The Changing Face of ‘Jewish Art’ in the Modern and Contemporary World

Presented by Dr. Ori Soltes
Goldman Professorial Lecturer in Theology and Fine Arts, Georgetown University

Join us as we welcome Dr. Ori Soltes back to the Haberman Institute community for an image-rich presentation on the evolution of Jewish art.

Dr. Soltes will guide us through three elements of the modern and contemporary world of Jewish art, beginning with addressing the wonderfully complex question of what one means by “Jewish Art,” conceptually and historically. Arriving into the modern era, Dr. Soltes will ask how the definition of “Jewish art” changes and evolves—without providing a simple answer to the original question.

Against the backdrop of these two observations, the talk will offer a significant handful of instances that demonstrate not only the extraordinary richness of “Jewish art,” but also promote the idea that part of its richness is our inability to define—draw a conceptual boundary around—“Jewish art” at any point in history and across geography, most particularly in the world of the present.