Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica Ongoing
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Member and ALL ACCESS tickets include same-day admission to this gallery, all Special Exhibitions, and the MFAH Permanent Collections. On Thursday, entry to this gallery is included with a ticket to the Permanent Collections.
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Polish, Torah Crown, late 18th–early 19th century, silver, silver‐gilt, and paste stones, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Toomim‐Robinson Family.
Installation view of the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica.
Georg Zeiller, Torah Shield, 1825, silver‐gilt, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Susie and David Askanase, Alexander Dell, and Carol and David Neuberger families.
Installation view of the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica.
German, The Montefiore Mainz Mahzor, c. 1310–20, illuminated manuscript on parchment; codex of 299 leaves, each ruled in ink, pricked, and written in black and red ink in Ashkenazi script, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Brown Foundation Accessions Endowment Fund. Restoration supported with generous contributions from the TEFAF Museum Restoration fund; Joan Morgenstern; and Helaine and David Lane and Family.
Installation view of the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica.
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The Museum’s gallery for Judaica creates a permanent presence for works of art made for Jewish communities around the world to fulfill the practice of their faith. More than two dozen objects are presented in the inaugural installation of the gallery, which has been endowed by the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation.
The installation benefits from a partnership with the Jewish Museum in New York City, which launched in 2022 with the exhibition Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York. The gallery is also an important component of the World Faiths Initiative, which explores the central role of religion and faith in many works of art in the MFAH collections and exhibitions.
The opening of the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica completes the suite of galleries in the Law Building developed to reflect the diversity of Houston’s communities. The galleries adjacent to the Herzstein Gallery are devoted to the arts of Korea, Japan, India, China, and the Islamic worlds.
The Herzstein Gallery features an outstanding collection of historical Judaica recently acquired by the MFAH. Among the highlights are an early-19th-century silver and gold Torah Shield, an especially precious 14th-century illustrated prayer book, and rare 5th-century oil lamp. Loans from other Houston collections are also included.
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Gallery for Judaica / Opening Date: December 3, 2023
Ready to Visit?
Member and ALL ACCESS tickets include same-day admission to this gallery, all Special Exhibitions, and the MFAH Permanent Collections. On Thursday, entry to this gallery is included with a ticket to the Permanent Collections.
Get Your Ticket