Scenes from the Collection
The galleries on the Third Floor of the Jewish Museum feature a rotating collection exhibition with nearly 450 works from antiquities to contemporary art. The Jewish Museum’s Third Floor features installations focused on its collection.
Some of the most powerful works in the collection are those that express aspects of Jewish culture, history, or values, while also reflecting universal issues of art and its relationship to society. In “Constellations,” nearly 50 of the most significant works in the collection are exhibited as individual gems but with thematic connections to one another. Works by such artists as Mel Bochner, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Eva Hesse, Louise Nevelson, and Kehinde Wiley are included. Hanukkah lamps and other ceremonial objects drawn from the Museum’s renowned collection—from the 3rd to the 21st centuries, and Europe, North Africa, Asia, and the United States—are also on view.
Other installations featuring works from the collection include two dozen photographs of former US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s collars and necklaces taken by the contemporary photographer Elinor Carucci; a gallery that explores artists’ portrayals of other artists and themselves; and a selection of works by the French painter James Tissot that come from a group of more than 350 paintings related to the Hebrew Bible, among others.
See below for more information about each installation.
Deborah Kass, OY/YO, 2016, produced 2017, painted aluminum mounted on a polished stainless steel base. Purchase: gift in honor of Norman Kleeblatt, Susan and Elihu Rose Chief Curator of the Jewish Museum from 2005-2017. Artwork © Deborah Kass / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Exhibition highlights
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Kehinde Wiley, Alios Itzhak (The World Stage: Israel), 2011, oil and enamel on canvas. The Jewish Museum, New York, purchase: gift of Lisa and Steven Tananbaum Family Foundation; gift in honor of Joan Rosenbaum, Director of the Jewish Museum from 1981-2011, by the Contemporary Judaica, Fine Arts, Photography, and Traditional Judaica Acquisitions Committee Funds, 2011-31. Artwork © Kehinde Wiley.
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Eva Hesse, Untitled, 1963-64, oil on canvas. The Jewish Museum, New York, purchase: gift of Helen Hesse Charash, 1983-234.
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Mel Bochner, The Joys of Yiddish, 2012, oil and acrylic on two canvases. The Jewish Museum, New York, purchase: gifts of The Muriel and William Rand Collection, by exchange and Hyman and Joan C. Sall, 2012-22a-b.
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Trenton Doyle Hancock, Step and Screw: The Star of Code Switching, 2020, acrylic, synthetic fur, graphite, plastic bottle caps, and paper collage on canvas, 84 × 84 in. (213.4 × 213.4 cm). The Jewish Museum, New York, Purchase: Arts Acquisition Committee Fund
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Arlene Shechet, Travel Light, 2017. Gypsum, resin, and wax. 24 7/8 × 23 3/8 × 9 1/2 in. The Jewish Museum, New York. Contemporary Judaica Acquisitions Committee and Judaica Acquisitions Committee Funds
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Elinor Carucci, South African Collar: Ginsburg's favorite collar, worn in her official portrait, 2020. Archival pigment print. Framed: 10 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 1 in. (26.7 × 26.7 × 2.5 cm). The Jewish Museum, NY. Purchase: Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund
Installation Views
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Installation view of Scenes from the Collection. The Jewish Museum, New York. Photo by: Jason Mandella
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Video by SandenWolff
Audio
Digital guide supported by Bloomberg Connects.