Read my review of Panim el Panim: Facing Genesis, Visual Midrash by Debra Linesch and Evelyn Stettin here.
Here’s the lede:
What do you get when you mix a Jesuit publishing company, a Reform Jewish scholar, an Orthodox Jewish painter, and a thesis on human-divine encounters?
In Panim el Panim: Facing Genesis, Visual Midrash, the product is a surprisingly coherent collaboration of image and text, which not only examines the book of Genesis, but also seeks to uncover real-world lessons and advice from the biblical passages that are accessible to all sorts of readers.
My review of Unwanted Beauty: Aesthetic Pleasure in Holocaust Representation by Brett Ashley Kaplan (University of Illinois Press, 2007) and “Supporting Evidence” (the works of Joyce Ellen Weinstein) at the Florida Holocaust Museum is in The Jewish Press (article here).
Right, my photo of Weinstein in her studio.
My review of Joanne Jacobson’s “Hunger Artist: A Suburban Childhood” is in this week’s Jewish Press. Full interview to follow…
My review of Rowena Loverance’s “Christian Art” (Harvard UP, 2007) appears in Relevant Magazine. Although Loverance initially responded to my interview request saying she’d be happy to answer my questions, she did not reply to them, even after several follow ups. Here are the questions I posed just for the sake of completeness:
1. You mention in the introduction that the book isn’t an art history book, but a how-to one. What is the difference between writing a history book and a how-to one? Are you only writing for readers who want to deepen their divine encounter? Can an artist who is Christian
create work that is not Christian? What was your inspiration for this book model?
2. How, if at all, does being a Quaker affect the way you view art? You cite several examples of Quaker artists. Do you think this aspect of art history is not sufficiently explored in other art history texts?
3. Is your research and use of images solely drawn from the British Museum collection? If so, was that a cost issue? Are there limitations to restricting yourself like that?
4. You mention in the book that you employ non-Christian artists like Chagall, whose work is relevant to Christianity. How can someone like Chagall, who is arguably using the Crucifixion as a symbol of anti-Semitism, be relevant to this discussion?
5. Do you think viewers must understand Christianity to understand Christian art, or is there something to be said for inspecting the painting in its own right without bringing in any external texts or symbolism?
6. Christianity has departed from Judaism and Islam in its interpretation of the Second Commandment. Is there some notion of idolatry with which Christian artists must grapple?
7. In the book, you combine older works and newer works. Do you think viewers should engage contemporary works and ancient ones in the same way? What are your thoughts on the recent chocolate sculpture of Jesus that brought so much controversy?
8. How can you be sure that Christian art can lead to better understanding Christianity’s messages, rather than the alternative? Do you see art commentators like Sister Wendy as contributing to the same sort of project as you are pursuing?
The Aesthetic Elevator posted an interesting response to part one of my review of Art and the Bible, and I would like to clarify my position.
Schaeffer is quite right to point out that there was a lot of art in the temple, which God commanded. I am not sure he is right that there is secular work (he cites flowers, oxen, etc.), because those are all religious symbols as well, but his point that the Bible cannot be anti-art seems correct. What remains to be proven, in my mind, is that the art of the temple is important theologically. Schaeffer says of the stones of the temple:
The temple was covered with precious stones for beauty. There was no pragmatic reason for the precious stones. They had no utilitarian purpose. God simply wanted beauty in the temple. God is interested in beauty. (26)
That being said, I imagine most of the people who went to the temple did not admire the beauty of the architecture, just as most tourists today do not care for art. One can only guess that the Jews living in the time of the temple were no artsier as a people than we are today; certainly, they were ill-educated former slaves–and probably even illiterate. So whereas I am convinced that art is important in its own right, and specifically in the context of religion, I am not yet convinced that it necessarily played an important religious role to the people who were not Bezalel and Moses.
I will address this a bit more in part three.
According to IVP’s website, Francis A. Schaeffer’s Art and the Bible argues, “Many Christians, wary of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. But the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a creator God.”
I am working on my second read through of the book (it’s 94 pages), and here is my impression so far.
Schaeffer starts off asking whether art can play a real role in Christianity rather than simply bringing “in worldliness through the back door.” He raises the question, “Shouldn’t a Christian focus his gaze steadily on ‘religious things’ alone and forget about art and culture?” (13)
He only raises that question to debunk the notion, lamenting that evangelical Christians tend to narrow the lordship of Christ to a small area of ’souls’ rather than embracing the wholeness of man. By the wholeness of man, Schaeffer refers to the tangible, of this earth stuff: art.
This argument proved controversial, as Schaeffer admits:
A few years ago when I started to work out a Christian epistemology and a Christian concept of culture, many people considered what I was doing suspect. They felt that because I was interested in intellectual answers I must not be biblical. (16)
Continue reading ‘Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer, Part I’
