THE JEWS IN ORIENTALISM 7 MARS — 8 JUILLET 2012 This exhibition explores the world of Orientalist painting, focussing on the representation of the Jew as “Oriental” in art from 1832 to 1929. Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaisme1. THE DISCOVERY OF THE JEWS IN THE LAND OF ISLAM The artists who travelled to the Orient in the early 19th century discovered the Jewish communities around the Mediterranean rim. This unexpected encounter revealed another picturesque facet of an Orient often imagined before it was visited. Eugéne Delacroix in Morocco and Théodore Chassériau in Algeria filled their notebooks with sketches of Jewish figures, using them later in large pictures such as Delacroix’s pioneering Jewish Wedding in Morocco (1841). 2. THE JOURNEY TO THE HOLY LAND Beyond North Africa, the journey to the Holy Land took on a more symbolic dimension. Motivated by religious aspirations and the new archaeological Curator: Laurence Sigal Scientific curator: Nicolas Feuillie Scientific advisors: Christine Peltre and Yigal Zalmona for the “New Hebrews” section Coordination: Dorota Sniezek interest in lands ranging from Egypt to Mesopotamia, Europeans went in search of the origins of western civilisation in the Middle East. The views of Jerusalem by painters such as David Roberts and Thomas Seddon epitomise this quest. 3. THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE BIBLE Elements of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim worlds were freely blended in anew approach to biblical painting. Horace Vernet portrayed Abraham as a Bedouin by his tent, and Tissot and Holman Hunt depicted Jesus preaching ina synagogue in Jerusalem. This “orientalisation” of the Bible is particularly manifest in illustrations of episodes set in Egypt Joseph) and Persia (Esther), drawing on new knowledge of Antiquity. During the Jews in Orientalism exhibition, the MAHJ is highlighting of Prints and Drawings. } its North African collections in the permanent collection on the 2nd floor: paintings, drawings, etchings and costumes. A selection of photographs of Oriental Jews, from the museum's collections and several public and private collections, is on display in the Department Throughout the exhibition, special signs (red disks) indicate works in the museum's } permanent collection (chiefly costumes) depicted in the pictures on display. To view these works, follow the directions in the last room of the exhibition.4. IN SEARCH OF A JEWISH HISTORY Ina context in which the task of recounting ancient Jewish history fell to painting, the work of afew European Jewish artists also became a means of asserting a national identity. Eduard Bendemann and Henri-Léopold Lévy reinterpreted the theme of the exile in Babylon as an emblematic matrix of the history of the dispersion of the Jewish people. The most fascinating example is Maurycy Gottlieb’s re-examination of the interface between Judaism and Christianity, drawing on literature, in his painting Christ Before His Judges. 5, THE NEW HEBREWS The Zionist project formulated by Theodor Herzl, largely in reaction to the mounting anti-Semitism in Europe, and the idea of a “State of the Jews” in Palestine rapidly acquired an artistic dimension. At the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem and further afield, artists strove to establish a continuity between Biblical Antiquity and the contemporary Middle East, and to re-embrace an oriental Jewish identity. The exhibition includes works by Eugene Delacroix, Théodore Chassériau, Alfred Dehodencgq, Jean Lecomte du Nouy, Wilhelm Gentz, Charles Cordier, Lucien Lévy- Dhurmer, David Roberts, Thomas Seddon, Jean-Léon Géréme, Gustav Bauernfeind, Alexandre Bida, Gustave Moreau, Alexandre Cabanel, Horace Vernet, Lawrence Alma- Tadema, William Holman Hunt, James. Tissot, Maurycy Gottlieb, Lesser Ury, Zeev Raban, Ephraim Moses Lilien, Abel Pann, Reuven Rubin and Nahum Gutman. GROUND FLOOR 1 The discovery of the Jews in the land of Islam The journey to the Holy Land The birthplace of the Bible. An orientalist vision 31 MEZZANINE 3.2 The birthplace of the Bible. An epic in pictures 3.3 FIRST FLOOR 5 33. The birthplace of the Bible. Heroines and femmes fatales 4 Insearch of a Jewish history mae 5 The new HebrewsTHE EXHIBITION CATALOGUE The Jews in Orientalism Copublished by the Musée d'art et d’histoire du Judaisme and Skira/Flammarion 200 pages - 35.50 € LECTURES — Wednesday 4 April 2012, 730 pm Hebraic beauties By Christine Peltre, scientific curator of the exhibition, professor of art history at the University of Strasbourg, and author of numerous books on orientalism, including Orientalisme (Terrail-Vilo, 2004, new edition 2010) and Dictionnaire culture! de Vorientalisme (Hazan, 2008) — Wednesday 13 June 2012, 7.30 pm Biblical heroines in 19th-century painting. An eroticised vision of the Orient By