Fiddler On The Roof - 1968 By Baruch Elron

Happy Hanukkah!

Synagogue Hanukkah lamp Brass Poland, early 19th century Collection of Yeshiva University Museum Gift of Erica and Ludwig Jesselson This Hanukkah lamp was formerly in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection

Jugend magazine cover (Issue 47) by Julie Wolfthorn, 1897.

Julie Wolfthorn (1864-1944) was a German-Jewish female painter who created many illustrations for Jugend and was a well known and established portrait painter in Germany. Since the art schools did not accept women at that time, she travelled to Paris in the 1890′s to learn painting techniques and skills. She later became involved with the Berlin Secession and became a prominent member of it. Among her clients and friends were many female artists and important figures in society. Her life did not end well though. She later died in her 70′s at a camp established by the SS for Jewish citizens. She was said to have continued her drawing despite the horrific conditions there.

(Source: berlin-woman, wikipedia)

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. ”

Picture titled ‘Algerian Jew’ from the Jewish Encyclopedia.

Algeria’s Jewish community dates from the Roman invasion and the destruction of the Second Temple.  Read more about the Algerian Jewish community here.

And see synagogues of the Algerian Jewish community here.

The company that makes Legos has landed at the center of a social-media firestorm after Chinese artist Ai Weiwei complained that it refused to supply a bulk order of the toy bricks for his art.

Ai said he wanted to use the bricks for an exhibition on free speech at Australia’s National Gallery of Victoria. The museum attempted to place an order but was told by the company that it “cannot approve the use of Legos for political works."A post on Ai’s Instagram account said:

"As a powerful corporation, Lego is an influential cultural and political actor in the globalized economy with questionable values. Lego’s refusal to sell its product to the artist is an act of censorship and discrimination.”

A free-speech advocate who was imprisoned by the Chinese government, Ai suggested that Lego was acting under pressure from authorities. The privately held Danish company recently announced that a Legoland theme park will open in Shanghai. 

In response, fans of the artist flooded Twitter and Instagram with offers of Legos, and Ai said he was setting up drop-off points for donations. He also posted a picture of Legos that had been left inside a car on a street in Berlin, where he is serving as a visiting professor at the University of the Arts.

Fans Flood Artist Ai Weiwei With Offers Of Legos

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Dark paths. Edinburgh, Scotland

original travel photography by- mbphotograph

The New Yorker (New York, NY, USA)

Sean Raspet • “Texture Map (Normal) (C03),” 2014 • The Critical Resistance Benefit Auction • Aug 12 — Aug 26

In anticipation of the BBC’s upcoming documentary A Day in the Life of Andy Warhol, several of his friends and acquaintances give a rare glimpse into the life and reality of the elusive artist.

George Elgar Hicks - On the seashore (1879)