Brad Wilson’s Affinity II Series Of Animal Portraits || See Gallery

Rosh Hashanah 2015: The Jewish New Year Begins

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in 2015 from sundown on Sept. 13 to the evening of Sept. 15. In the Hebrew calendar it falls on 1 and 2 Tishrei 5776.

Here’s what you need to know.

My new vignette illustration for LA NACION’s Ideas section (an Argentine daily newspaper) 30/08/2015 I have drawn it for the article about museums and their mission. What do we mean when we say “museum”? Today, museums have turned into places of experimentation, entertainment, shopping, education and appreciation of other forms of art. © GOSIA HERBA 2015

Chaki: Imagined Landscapes

http://smile.amazon.com/Kissinger-1923-1968-Idealist-Niall-Ferguson/dp/1594206538/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1443645949&sr=8-1

The definitive biography of Henry Kissinger, based on unprecedented access to his private papers No American statesman has been as revered or as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Once hailed as “Super K”—the “indispensable man” whose advice has been sought by every president from Kennedy to Obama—he has also been hounded by conspiracy theorists, scouring his every “telcon” for evidence of Machiavellian malfeasance. Yet as Niall Ferguson shows in this magisterial two-volume biography, drawing not only on Kissinger’s hitherto closed private papers but also on documents from more than a hundred archives around the world, the idea of Kissinger as the ruthless arch-realist is based on a profound misunderstanding. The first half of Kissinger’s life is usually skimmed over as a quintessential tale of American ascent: the Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany who made it to the White House. But in this first of two volumes, Ferguson shows that what Kissinger achieved before his appointment as Richard Nixon’s national security adviser was astonishing in its own right. Toiling as a teenager in a New York factory, he studied indefatigably at night. He was drafted into the U.S. infantry and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge—as well as the liberation of a concentration camp—but ended his army career interrogating Nazis. It was at Harvard that Kissinger found his vocation. Having immersed himself in the philosophy of Kant and the diplomacy of Metternich, he shot to celebrity by arguing for “limited nuclear war.” Nelson Rockefeller hired him. Kennedy called him to Camelot. Yet Kissinger’s rise was anything but irresistible. Dogged by press gaffes and disappointed by “Rocky,” Kissinger seemed stuck—until a trip to Vietnam changed everything. The Idealist is the story of one of the most important strategic thinkers America has ever produced. It is also a political Bildungsroman, explaining how “Dr. Strangelove” ended up as consigliere to a politician he had always abhorred. Like Ferguson’s classic two-volume history of the House of Rothschild, Kissinger sheds dazzling new light on an entire era. The essential account of an extraordinary life, it recasts the Cold War world.

Jewish Life Of Budapest

ketubah-handscribbed and hand painted on parchment -watercolor and cristals

Some of the very charming,stylish and jewish related pictures of Jacob Steinhardt. Read about him 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

Cute illustrations done by Marija Tiurina 

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’