‘Depraved’ by Daisy Dixon | Book ReviewEvery culture and era finds different things offensive. A universal standard for immorality in art may be an impossibility. Aug 21 26August 21, 2026Article at wsj.com
The Jewish Museum’s Muddled ReinstallationThough ambitious and engaging, the New York institution’s reorganized collections galleries struggle to offer a coherent vision of Jewish history and identity. Dec 16 25December 16, 2025Article at wsj.com
‘Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy, and Exchange Between the Islamic Lands and Europe’ Review: Earthly Connections, Cosmic RevelationsAn exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art charts the development of astronomical knowledge across continents before and after the Scientific Revolution. Sep 09 25September 09, 2025Article at wsj.com
Museums and their DiscontentsWhile protests at university campuses since October 7, 2023, have earned appropriate notoriety for their violence, tactics, and support for... May 13 25May 13, 2025Article at sapirjournal.org
Form Without Function - Jewish Review of BooksThe Brutalist's foundation as a film is fundamentally shaky. Apr 07 25April 07, 2025Article at jewishreviewofbooks.com
‘Yiddish: A Global Culture’ Review: A Language in the SpotlightThe Yiddish Book Center’s permanent exhibition offers much to kvell about, including a wide-ranging collection of volumes and tributes to Yiddish theater, music and history. Jan 11 25January 11, 2025Article at wsj.com
At Japanese Museums, Art and Nature MergeA tour of some of the nation’s elegant institutions, including the Enoura Observatory and the Chichu Art Museum, reveals an approach that is startlingly different from the monumental or encyclopedic ones that define many Western museums. Sep 28 24September 28, 2024Article at wsj.com
‘Outposts of Diplomacy’ Review: Sites of StatecraftAs the embassy developed as an institution, it began to be used to link nations with sometimes virulently opposed beliefs. Sep 03 24September 03, 2024Article at wsj.com
The Messages about Jews in Christian ArtAnd how Jews used art to send messages about themselves. Aug 28 24August 28, 2024Article at ideas.tikvah.org
‘Japanese Heritage Shoya House’: Melding Nature and ArtificeThe 300-year-old house, transported piecemeal from Japan and reassembled at the Huntington in California, is a window into the cosmopolitan customs of the Edo-era elite. Jul 19 24July 19, 2024Article at wsj.com
‘Get the Picture’ Review: Lessons From the Art WorldOnly certain terms are used in a gallery. Don’t say a work is sold; say it has been placed. The pretense is that nothing commercial is taking place. Feb 16 24February 16, 2024Article at wsj.com
‘Africa & Byzantium’ and ‘Ethiopia at the Crossroads’ Review: Epics of Faith and EmpireShows at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum encompass paintings, mosaics, sacred texts and other artifacts in their explorations of religion and history. Jan 31 24January 31, 2024Article at wsj.com
‘Miracles and Machines’ Review: Mystery of the Clockwork ManA 16th-century automaton in the shape of a friar is a reminder of the craft of Renaissance inventors. But who devised it? Dec 22 23December 22, 2023Article at wsj.com
‘Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West’ Review: The Borders of BeliefA wide-ranging show at the New-York Historical Society explores the ways different faiths and communities both shaped and were shaped by the nation’s westward expansion. Nov 11 23November 11, 2023Article at wsj.com
The Root Causes of Moral Evil - Arts & Letters - Tablet MagazineNo matter how many innocents are murdered, Western intellectuals will never stop making excuses for terrorists Nov 08 23November 08, 2023Article at tabletmag.com
‘One Life: Frederick Douglass’ Review: Portrait Taken With a Wide-Angle LensThe abolitionist icon gets an intriguing if overly broad examination at a show in Washington. Oct 04 23October 04, 2023Article at wsj.com
The MIT Museum’s Stirring Spirit of InquiryIn a new space of more than 50,000 square feet and featuring scientific projects, artifacts and artworks, the Massachusetts museum poses plenty of fascinating questions while making a few questionable assertions along the way. Mar 21 23March 21, 2023Article at wsj.com
‘Lives of the Gods’ and ‘Códice Maya de México’ Reviews: The Struggle for CivilizationTwo exhibitions—one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one at the Getty Center—gather Maya art and artifacts, including the oldest book of the Americas, to examine the awesome work of world-building. Dec 14 22December 14, 2022Article at wsj.com
Jews’ Sense of Themselves Flies in the Face of Today’s Identity PoliticsThe Jewish story of redemption doesn’t just involve enduring suffering, but actually imposes obligations. Oct 28 22October 28, 2022Article at ideas.tikvah.org
How We Got Here: An Intellectual HistoryIn our era of cancellations and topplings, censorious declarations and virtue signaling, recantations and exorcisms, it’s almost possible... Oct 26 22October 26, 2022Article at sapirjournal.org