1904

On January 20, 1904, Judge Mayer Sulzberger donates a collection of Jewish ceremonial art to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. The newly formed museum is the first institution of its kind in the United States and one of the first in the world.

1925

Through the efforts of Seminary President Cyrus Adler and Felix M. Warburg, the Museum purchases the important collection of 400 Jewish ceremonial objects assembled in the 19th century by Turkish art dealer Hadji Ephraim Benguiat.

1931

The collection is installed in the Seminary’s new Jacob H. Schiff Library as the Museum of Jewish Ceremonial Objects.

1941

Dr. Harry G. Friedman presents a major collection of ceremonial objects, paintings, sculptures, prints, and manuscripts to the Museum. His continuing donations, eventually numbering more than 600 works, include pieces from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

1944

Frieda Schiff Warburg gives the Seminary her family residence at 1109 Fifth Avenue to house the Museum.

1947

The Jewish Museum inaugurates its home in the former Warburg mansion. Curator Stephen Kayser declares that it’s the Museum’s mission to use the fine arts to explore the substance of Jewish life and history. He defines the Museum’s audience as “the American community,” which should “be given insight into the traditions, history, legends, and aspirations of the Jewish people.”

The Museum purchases the rare and important collection of Polish Judaica assembled by Benjamin and Rose Mintz.

1952

One hundred and twenty ceremonial objects, looted by the Nazis and recovered by the United States Military Government, are presented to the Museum by Jewish Cultural Reconstruction.

1963

A building expansion, underwritten by Vera and Albert A. List, opens, providing flexible modern galleries and an outdoor sculpture court.


The Museum organizes the Recent American Synagogue Architecture exhibition, including designs by Louis Kahn and Barnett Newman.

1964

The Museum presents Jasper Johns’ first solo museum exhibition.

1965

Sam Hunter becomes Director of the Jewish Museum.

1966

Primary Structures, the landmark exhibition that defined the Minimalist movement; the first major exhibition of the paintings of Ad Reinhardt; and the exhibition Lower East Side: Portal to American Life are organized.

1967

The exhibition Masada: Struggle for Freedom is presented.

1968

Karl Katz becomes Director of the Jewish Museum.

1980

Jacques Lipchitz’s sculpture The Sacrifice is prominently installed.

1981

Joan Rosenbaum becomes Director of the Jewish Museum.

The Museum’s archaeological holdings expand with the gift of Max and Betty Ratner’s antiquities collection.

The National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting, with a mission to collect, preserve, and exhibit television, cable television, and radio programs related to the Jewish experience, is founded at the Museum through support from the Charles H. Revson Foundation.

1983

Kings and Citizens: The History of the Jews in Denmark, 1622 – 1983 is presented.

1984

The Precious Legacy: Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections is presented.

1985

The Museum honors Dorothy Rodgers for her role in inspiring the development of a permanent collection exhibition.


The plaster version of George Segal’s The Holocaust is acquired, becoming one of the Museum’s signature works.

1986

Gardens and Ghettos: The Art of Jewish Life in Italy is organized.

2000

The newly reinstalled Floor 4 galleries of the permanent collection exhibition, Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey open, accompanied by thematic audio guides.

2001

Marc Chagall: Early Works from Russian Collections is presented.

2002

The exhibitions New York: Capital of Photography and the widely discussed Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art are presented.

2003

The exhibitions Entertaining America: Jews, Movies, and Broadcasting and Schoenberg, Kandinsky, and the Blue Rider are organized.


The newly reinstalled Floor 3 galleries of Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey open.

2004

Centennial year celebrations are highlighted by the exhibition Modigliani: Beyond the Myth.

2005

The exhibitions The Power of Conversation: Jewish Women and Their Salons, Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak, and Sarah Bernhardt: The Art of High Drama are presented.

2006

The Jewish Museum marks Joan Rosenbaum’s 25th anniversary as director.

The exhibitions Eva Hesse: Sculpture and Alex Katz Paints Ada are organized.

2007

The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson: Constructing a Legend, the first major American survey of the artist’s work since 1980, is organized.

A new interactive children’s exhibition, Archaeology Zone: Discovering Treasures from Playgrounds to Palaces, opens.

2008

Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940 – 1976, the first major U. S. exhibition in 20 years to rethink Abstract Expressionism, is organized by the Jewish Museum in collaboration with the Albright-Knox Gallery and the Saint Louis Art Museum. 

2009

Alias Man Ray: The Art of Reinvention is presented.