Beastly beauty
29 March until 1 September 2013
Animals in art
The Jewish Historical Museum has more than three hundred objects in its collection that depict animals. But how are these animals linked to the world of Judaism? Come and find out this spring at the Jewish Historical Museum.
The rise of the zoo
In the late nineteenth century, artists became newly interested in
animals, partly because of the growing popularity of zoological
parks and natural history museums. Since ancient times, animals had
been used in visual art for decorative and symbolic purposes. In
the Jewish tradition, for instance, animal decorations appeared on
ceremonial objects. Animals were also shown on bookplates, paper
labels pasted into books to identify the owner and prevent theft.
The image on a bookplate was often intimately connected with the
owner: a case in point is Sam de Wolff's bookplate, decorated with
a wolf.
Artists in the animal kingdom
The leading Jewish artists in the Netherlands in the first half of
the twentieth century were Joseph Mendes de Costa, Samuel Jessurun
de Mesquita, and Jaap Kaas. During that time, they had a profound
influence on Amsterdam's visual art scene, and the animal world
played a central role in their work. The work of these artists and
others - such as Joseph Teixeira de Mattos, David Bueno de
Mesquita, Eli Smalhout, and Meijer Bleekrode - will be on display
in the Jewish Historical Museum's Print Room from 29 March to 1
September 2013.
Animal expedition for children
For children (7-10), there is a 'treasure hunt' available at the
information desk. Children work their way through all the animals
that have been released in the Print Room. They discover why the
lion is in the museum search for all animals couples!
Combi-ticket Beastly beauty
Do you want to see the real animals from this exhibition? You can!
You can purchase a combi-ticket which gives you entrance to Artis, Royal Amsterdam Zoo.
The ticket for Artis can be used once and is valid until September
1st 2013.
Combi-tickets:
€ 15,95 for children 3 - 9 years of age
€ 25,00 for anyone 10 years or older.
