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Subject Guide: Art History

Highlighting archival collections and library materials that document artists, art movements, and the history of art and culture.

Landscape with view of Synagogue at Oppeln (Upper Silesia), oil on wood, 1918. #83.23. LBI

Collections of Art and Art Histories at the Center for Jewish History

This guide was created to highlight various archival collections and books from each of the Center's five partner institutions that celebrate the study of art and art history. If you are interested in a collection or library item you do not see highlighted in this guide, please visit search.cjh.org, where you can search by keyword, name, title, subject or call number. 

Please feel free to email inquiries@cjh.org if you have any additional questions about the breadth of books, archival collections, and multimedia housed at the Center. 

A Note About Jewish Art

The aim of this guide is to highlight multiple facets of Jewish art. But what is "Jewish Art"?

There is a rich history of Jewish artistic expression in ceremonial objects (Judaica), in architectural design, and in folk art practices such as papercutting. These are all types of Jewish Art. There is also the work of Jewish artists like David Ludwig Bloch, whose faith and experiences as a Jew informed their artistic output. There is also the work of artists like Irv Koons, whose Jewishness may not have been a central theme of his work but still informed his life. 

Beyond the act of creating art, there is also a history of Jewish involvement in the art world as curators, collectors, and academics.

Our Partner Organizations

For more information on the Center's partners, please click below for their organizational websites: