JEWISH SENTINEL

JEWISH WORLD • DECEMBER 20-26, 2024 25 rapher Jean Strouse portrays the connection between the American expatriate artist and his aristocratic patron, Asher Wertheimer, a Lon- don-based German Jewish art deal- er. Strouse has long been captivated by 12 portraits of Wertheimer, his wife, Flora, and their ten children that Sargent painted around the turn of the 20th century. In her research, she came to understand the trajecto- ry of the family members’ lives, particularly the tragedy some of the children later faced in fascist Italy in the 1933 -amily 9omance! 1ohn Singer Sargent and the >ertheimers )y 1ean Strouse -arrar, Straus and .irou_ pages, . The Lives of Jewish Things: Collecting and Curating Material Culture The scholars, curators, and artists whose essays are included in this volume examine Judaica, Holo- caust ephemera, antiquities, folklor- ic items, and large-scale objects, such as a Bedouin shelter trans- formed into a sukkah. They take a broad view of what makes an object Jewish. While this book has an academic tone, general readers in- terested in material objects and their history, as well as their layers of meaning, beauty, and the ways they carry Jewish tradition and culture, will find Puch that is engaging The Lives of Jewish Things: Collecting and Curating Material Culture The scholars, curators, and artists whose essays are included in this volume examine Judaica, Holocaust ephemera, antiquities, folkloric items, and large-scale objects, such as a Bedouin shelter transformed into a sukkah. They take a broad view of what makes an object Jew- ish. While this book has an academ- ic tone, general readers interested in material objects and their history, as well as their layers of meaning, beauty, and the ways they carry Jew- ish tradition and culture, will find much that is engaging. ;he 3i]es of 1e^ish ;hings! *ollecting and *urating 4aterial *ulture ,dited by .abrielle Anna )er- linger and 9uth ]on )ernuth >ayne State <ni]ersity 7ress pages . hardco]er " . paperback Sandee Brawarsky is a longtime columnist in the Jewish book world as well as an award-winning jour- nalist, editor, and author. Books continued from page 12 FREE