From Life? Or Theater? By Charlotte Salomon

Cute illustrations done by Marija Tiurina 

“This tragic and appalling story emerges well from this volume. It is a most important contribution to a little-known aspect of the genocide of the Jewish people during the Second World War and will become the standard work on the subject, illustrating clearly the whole character of the Romanian genocide.”

It may be summer outside, but this painting is giving us chills. Don’t miss “Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting” before it closes on September 13. “Lavacourt under Snow,” c. 1878–80, by Claude Monet (The National Gallery, London. Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917)

JUST SOLD! Autumn Fine Art Auction- Lot 289 $2,000 Artist: Pablo Picasso, After, Spanish (1881 - 1973) Title: Homme a la Pipe Assise sur un Tabouret Year of Original Artwork: 1969 Medium: Lithograph on Arches Paper Edition: 500, 34 AP’s Size: 22 in. x 29 in. (55.88 cm x 73.66 cm) Reference: 3 Chromist: Laurent Marcel Salinas Estate of Picasso, (Marina Picasso) pencil signature and embossed blindstamp lower right. Ink stamp verso ‘Approved by the heirs of Pablo Picasso’

We sold out of our October Dalai Lama issue two weeks early and had to do a second print run. Thanks to everyone in #Vancouver and #victoria for making this issue a record breaking success for the Megaphone vendors. #changethatworks http://ift.tt/1Xx9BuX

Elizabeth Taylor

Darkcho is an album of #mystical #Hasidic music, that sounds more like an #indie #folk #rock album with tradition than what you would expect of a #religious album. The music is very real, very #meditative and very very #human. A #physical copy of this #record is hard to find. As we look at the art we see how #mysterious it all is. Hand written lyrics and notes cover the panels, but there is no label, there is no #website, there is no way of finding out any more information and to top it all off, when you flip the cover over you read these fascinating words: “These songs collected here belong to the Jewish people. They originate from #holiness. They speak of self nullification and redemption, the need for healing and discovering the depths of the #Holy #One #Blessed Be He in this #world and the next. We take no recognition for any part of the material, lest the actual performing of the music itself.“

We couldn’t let the album not be heard, so we have put together a digital release with a new painting by the #singer, in order to ensure that the #world hears it, aged in the barrels of #Eastern #European folklore and steeped in centuries of #Jewish #musical #tradition. The album plays like a #Tarantino #soundtrack to the #deepest, most #spiritual moments of #life; full of depth and #style, antiquity and #freshness.

Get it at http://bancs.bandcamp.com (at Bancs Media)

Three generations of Jewish women drink coffee in the grandmother’s home while incense is burned, Gondar, Ethiopia. A. Abbas.

Aphotographer returns to his home town of Detroit to capture a city and its people, bent but “unbroken.” 

Adapting Traditions for Modern Judaical Art with @tobylouketubah

To see more of Toby’s ketubot and other Jewish cultural art, follow @tobylouketubah on Instagram.

San Francisco-based artist Toby Simon (@tobylouketubah) grew up in a house full of Jewish art and with a very creative spirit. “I had a junk box in my room that was filled with things I collected like: berry cartons, straws, ribbons and random bits of plastic.” Later in college, Toby discovered a passion for Hebrew calligraphy and began designing her own Judaical art, featuring references to Jewish culture ranging from menorahs and poetry to modernizing ketubah, the Jewish marriage contract.

“What I love most about a ketubah is that it connects us to our ancestors, but at the same time by modernizing the text we can now include interfaith, secular or same-sex marriages; marriages that were not accounted for in the earliest Aramaic versions,” she says. “As a ketubah designer I feel proud to be a part of this progression.”

A full-time mom with two children, Toby finds time to create early in the morning or during nap time. For the upcoming Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, she continues to adapt tradition. Her menorahs made of fabric and buttons are a “safe way for children to count out the eight nights of Hanukkah with their parents.”