Strong images; untold stories; a New York ﬂavour - The Jewish Chronicle

This year, many Jewish visual artists, including some who have been hitherto overlooked, had their time to shine.

David Bomberg is a prime example. The magnificent exhibition at the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester until February 4 has cemented his reputation as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists. In Yorkshire, the Hepworth Wakefield Gallery has the first British retrospective of Alina Szapocznikow, a Shoah survivor, who created extraordinary art, focusing on the human body.

Back in London, a self-portrait of the gender-fluid artist Gluck, born in 1895, featured as the poster image for an exhibition at Tate Britain marking the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and Wales. Simeon Solomon and Claude Cahun were also included; Solomon’s work attracted criticism in the 19th century for supposed effeminacy and decadence; Cahun’s self portraits examine her gender and Jewish identities. In today’s age of intersectionality, there was much to learn from three queer Jewish artists from the past.

Two big name exhibitions— Chaim Soutine and Amadeo Modigliani — drew the headlines but, for me, the exhibition with the most surprises was the Jewish Museum’s celebration of émigré graphic designers. I hadn’t realised just how many quintessentially British logos, symbols and images were created by Jews.