorot''; also he, חַנֻכִּיָּה ''ḥanukkiyah'', or ''chanukkiyah'', pl. ''ḥanukkiyot''/''chanukkiyot'', or yi, ח ...
, Frankfurt am Main (Germany), 1706–32 *
Torah Ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha- ...
from Adath Yeshurun Synagogue, Abraham Shulkin, 1899


Selected art exhibitions

Some of the museum's important exhibitions have included: *
Primary Structures Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors was an exhibition presented by the Jewish Museum in New York City from April 27 to June 12, 1966. The show was a survey of recent work in sculpture by artists from the Northeast United Sta ...
(1966) *''The Circle of
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...
: Jewish Artists in Paris, 1905–1945'' (1985) *''
The Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
: 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 Varian Mackey Fry (October 15, 1907 – September 13, 1967) was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust ...
and the
Emergency Rescue Committee Varian Mackey Fry (October 15, 1907 – September 13, 1967) was an American journalist. Fry ran a rescue network in Vichy France that helped approximately 2,000 to 4,000 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees to escape Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. ...
'' (1997) *''An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a Belarusian painter who made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by classic painting in the European tradition, exemplified by the ...
'' (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) *'' Eva Hesse: Sculpture'' (2006) *''Action/Abstraction:
Pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. '' Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...
,
de Kooning Kooning is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Willem de Kooning (1904–1997), Dutch American artist * Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989), American artist {{Short pages monitor