Living Jewish Art

The first-ever book about artist Itshak Holtz (1925-2018), who lived and worked among the Orthodox Jewish communities of New York and Jerusalem. An eagerly awaited first book on the foremost painter of contemporary Jewish life.

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The eagerly awaited first book on the foremost painter of contemporary Jewish life.


Itshak Holtz (1925–2018) was born in a small town near Warsaw and moved with his family to Jerusalem when he was ten years old; he pursued his artistic training there and at the Art Students League and National Academy of Design in New York. From the beginning of his artistic career, he was drawn to depict the life of the Orthodox Jewish communities of which he himself was a part, in both New York and Jerusalem. Working in a realistic yet painterly style, Holtz portrayed the real people around him — their prayer houses, their streets, their work, and their celebrations. His work forms an intimate guide to the Jewish world, approached with the sensitivity, confidence, and thorough familiarity that only someone living and breathing it could attain. This handsome volume reproduces a generous selection of Holtz’s finest paintings, as well as his drawings and prints. An insightful text by Richard McBee, the noted writer on Jewish art, illuminates Holtz’s life and work. Living Jewish Art is a celebration of the continuity of Jewish life and tradition, and a must for anyone who is interested in Jewish art.