Sophie Barthélémy, curator at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon and co- curator of La Sulamite dévoilée. Genése du « Cantique des cantiques » par Gustave Moreau (MBA Dijon, until 16 February 2012) COLLOQUIUM AND PANEL DISCUSSION — Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 May 2012 From the Torah to the Hadith: the Jews and orientalism Colloquium organised by Michel Espagne (ENS) and Perrine Simon-Nahum (MAHJ) With the participation of Sophie Basch, professor of French literature at the University of Paris 1V Sorbonne, Dominique Bourel, research director at the CNRS (Paris IV Sorbonne), Philippe Bitgen, professor of philosophy at the University of Paris |, Michel Espagne, research director at the CNRS (ENS), Anne Héléne Hogg, historian and curator at the MAH4, Isabelle Kalinowski, researcher at the CNRS (ENS), Maurice Kriegel, director of studies at the EHESS, Sabine Mangold, professor of history at the University of Wuppertal, Pascale Rabault, researcher at the CNRS (ENS), Perrine Simon-Nahum, research director at the CNRS (EHESS), Céline Trautmann-Waller, professor of Germanic studies at the University of Paris Ili and at the Institut Universitaire de France, Lucette Valensi, director of studies at the EHESS AT THE MAHJ — Tuesday 22 May 2012, 2 pm to 6 pm Colloquium The Orient, the Orients: orientalism in the scientific mirror Wednesday 23 May 2012, 7 pm to 99m Panel discussion (chaired by P. Simon-Nahum) Orientalism today: science or ideology? At the Ecole Normale Supérieure — Wednesday 23 May 2012, 9. am to 1 pm The vision of the Orient among scholars, diplomats, traders and adventurers CONCERTS Oriental inspirations — Sunday 25 March 2012, 11am Piano recital by Sonia Rubinsky Works by Domenico Scarlatti, Claude Debussy, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Franz Liszt, Giuseppe Verdi, Enrique Granados — Wednesday 6 June 2012, 8 pm Piano and voice recital by Jeff Cohen and David Selig, piano, Julie Fuchs, soprano Works by Louis Aubert, Paul Ben-Haim, Hector Berlioz, Georges Bizet, Ernest Chausson, Jean Cras, Maurice Delage, Gabriel Fauré, Alexandre Glazounov, George Hue, Felix Mendelssohn, Ernest Moret, Felipe Pedrell, Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saéns, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Pauline Viardot READINGS — W>cinesday 14 March 2012, 8 pm The Romantics in the Orient, from Chateaubriand to Victor Hugo Texts selected and presented by Nicole Savy, literary critic and author of Les Juifs des romantiques Belin, 2010) Read by Jéréme Kircher — Wednesday 11 April 2012, 8 pm Souvenirs d’un voyage dans le Maroc by Eugéne Delacroix Presented by Maurice Arama, art historian and author of Delacroix, un voyage initiatique, Maroc, Andalousie, Algérie (Editions Non Lieu, 2006) Read by Jacques Bonnaffé GUIDED TOURS CHILDREN’S — Wednesday WORKSHOPS 14 March, 11 April, — Sunday 25 March, 25 April, 9 May, 15 April and 13 May, 23 May and Tam 20 June, 7.15 pm; Wednesday 30 May Once upon a time there was tailor and 4 July, 2.30 9m; in the Orient Sunday 25 March, Session: 1h30 ~ 17 June and 1 July, 4/7 years Tiam — Sunday 25 March, The Jews 15 April and 13 May, in Orientalism Tlam — Thursday Oriental dress 22 March and 12 April, Session: 2h - 2.30 pm; Sunday 8/12 years 13 May, 11 am; Tuesday 19 June, 230 pm ; North Africa inthe ““MIROIRS MAHA collections D’ORIENT” INTER-MUSEUM TOURS. WORKSHOPS These tours of the FOR ADULTS MAHJ, the Musée — Wednesday 23 May, du Louvre and the 30 May, 13 June, Musée c’Orsay pro- 6.30 pm vide a fuller insight Textile treasures, a journey through the Orient Three-session work- shop run by Yaéle Baranes, artist Session: 2h30 into the representa- tion of the Orient in western painting from the 19th-cen- tury to the 1930s. See dates on www.mahj.org PRACTICAL NFORMATIONS Musée cart et d’histoire du Judaisme Hétel de Saint-Aignan 71 rue du Temple 75003 Paris www. mahj.org Join MAHJ on Facebook and Twitter (@infosdumahj) Exhibition opening Transport hours Metro: Rambuteau, Sunday to Friday, Hotel de Ville, RER: 10 am to 6 pm Chatelet - Les Halles Late opening Buses: 29, 38, 47, 75 Wednesday until Car parks: 9pm Beaubourg, Hotel de Ville ADMISSION AND INFORMATION Guided tours Full rate: 9 € / reduced rate 6.50 € Information and reservations on 0153 01 86 62 or groupes@mahj.org Exhibition + museum Full rate: 9.50 €/ reduced rate: 7 € Late opening Wednesdays (exhibition only), single rate: 7 € Lectures Full rate: 5 €/ reduced rate: 3€ Educational workshops Full rate 8.50 € / reduced rate 6.50 € Workshops for adults G sessions) Full rate 36 €/ reduced rate 28.50 € Colloquium Admission free Concerts Full rate: 20 € / reduced rate: 15 € Information and reservations on 0153 0186 48 or reservations@mahi.org Information and reservations on 0153 0186 62 or individuels@mahj.org In partnership with SCPE MA PARIS @]