Jewish Icons: Art and Society in Modern Europe [Hardcover]

Richard I. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520205456 | ISBN-13: 978-0520205451 | Publication Date: May 11, 1998 | Edition: 1

With the help of over one hundred illustrations spanning three centuries, Richard Cohen investigates the role of visual images in European Jewish history. The interaction of Jews with the visual arts takes place, as Cohen says, in a vast gallery of prints, portraits, books, synagogue architecture, ceremonial art, modern Jewish painting and sculpture, political broadsides, monuments, medals, and memorabilia. Pointing to recent scholarship that overturns the stereotype of Jews as people of the text, unconcerned with the visual, Cohen shows how the coming of the modern period expanded the relationship of Jews to the visual realm far beyond the religious context. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the study and collecting of Jewish art became a legitimate and even passionate pursuit, and signaled the entry of Jews into the art world as painters, collectors, and dealers.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"A welcome introduction to the question of Jewish understandings of, and involvement with, visual culture."--Walter Cahn, author of Romanesque Manuscripts

"Cohen's analysis of images of Jews advances swiftly beyond the history of stereotypes in favor of a complexity of mutual perception, and his depiction of images by Jews challenges the standard assumption of the anti-visuality of Jewish culture."--Michael P. Steinberg, Cornell University

"Richard Cohen's work draws both on his profound knowledge of modern Jewish history and his awareness of the importance of art to a full understanding of the past."--Vivian B. Mann, Morris and Eva Feld Chair of Judaica, The Jewish Museum

From the Back Cover

"A welcome introduction to the question of Jewish understandings of, and involvement with, visual culture." (Walter Cahn, author of Romanesque Manuscripts)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (May 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520205456
• ISBN-13: 978-0520205451
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,702,480 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is remarkable for its fluidity and erudition., March 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jewish Icons: Art and Society in Modern Europe (Hardcover)

This book occupies a much-ignored aspect of early modern Jewish culture: images. The complex relationship between the images presented by art and historical reality is addressed in this complex, subtle, and beautifully-written book.