Jewish Identity in American Art

Matthew Baigell is professor emeritus in the department of art history at Rutgers University. He is the author, editor, and coeditor of over twenty books on American and Jewish American art. His most recent book is The Implacable Urge to Defame: Cartoon Jews in the American Press, 1877-1935.

This important book deals in-depth with a previously overlooked aspect of American Jewish art, the generation born after 1930 who usually saw themselves as secular Americans. The stories of their return to Jewish sources from the 1970s on and the various reasons for it make for fascinating reading that is instructive for developments today. Matthew Baigell has synthesized an important body of research and come up with a scintillating volume. A masterful work, indeed! Written by a distinguished scholar of American art, this book reveals how eleven male and female contemporary Jewish-American artists combined their American individualism with their Jewish heritage. Chapters on Jewish female artists and on Jewish feminist art are especially a must-read. A beautiful book with more than 90 color illustrations. It is more than a coffee table art book since Baigell offers scholarly insights into the artists’ work.