Each genre represents the dramatic realities of its day, documenting the changing perceptions of the land as seen through the eyes of travelers and pioneers. For example, the prints for this exhibition, taken from Jerusalem and the Holy Land, Being a Collection of Lithographic Views and Native Costumes from Drawings Taken on the Spot, offer detailed sketches of biblical sites and native people of Palestine, created by a Mrs. Ewald, an English author and artist, on her travels there in 1849. By contrast, the posters feature vivid colors and striking designs that underscore their forceful Zionist proclamation. The images depict a land in the first stages of cultivation through their portrayals of pioneers tilling the fields and such slogans as A Nation Reborn on its Ancestral Soil. Circulated among Diaspora Jewry of the early nineteen hundreds, these posters no doubt bolstered support for the fledgling World Zionist Organization as it struggled to fulfill its mission.
Admission is free and open to the community.
The Jewish Theological Seminary, located on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 122nd Street and Broadway, is the spiritual and academic center of Conservative Judaism worldwide.