By Moshe Frank, Leviim Jewish Art Gallery

What is Jewish Art?

Anything Jewish is going be complicated.

For me, jewish art expresses jewish life.

There are many jewish artists that paint many subjects and ideas.

The painting has to express something unique to jewish life, e.g. boy putting on teffilin, woman lighting shabbos candles etc.

When a jewish artists paints a scene in Venice, it isn’t considered jewish. (Unless it’s from the ghetto)

Art experts argue about jewish art, created by a gentile artist.

Some say you need to be part of the culture, to really feel and understand the life.

Rembrandt painted jews.

I think, to really capture and express the unique important moments of jewish life, you need to be Jewish or spend a heck alot of time around them.

Jewish art in the past hundred years were done mostly by Jewish artists. Elena Flerova and H Weiss being the exception.

In summary, to get the real authentic jewish feeling from a painting, will not likely come from a non Jewish artist.

A outsider never really captures the true moment of the experience.

A journalist is never accurate.

They just showed up to a scene, and want to be a expert in five minutes.

But a Flerova paintings recently sold for seventy thousand dollars, in a private sale.