Gertrude Stein, Fascist?

Does it say something that the most indelible portraits of Gertrude Stein come from the outside? Or, to frame the question a different way: what does it say when our most lasting impressions of a writer are based not on her words, but on the visions and appropriations of others?

Gertrude Stein’s Vichy Protector  Eric Banks,  Chronicle Review.  The modernist writer's dogged role as anti-Semitic propagandist was enabled by dapper Vichy bureaucrat Bernard Faÿ, who not only guaranteed her safety but solidified her status as a literary star.  SAVE

An Eye for Genius  Arthur Lubow,  Smithsonian.  When Leo Stein first saw Matisse's Woman with a Hat, he thought it "the nastiest smear of paint" he had ever encountered. But for five weeks, he and his sister Gertrude went repeatedly to look at it.  SAVE

Crackdown  Reuters.  Newly discovered documents show that Pétain personally penciled harsher measures into Nazi Germany's anti-Semitic legislation.  SAVE

Gertrude and Alice  Katie Roiphe,  New York Times.  A joint study subsumes specific questions (Why was the tenor of their relationship slightly sadomasochistic?) in the biographer's account of her own inquiry and interpretation.  SAVE

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Whose Holocaust?

For much of Europe, today is the UN-designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dedicated his address this year to children murdered by the Nazis, with the message that "the best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations."

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Self-Potrait, 1920's.

The Stoic Vision of Ludwig Blum

Sometimes an artist is more popular with the public than with critics and fellow artists because the artist appeals to a popular taste that is simply unrefined.  Sometimes, though, the public is on to something that the cultural elites miss.

The Real and the Ideal  Dalia Manor,  Beit Hatfutsot.  A video introduction to Ludwig Blum's art, presented by the curator of the current exhibition of his paintings. (In Hebrew)  SAVE

The Amazing Canvas of Ludwig Blum  Lawrence Joffe,  Untold London.  A London review of the artist's "spectacular paintings."  SAVE

The Miracle  Paul Johnson,  Commentary.  On Israel's 50th birthday, the eminent historian wrote that the creation of that state was the quintessential event of the last century, and the only one that can fairly be called a miracle.  SAVE

We Were the Future  Jewish Ideas Daily.  A look at the pioneer generation that Ludwig Blum joined—but only in part.  SAVE

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Kosher Fiction

Haredi adventure stories are a curious but popular genre. There is the 2005 Yiddish-language film A gesheft ("A Deal"), the story of a Hasid-gone-bad out for revenge on the pious man he wrongly blames for his childhood misfortunes.

Haredi Films  Rachel Leket-Mor,  Association of Jewish Libraries.  The current demand for appropriate entertaining titles in the Haredi community in Israel is reflected, among other things, in the growing movie industry led by Haredi producers and directors. (Audio)  SAVE

Beneath Black Hats  Eitan Kensky,  Forward.  With some noteworthy results, American movies and television are beginning to present Hasidim not as caricatures but as actual individuals; still, there's a long way to go.  SAVE

A Voice of One's Own  D.G. Myers,  Literary Commentary.  What makes American Jewish novelists different from other American novelists—and almost instantly recognizable as Jewish?  SAVE

Lives of the Ex-Haredim  Joshua Halberstam,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The men and women who leave their ultra-Orthodox communities usually leave the Jewish world entirely. As a result, that world is losing a resource that it can hardly afford to squander.  SAVE

The Great Orthodox Comeback  Lawrence Grossman,  Jewish Ideas Daily.  The resurgence of Orthodoxy is one of the most surprising transformations of Judaism in the past 60 years. Is one single man responsible?  SAVE

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The Yiddish Silver Screen

Nobody is sure exactly how many movies were ever made in Yiddish. James Hoberman's exhaustive study Bridge of Light (2010) lists some hundred such films, made in the 20th century primarily in America, Germany, Austria, Romania, Poland, and Russia.

Yiddish Film in the U.S.  Sharon Pucker Rivo,  Jewish Women’s Archive.  During the "Golden Age" of Yiddish film, 1936 to 1939, more than two dozen films opened in New York City to encouraging box-office income.  SAVE

Yiddish Musicals  National Center for Jewish Film.  A catalog of Yiddish musical films, with plot summaries, reviews, and production details.  SAVE

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