Reading Museum collaboration focused on Jewish artists

The Reading Public Museum (RPM) is pleased to host the exhibition The Eye of the Collector: The Jewish Vision of Sigmund R. Balka. The exhibition is a collaboration between RPM, the Freedman Art Gallery at Albright College, the Freyberger Gallery at Penn State Berks and the Jewish Cultural Center.

The exhibition builds on earlier projects such as Theresienstadt’s Children and Their Art (2012), and Deadly Medicine (2014) from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, hosted at RPM. The Eye of the Collector at RPMincludes approximately 33 works assembled by Balka, depicting Jewish cultural heritage over the last two centuries.

The exhibit will be on view from Jan. 30 through Mar. 27. The Museum will host an opening event and talk on Sunday, Jan. 31 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Auditorium. The cost includes light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Reservations are encouraged by calling Lindsay Crist at 610-3715850 x230.

The exhibit examines the experiences of Jews in Europe and America includ- ing urban life, religious life, progress during the Depression, the Holocaust and more. The collection was a gift from Sigmund L. Balka to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. The Reading Public Museum will present works by renowned artists from the 17th through 20th centuries, such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Will Barnet, Max Beckman, David Burliuk, Lyonel Feininger, Werner Drewes, William Gropper, and Jules Pascin and Louis Lozowick, among others.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with other Reading institutions to help bring this remarkable artistic look at the Jewish experience to the region,” said Scott Schweigert, RPM’s curator of art and civilization.

The Eye of the Collector: The Jewish Vision of Sigmund R. Balka is organized by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum. The Reading Public Museum is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading. The Museum is open daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit <www.readingpublicmuseum.org> for more information.