30 | MAY 5 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

B

arbara Madgy Cohn, 
a trained docent at 
the Detroit Institute 
of Arts (DIA), has been to 
the museum many times, but 
a few years ago, she noticed 
for the first time four paint-
ings that included Hebrew 
writing. An art history spe-
cialist with a master’s degree 
in museum studies from 
Johns Hopkins University, 
Cohn undertook research to 
learn about the meaning and 
context of these paintings.
This led her to devel-
op a Jewish-themed art 
tour at the DIA for the 
Jewish Historical Society of 
Michigan (JHSM); she is one 
of its vice presidents. The 
first tour in 2019 was enthu-
siastically received with 80 
participants and a waiting 
list. Unfortunately, the pan-
demic meant that additional 
tours were put on hold.
But now, JHSM is plan-
ning to start the tours 
again in June. Recently, 
Cohn led a pilot tour with 
JHSM members Ron Elkus, 
who has served as a JHSM 
docent; Jeannie Weiner, a 
JHSM vice president; and 
Suzanne Curtis, who serves 
on its board of directors. 
The group viewed a diverse 
selection of paintings with 
Jewish themes, such as The 
Jewish Cemetery by Jacob van 
Ruisdael, Ben Shahn’s Book 
Shop, and portraits of Samson 
and Delilah with Hebrew 
names above them. 

Cohn views the art tour 
as “a way to connect with 
the DIA in a new way.” The 
museum has one of the 
largest and most prestigious 
collections in the U.S. with 
65,000 works of art. 
In addition to paintings 
with Jewish themes and ref-
erences, including biblical 
stories, Cohn pointed out 
several works of art origi-
nally owned by European 
Jews that were taken from 
them by the Nazis and later 
“restituted”— returned to 
the original owners or their 
descendants. In 1950, the 

DIA was the first U.S. muse-
um to return a piece of Nazi-
looted art, a painting by 
Claude Monet, to its rightful 
owner.
The DIA’s very famous 
and popular Detroit Industry 
murals, which adorn the 
walls of the Rivera Court, 
have a Jewish connection. 
The murals painted by Diego 
Rivera include portrayals of 
Henry and Edsel Ford. But 
they also depict a tool and 
die worker named Harry 
Glicksman — an Orthodox 
Jew who worked at Ford 
from 1916 to 1952. Cohn 

Jewish Historical Society plans to restart 
Jewish-themed tours.
Art Tours at the DIA

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ABOVE: 
Barbara Cohn 
describes fea-
tures of Diego 
Rivera’s mural 
to Ron Elkus 
and Jeannie 
Weiner.

RIGHT: Jeannie 
Weiner and 
Suzanne Curtis 
at the DIA.

