The Museum of Biblical Art Exhibits the Paintings of Ludwig Blum

Written by Alfred Dunwing Sunday, 30 October 2011 00:53

New York City.- The Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) is proud to present "Jerusalem and the Holy Land: The Paintings of Ludwig Blum", on view at the museum from October 28th through January 15th 2012. This exhibition, organized by Ben Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art, The Art Museum for Everyone, was first shown in London, England in January 2011 and curated there by the Israeli scholar Dr. Dalia Manor. Known as the “Painter of Jerusalem,” Ludwig Blum (1891-1974) immigrated to Palestine in 1923 from what is now the Czech Republic. A veteran of the First World War and an academically-trained painter, Blum set about depicting the Middle East, most notably, the Holy Land, both through vast topographical scenes and through small-scale street and marketplace scenes.

He portrayed Palestine, and later Israel, with an intimacy borne of his love for his adopted homeland and its people, and he painted Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sites alike, largely devoid of religious overtones. While he did not adopt a modernist aesthetic, Blum was unlike the Orientalist painters of the 19th century, with whom he is often compared. He did not wish to present a romanticized vision of the Holy Land of biblical times; rather, his paintings reflect the perceptions of a 20th century viewer. In a similar vein to the 19th century lithographs of David Roberts, previously exhibited at MOBIA, and with which Blum was familiar, Jerusalem and the Holy Land chronicles the Holy Land and the holiest sites in the Judeo-Christian world. Blum’s works are imbued with an added sense of historical accuracy, one made all the more resonant by the artist’s first-hand experience of some of the most important events in the modern history of the Holy Land.


Located near Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center, MOBIA opened in May 2005 as the U.S.’s only scholarly museum celebrating art and the Bible. Incorporated as a not-for-profit educational institution, MOBIA takes no position on religion, only that the role of the Bible in literature and art is culturally profound.  MOBIA organizes temporary exhibitions revealing the extraordinary diversity and richness of art inspired by the Bible through the centuries, including various media (painting, sculpture, graphic arts, mixed media, new media, etc.), styles, artistic movements and schools, etc. We believe that an understanding of biblical themes, imagery, and symbolism is essential to cultural literacy, irrespective of one’s religious background or beliefs. The museum's goals include presenting an integrated approach that sets Biblical art and the religious traditions that fostered it within the context of history and social life; introducing the American public to subjects of types of art not often seen in other museums; and fostering interfaith dialogue by serving an audience of all religions backgrounds. In our educational offerings, we are committed to meeting the growing need, in the immediate neighborhood and the larger New York metropolitan area, as well as nationwide via the web, for affordable arts experiences designed for children and families, and engaging lectures and symposia for adults.


On January 1, 2010, MOBIA became the steward for the Rare Bible Collection, an important part of the library of the American Bible Society. The Society started collecting Bibles in 1817, one year after its founding. By year’s end, it had acquired 64 Scriptures in 30 languages. Today the collection contains scriptures printed in more than 2,000 languages spanning six centuries, including 15 manuscripts and 42 incunables or early printed books. This collection is one of the largest and finest of its kind in the United States, important primarily for documenting the history of the Bible text itself in the original languages (Greek and Hebrew) and the history of early translations into various languages. This collection, now known as the Rare Bible Collection @ MOBIA, will be the focus of a series of exhibitions that explore the lasting role that the Bible has had in major aspects of Judeo-Christian culture and art. Visit the museum's website at ... http://mobia.org

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