Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
Print Edition

Refueling the masters

 Masters: World Famous Masterpieces with a Jewish Twist by artist-author Esty Frankel-Fersel transplants Jewish themes and symbols into high art’s most revered paintings and photographs. Many of the 60-odd converted masterpieces in this coffee table book are light and whimsical, even when they illustrate deeper subjects like Shabbat, Torah and Kabbalah. For example, in Jan Vermeer’s “The Milkmaid,” a young woman prepares a meal that’s heavy in carbohydrates and probably somewhat treif on Page 25. On the adjoining page, Frankel-Fersel reproduces Vermeer’s masterpiece down to the delicate expression on the woman’s face — except now she’s baking challah. Inserting Jewish words, symbols and ideas into a recognizable work of art is comparable to hitting the reset button in your mind. It challenges your outlook. Rather […]
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IJN Senior Writer | [email protected]