“The Art of Matrimony: Thirty Splendid Marriage Contracts from The Jewish Theological Seminary Library.” The JTS Library lends some of its most significant ketubot, or marriage contracts, some of them almost 1,000 years old, to The Jewish Museum. (The Jewish Museum, March 11-June 26)
“Impressionism from South Africa, 1965 to Now.” This group exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art features the works of 29 South African printmakers, among them the prominent Jewish artist William Kentridge. (MoMA, March 23-Aug. 14)
“Finding Home: The Art of Siona Benjamin.” The Indian Jewish artist Siona Benjamin, born in Bombay, now living in the U.S., displays numerous paintings that fuse Indian art practices like miniature images with biblical and Sephardic imagery. (JCC in Manhattan, May 18-July 30)
“Sam Borenstein and the Colors of Montreal.” Borenstein (1908-1969) was born in Eastern Europe but immigrated to Montreal in 1921, where he made vibrantly colored landscape paintings that once earned him the title of Canada’s only “authentic” Expressionist. Many of those paintings are on view at the Yeshiva University Museum. (Center for Jewish History, Feb. 6-May 8)
“Last Folio: A Photographic Journey with Yuri Dojc.” The photographer Yuri Dojc recently traveled to Slovakia to capture the remains of its once vibrant Jewish community. His hauntingly beautiful images of synagogues and cemeteries, mostly in ruins, will be on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage this spring. (Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, opens March 25)
“Alina and Jeff Bliumis: Global Reach Inc.” Husband-and-wife Alina and Jeff Bliumis, both Jewish artists born abroad, traffic heavily in themes of ethnic, religious and national identity. Their spring show at the Andrea Meislin Gallery features 265 national postcards, Israeli ones included, with enigmatic phrases printed on each. (Andrea Meislin Gallery, Feb. 26-April 16)
“Judy Chicago Tapestries: Woven by Audrey Cowan.” The Museum of Arts and Design opens a show of feminist art pioneer Judy Chicago, focusing on the iconic tapestries designed by her and woven by her assistant Audrey Cowen. They include works from Chicago’s biblically-inspired “Birth Project” and her once-controversial “Holocaust Project.” (Museum of Arts and Design, March 1-June 19)
“The Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel.” The sumptuous tile floor, probably from a wealthy Roman’s house around 300 A.D., was found in the current Israeli city of Lod in 1966. Recently restored, it’s currently on view at The Met. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, [212] 535-7710. Through April 3.)
“Paris Through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle.” In the first two decades of the 20th-century, Paris, center of the art world, attracted scores of aspiring artists from the east. Many were Jews, like Marc Chagall, whose paintings, sculptures and works on paper will be displayed from those early years, along with works by other Jewish émigré artists like Moise Kisling and Chana Orloff. (Philadelphia Museum of Art, [215] 684-7965. March 1-July 10.)
“Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore.” Heirs to their fathers’ textile business fortune, the sisters Claribel and Etta Cone became crucial patrons of budding modernist painters, like Picasso and Matisse. Fifty-one paintings of the sisters’ unparalleled collection are on view at The Jewish Museum this spring. (The Jewish Museum, [212] 423-3200. May 6-Sept. 25.)
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