Painting

Observation · June 12, 2026
Welter and Waste in the Hebrew Bible
By Jacob Wisse
The Great Masters saw eternal stillness in Christian Scripture, and dynamism and change in Jewish Scripture.
Monthly Essay · August 5, 2024
How Western Artists Used and Abused the Hebrew Bible
By Dr. Jacob Wisse
For centuries, visual artists, nearly all Christian, turned to the Hebrew Bible for inspiration even more often than the New Testament. What did they find there, and did they treat it well?
Observation · May 19, 2020
The Missing Miracles of Marc Klionsky
By Menachem Wecker
Born in the Soviet Union, the painter took on everything and everybody from Dizzy Gillespie to New York street life to the Holocaust. When will he get his full due?
Observation · December 6, 2018
What If You Trivialize Hitler?
By Menachem Wecker
The question has plagued artists ever since the Holocaust. At least one contemporary artist manages to pass the test.
Observation · September 7, 2018
Rembrandt and What it Means to be Both a Stranger and a Neighbor in the World
By Rabbi Meir Soloveichik
In his rendering of the banishment of Ishmael, the Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah, Rembrandt reminds us of the bond between Jews and humanity at large.
Observation · March 14, 2018
The Unprecedented Bible Portraits of Francisco de Zurbarán
By Menachem Wecker
In his paintings of Jacob and his twelve sons, the 17th-century Spanish master humanizes his subjects, rendering them approachable and individual rather than remote and ethereal.