For art lovers, this will be an insightful article as this will make you aware of some interesting facts about a specific type of art. We are talking about Judaism art here.
When we say Judaism art, you must have an idea that Jews who have such an enriching heritage have a series of classic art, but we will be introducing some of the facts here that will make you aware of the truth about Judaism art.
Judaism is a religion that is believed to be centuries old. The religion has a huge repository of written texts that are called scriptures; therefore, there was hardly any sign of visual art. The religion has a good heritage of culture, law, and tradition. Then how did visual art grow?
There used to images and scenes of worshipping engraved on the materials and walls, and therefore as people kept practicing it, the visual art had emerged and seen an immense growth after 20th century.
Judaism has remarkably grown in the field of visual art. Being a strict religion, it was restricted to paint idols, but they have started introducing art through architecture. Introducing visual art through architecture was how the Jews introduced art to the people.
Why do Jewish people restrict painting idol?
The Jewish religion is rigorous when it comes to religion or deity; they believe there is only one god, unlike Hinduism. They believe painting idols or god in a form equals disrespecting the god in every sense; therefore, the rules there regarding art were so strict. It is also a strong belief among them that their god communicates with them through prophets and deeds. They strictly believe in logo worship than any idol.
What’s interesting is the fact that there has been a long debate on whether Jewish art has absolute independence or not. This is reported that some of the Jewish artists themselves believed that there is no absolute independence of Jewish art, but it comprises elements from different sources. It is, therefore, a common belief that Jewish people were not able to express themselves through visual art.
There has been a debate if it is right to say that Jewish art exists as the Jewish as well as non-Jewish artists believe that there were no relevant pieces of art that can be emphasized when we talk about Judaism art. One of the Jewish artist- Solomon J.S (1860-1927) completely denies the existence of authentic national art as he believed it was born out of the soil. Judaism is a religion that is believed to be centuries old. The religion has a huge repository of written texts that are called scriptures
Here are some characteristics that make a Judaism art piece authentic:
If the art is solely produced by the artist that is of Jewish descent, then only the Judaism art will be considered authentic.
Every art has a subject that it depicts, and if that subject matter is something that is purely related to the country or religion it belongs to, only then it is considered to be the authentic national art.
The onlooker of a specific art should be able to discern the elements used. The art and the motifs used should induce the identity of the nation in the mind of the onlooker.
It should carry a unique distinction that resonates with the nation’s identity.
In case you want to classify an art an authentic art, these are some points that it should cater to.
For art lovers/collectors, this might be a sad thing to know that Jews have no independent art, but at least you have some facts collected about art at the end.
