Classes & Workshops

A Closer Look: Art History Seminar

Conceptual Art and the Image

Feb. 23, 2026 11:30 am - 12:45 pm
Wilf Family Salon
Program Tickets

Join us for an in-person three-session seminar on select Mondays—February 2, 9, and 23—inspired by art in the Jewish Museum Collection led by Nelly Silagy Benedek, Deputy Director, Education & Programs.

Conceptual art centers the concept or idea in a work of art. Words, symbols, and actions become the focal point rather than a particular narrative or representational scene. Works by Mel Bochner, Lawrence Weiner, Dana Frankfort, and Jonathan Horowitz, will be discussed including examples that speak to particular Jewish experiences.

This final class in the series will untangle the complexity of artworks that appear to be simple and impenetrable on the surface yet belie deep thinking and purpose.

Course topics:

Monday, February 2: Impressionism and the Dreyfus Affair

Monday, February 9: Abstract Expressionism and Spirituality

Monday, February 23: Conceptual Art and the Image

Tickets: $72 General; $60 Jewish Museum members, students, and seniors.

Classes include a discussion in the Wilf Family Salon and close looking in the galleries. Price includes all three sessions.

 

 

A Closer Look: Art History Seminar

Mel Bochner, The Joys of Yiddish, 2012. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 100 × 85 in. (254 × 215.9 cm). 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.