RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

"Where you go, I will go," said Ruth to Naomi, and one of my favorite paintings of this moment is by Jewish artist Arthur Szyk (1894-1951). This week, Jews worldwide mark their holyday of Shavuot with readings from the Book of Ruth, and many will also celebrate the women's relationship as a symbol for Gay Pride month (June). Szyk was not gay, but he was a highly respected illustrator and a fierce human rights advocate. During his funeral, his rabbi eulogized him as "a champion of justice" who "brilliantly" used his art as his tool. This June, a new documentary, Soldier in Art: Arthur Szyk is traveling, and a retrospective on his work ends at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. For all these reasons, Arthur Szyk's "Ruth & Naomi" (above) is my NEWS OF WEEK. Happy holiday & Happy Pride!

In other religious art news from across the USA, and around the world:

• Buddhist Art of Week: Red Baron's art collection to be auctioned at Sotheby's [More News]
• Christian Art of Week: Mary Carlson’s soulful little ceramic sculptures [More News]
• Hindu Art of Week: Mystical Hindu paintings suddenly appear at Angkor Wat [More News]
• Islamic Art of Week: Javed Qamar's calligraphic "The Islamic Dream Land" [More News]
• Movie of Week: Angelina Jolie brilliantly stars in ‘Maleficent,’ from Disney [More News]

Join the journey. We are all members of one spiritual family united in the search for human meaning through art from the religious imagination. For us, it's more than Art. It's Religion. We follow artists who explore religious ideas with their creativity. When you follow religious artists, you join others who do the same. Some of us join as "Collectors" and make policy decisions; others join as "Friends" who gather for the dialogues; and most of us join as "Subscribers" to this "free" weekly newsletter; (or follow on: Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, or Soundcloud).

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The Almost-Forgotten Jewish Artist Who Propagandized Against Hitler

THE ATLANTIC 
By Steven Heller

A 1942 Szyk work depicting Hitler as the Anti-Christ. (courtesy Irvin Ungar)

CALIFORNIA---Forty years ago, the young rabbi Irvin Ungar found himself enamored with the work of a Polish émigré illustrator, Arthur Szyk. A new documentary created in part by Ungar, Soldier in Art: Arthur Szyk, has screened in six film festivals and is scheduled to show at the Laemmle Theatres in West Los Angeles and Encino, May 30 through June 5. The film shows Szyk’s visual commentary on American democracy, the horrors of Nazism and the Holocaust, and the rebirth of the Jewish people in Israel. Almost without exception, Szyk’s art was never ambiguous or abstract. “It almost always had a common theme,” Ungar says. “Freedom, not tyranny; justice, not oppression—which, when combined with the uniqueness of his style, is why Szyk became one of the leading political artists of the first half of the 20th century.” [link]

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Shavuot: BAJC Marks Jewish Holiday and Gay Pride Month

THE COMMONS ONLINE

Ruth and Naomi by Arthur Szyk. Courtesy of Contemporary Jewish Museum

VERMONT---On Tuesday, June 3, from 7 p.m. to midnight, Brattleboro Area Jewish Community (BAJC) will offer a fun evening of study for the holiday of Shavuot and to mark June as Gay Pride Month in Brattleboro. On Shavuot, it is customary to stay up all night to study Jewish texts. In honor of Gay Pride Month in Brattleboro, the community will study the contemporary midrashic (interpretive) reading of this text as a story of lesbian love and commitment between Ruth and Naomi. They’ll also consider Naomi as a stranger in a foreign land, Ruth as a convert, and Ruth and Naomi as powerful women who use gender relations to their advantage. [link]

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Monday's Mother & Child by Arthur Szyk

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS NEWS
By TAHLIB

"Baby Moses" (1935) by Arthur Szyk

Best known for his World War II anti-Nazi political art and his beloved Passover Haggadah, 20th century artist Arthur Szyk (pronounced “shik”) single-handedly revived the medieval tradition of illumination. The Szyk Haggadah above features "Baby Moses" a visual-telling of the story where Pharaoh's daughter finds the baby floating in a basket in the river. The full collection of originals are currently on display at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

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