2

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Y?

ly pibces," crafted in Ger-
.lany.
t One of his most prized pos-
ssions, however, is a fac-
mile reproduction (complete
* th worm holes, wine and
od stains), of the illumi-
iated Darmstadt Passover
Haggadah. The original, ac-
'ording to Gutmann, "was
robably produced in the sec-
2nd quarter of the 15th Cen-
.1117," somewhere in the
pper Rhine region.
, "It's a fine reproduction,"
lays Gutmann of the manu-
, ript, which is enclosed in a
lastic, museum-type display
se. Printed in a limited edi-
on of 600, Gutmann says the
aggadah was valued at $650
1972 when he obtained it,
ut now estimates its worth to
e "around $2,000."
Hebrew Manuscript
.
. his
- In
ainting (a Book-of-the-
month-Club selection in 1980,
with an impressive sales re-
ord of close to 35,000 copies),
utmann discusses the
armstadt Haggadah, along
'With other notable examples
of illuminated manuscripts,
such as the Rylands Hag-
gadah and the Schocken Bi-
ble.
> Although he's devoted
much of his career to the art of
Ithe past, Gutmann is quick to
,xpla.in that his interests
definitely encompass contem-
porary art. A particular favo-
rite, he says, is New York
'painter Philip Pearlstein,
-whom he calls "the foremost
rrealist on the American
scene."
L_ "Close to 50 percent of the
most creative artists (in
lAm
erica) today happen to be
z_
Jewish," says Gutmann. This,
,.he maintains, has occurred
despite the fact that aspiring
Jewish painters and sculptors
were generally denied
entrance to art schools (which
zTh were administered by -Chri-§=
tians) until the early part of
Ithe 19th Century. "Prior to _
D about 1820, you don't find any
major Jewish figures emerg-
`ing," he says. "Of course there
were all the old cliches that
'Jews had no talent for the arts
— but it was simply that
there was no opportunity for
them."
Recent growth of interest in
Jewish art has been impres-
sive, says Gutmann, who
, "reads the literature" to keep
up with his field. He also
-.attended
a conference for Old
.
Testament scholars last year
in Salamanca, Spain.

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Dr. Gutmann with his prized reproduction of the Darmstadt
Haggadah.

years. Prior to that, just a
handful of people did research
(in the field). Even today,
there are only a few who do.
But the number is growing,
because of the great fervor
and interest on the part of
Judaica collectors and
synagogues, and also the gen-
eral public.
"To study the art of the
Jews is to study the art of the
world," says Gutmann (whose
casual conversation — after
years of teaching — some-
times sounds strikingly as if it

"To study the art of
the Jews is to study
the art of the world.
We encompass the
history of the entire
world."

.

were prepared, scholarly
text). "We encompass the his-
tory of the entire world. You
begin with the Ancient Near
East, then you go to the Hel-
lenistic Empire, the Roman -
Empire, the Byzantine Em-
pire, the Medieval Christian
world, the Islamic world, the
Protestant worlds — there
isn't a country, including
China, where Jews have not
been. And, wherever they've
been, they've absorbed the
styles of that country."
In this connection, Gut-
mann is looking forward to a
new class he'll be teaching
this summer as a visiting pro-
fessor at the University of
Michigan. Entitled "Jewish
Art: A Survey from Antiquity
to the Present," he is
encouraged that the class is
being taught as part of the art
history department at U-M.
"Much of the time, these types

of courses are taught as part
of the Judaica department,"
he says. "I think this is a kind
of tacit recognition that the
field (of Jewish art history)
has arrived — that it's become
a legitimate field for art his-
torians to become interested
in. I was rather flattered
when U-M asked me to teach
the class, and I'm really curi-
ous to see what kind of stu- -
dent we'll have."
Come September, the
distinguished-looking, gray-
haired professor will be back
in the classroom at Wayne
State again, holding forth on
such subjects as the art of the
early Christian and Byzan-
tine. eras, medieval Christian
manuscripts, and biblical
archeology.
In addition to his classroom
duties, Gutmann will be in
attendance at two significant
events during the coming
year. Daughter Sharon will be
graduating from Indiana
University, and son David
will be concluding medical
studies at the University of
Michigan. ("Among the four
of us, I think we have 14 de-
grees," says - Marilyn, Gut-
mann's wife of 32 years, her-
self a professor of math-
ematics at Mercy College.)
In the meantime, Gutmann
will be looking toward the
- publication of his 17th book,
The Jewish Life Cycle. And, as
that comes off the press, he'll
be hard at work on another:

.

Old Testament Themes in Is-
lamic Art.
"It really isn't as ambitious
as it sounds," he says.
Where does he get his moti-
vation?
"I've always had a very
keen interest in art and ar-
tists," he says, after a moment
of thought. "Also, I've always
had a very keen devotion to
Judaism."

Friday, June 28, 1985

63

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