AP Features, March 30th, 2007
A new museum devoted to Jewish heritage has been thrust into the art world spotlight with loaned works by Rembrandt, El Greco, Rubens and others while the Cleveland Museum of Art undergoes renovation.
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, which opened in 2005, has presented well-regarded exhibits on Christian artifacts and the Holocaust and hopes the loan of European masterpieces will expand its credentials beyond religious themes.
The loan program has sent art so far to China, Japan and South Korea, with other loans planned in Canada and Germany.
"We're not just about the Holocaust. We're not just about Jewish themes. We're about art. We're about culture. We're about collaboration and connections," said Judi Feniger, Maltz executive director.
The paintings, many with Christian themes common in European art, were selected without regard to religious content.
The exhibit opened Thursday and runs through July 8. The Maltz projects 30,000 visitors, a busier daily pace than the 50,000 who saw the six-month "Cradle of Christianity" exhibit.
For the Cleveland museum, the loan represents a chance for fans to stay in touch with a world-renowned collection that for the most part has been locked away in storage since 2005 for a $258 million (euro193.7 million), six-year expansion and renovation.
The museum has more than 40,000 objects, including noted collections of ancient Egyptian, Asian and medieval European art.
The Cleveland museum has had special gallery exhibits on Monet and Barcelona, Spain, art since last year, but regular galleries will not reopen until 2008.
The 18 items loaned to the Maltz include Rembrandt's "Portrait of a Lady," El Greco's "The Holy Family With Mary Magdalene," "Diana and Her Nymphs Departing for the Hunt" by Peter Paul Rubens, Zurbaran's "Christ and The Virgin in the House at Nazareth," "The Sacrifice of Isaac" by Andrea del Sarto and Poussin's "The Holy Family on the Steps."
Most of the same show went to the Frick Collection in New York for three months through last January.
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On the Net:
Maltz: http://maltzjewishmuseum.org
Cleveland Museum of Art: http://www.clevelandart.org
