Jewish Identity in Modern Art History

In the first comprehensive study of Jewish identity and its meaning for the history of art, eleven influential scholars illuminate the formative role of Jews as subjects of art historical discourse. At the same time, these essays introduce to art history an understanding of the place of cultural identity in the production of scholarship.

Contributors explore the meaning of Jewishness to writers and artists alike through such topics as exile, iconoclasm, and anti-Semitism. Included are essays on Anselm Kiefer and Theodor Adorno
the effects of the Enlightenment
the rise of the nation-state
Nazi policies on art history
the criticism of Meyer Schapiro, Clement Greenberg, and Aby Warburg
the art of Judy Chicago, Eleanor Antin, and Morris Gottlieb
and Jewish patronage of German Expressionist art.

Offering a new approach to the history of art in which the cultural identities of the makers and interpreters play a constitutive role, this collection begins an important and overdue dialogue that will have a significant impact on the fields of art history, Jewish studies, and cultural studies.