From Femme Fatale to the New Jewish Woman: Gender, Nationalism, and Orientalism in the Art of E. M. Lilien
Lynne M. Swarts, University of Sydney
Monday, December 5, 7:30 p.m.
Virtual Event
One of the most important Jewish artists at the turn of the twentieth century, Ephraim Moses Lilien became the first major Zionist artist and the first modern Jewish artist to create an entire book of biblical illustrations. Behind Jewish depictions of male athleticism, heroism, strength, and explicit heterosexuality at the turn of the twentieth century were generally perplexing and ambivalent portrayals of Jewish women as the passive, naked, sensual--even provocative--femme fatale. This lecture will examine Lilien’s creation of a more nuanced image of the New Jewish Woman, a portrayal that often eluded the Zionist imagination.
