Murray Zimiles

I decided to pull out some of the books that my late brother gave me over the years- this is a catalogue about an exhibit at the American Folk Art Museum. The exhibit and book trace the history of carving by Jewish artists in Europe and later the United States. The history covers the carving of arks and synagogues in Eastern Europe ( many were destroyed), grave stone symbols, intricate paper cutting and finally carousel horses in the United States. There were many Jewish woodcarvers who worked for companies that produced carousels in the US. The author shows the transference of skills used for religious artifacts in synagogues to the secular depiction of horses on the carousel. The history was really interesting and the images show how motifs from arks for the synagogue show up later in secular work. I must admit I learned a lot about the meaning and importance of symbols used in all the examples.… (mere)