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Idolizing Pictures: Idolatry, Iconoclasm, and Jewish Art
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth."Exodus 20.4. In this ground-breaking book Anthony Julius derives a Jewish aesthetic from the Second Commandment. The prohibition of idolatry in fact contains a positive program. It is both an injunction against idol worshipping and a call to idol breaking; it promotes a creative iconoclasm that uses irony to expose inflated claims about art. Examining works by artists such as Chagall and Shahn, Julius finds that much Jewish art does not meet this bracing criterion. But in the output of contemporary artists Komar and Melamid he identifies and celebrates an aesthetic that by irony subverts both artistic and political idolatry. Idolizing Pictures is a manifesto for Jewish art. 66 b/w illustrations.
120 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2001
21 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Julius
20 books6 followersAnthony Julius (born 1956) is a prominent British lawyer and academic, best known for his actions on behalf of Diana, Princess of Wales and Deborah Lipstadt. He is a senior consultant for the London law firm Mishcon de Reya.
Julius is known for his opposition to new antisemitism, the alleged expression of antisemitic prejudice couched in terms of criticism of Israel, and gives frequent talks on the subject all over the world to raise awareness. He is a founding member of both Engage and the Euston Manifesto.
He is a son of a successful London textile merchant, educated at the City of London School. His father died young of a brain tumour. Julius studied English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge graduating in 1977 with a first class degree and completed a Ph.D. in English literature at University College London under the novelist and academic Dan Jacobson. He joined Mishcon de Reya, a Bloomsbury law firm in 1981 becoming a partner in 1984. Currently he is a senior consultant to that firm.
He married in 1979 and had four children with his first wife (Max, Laura, Chloë and Theo). In 1999, following his divorce, he married journalist Dina Rabinovitch who died in 2007. They have one son together (Elon). He remarried in July 2009.
Julius is known for his opposition to new antisemitism, the alleged expression of antisemitic prejudice couched in terms of criticism of Israel, and gives frequent talks on the subject all over the world to raise awareness. He is a founding member of both Engage and the Euston Manifesto.
He is a son of a successful London textile merchant, educated at the City of London School. His father died young of a brain tumour. Julius studied English literature at Jesus College, Cambridge graduating in 1977 with a first class degree and completed a Ph.D. in English literature at University College London under the novelist and academic Dan Jacobson. He joined Mishcon de Reya, a Bloomsbury law firm in 1981 becoming a partner in 1984. Currently he is a senior consultant to that firm.
He married in 1979 and had four children with his first wife (Max, Laura, Chloë and Theo). In 1999, following his divorce, he married journalist Dina Rabinovitch who died in 2007. They have one son together (Elon). He remarried in July 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 11, 2025
An educative work providing a lot of information on Jews-painters while deliberating a "Jewish painter" meaning.
Well, too many artists, of African origin particularly, paint no faces and murky siluetas in abstract forms.
Are they Jewish?🤔
Well, too many artists, of African origin particularly, paint no faces and murky siluetas in abstract forms.
Are they Jewish?🤔
October 28, 2007
Insightful.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews