Books by Samantha Baskind
On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto staged a now legendary revolt a... more On the eve of Passover, April 19, 1943, Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto staged a now legendary revolt against their Nazi oppressors. Since that day, the deprivation and despair of life in the ghetto and the dramatic uprising of its inhabitants have captured the American cultural imagination. The Warsaw Ghetto in American Art and Culture looks at how this place and its story have been remembered in fine art, film, television, radio, theater, fiction, poetry, and comics. The book explores seventy years’ worth of artistic representations of the ghetto and revolt to understand why they became and remain touchstones in the American mind, including iconic works such as Leon Uris’s best-selling novel Mila 18, Roman Polanski’s Academy Award–winning film The Pianist, and Rod Serling’s teleplay In the Presence of Mine Enemies, as well as accounts in the American Jewish Yearbook and the New York Times, the art of Samuel Bak and Arthur Szyk, and the poetry of Yala Korwin and Charles Reznikoff. In probing these works, I pursue key questions of Jewish identity: What links artistic representations of the ghetto to the Jewish diaspora? How is art politicized or depoliticized? Why have Americans made such a strong cultural claim on the uprising? The Warsaw Ghetto in American Art and Culture shows the importance of the ghetto as a site of memory and creative struggle and reveals how this seminal event and locale served as a staging ground for the forging of Jewish American identity.
These plates correspond with the references in the attached essay of the same name. All plates al... more These plates correspond with the references in the attached essay of the same name. All plates also comprise the 60 paintings in the exhibition (acrylic and marker on canvas measuring at 18 x 24 inches and painted in 1992).
A wide ranging exploration of comix and graphic novels in North America, Europe, and Israel by a ... more A wide ranging exploration of comix and graphic novels in North America, Europe, and Israel by a range of accomplished scholars.
Articles by Samantha Baskind
Archie Rand's The Seventeen: Iron Flock, 2024
Seventeen: Iron Flock is a multi-canvas mural depicting the contributions of seventeen assertive ... more Seventeen: Iron Flock is a multi-canvas mural depicting the contributions of seventeen assertive biblical women in Jewish religion and history. Encouraging conversation about their diverse and decisive roles, Rand sees Iron Flock as "a grouping of Jewish heroes who are women, appearing in an underreported story that should have a painted monument sampling the collective. " Produced for the sixth Jerusalem Biennale, themed "Iron Flock" (Tzon Barzel in Hebrew), in the Spring of 2024, Rand draws on this phrase from the Mishnah that declares the inalienable assets that women bring to a marriage. A more contemporary interpretation views women themselves as assets to the Jewish people, and it is this praise that inspired Rand's paintings. Mining Midrash and Apocrypha, Rand feshed out stories about lesser-known biblical fgures to be viewed in concert with the readily recognizable. He presents the women in intriguing new ways amid a kaleidoscope of imagery derived from myriad sources. Tese include comics and pulp magazines, children's book illustrations, and classic American and Italian flms, among other unlikely visual precedents.
Audrey Flack: With Darkness Comes Stars, 2024
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2024
In October 2023, as part of the Superman's Cleveland series of events celebrating 85 years of Jer... more In October 2023, as part of the Superman's Cleveland series of events celebrating 85 years of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's creations, I sat down at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Laura Siegel Larson, the daughter of Jerry and Joanne Siegel. Siegel Larson shared stories about the birth of Superman and Lois Lane, and reflected on their legacy today. She offered insights into the early days of Siegel and Shuster's working process and efforts to get the iconic character published in a young comic book industry. In addition to her family history, which is intimately intertwined with that of Superman, Siegel Larson also shared her own personal feelings about Superman and Lois, the many actors who have played them on television and film, and the future of the characters.
Audrey Flack: Force of Nature, 1949-1956, 2022
American Jewish Archives, 2021
Mavcor, 2021
Why did a 19th-century Jewish American artist sculpt Eve without her bellybutton?
Esther in America: The Scroll’s Interpretation in, and Impact on, the United States , 2020
Cleveland Jews and the Making of a Midwestern Community , 2020
Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, 2019
American Jewish History, 2019
Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 2018
Published transcript of an interview with Laura Siegel Larson, daughter of Superman creator Jerry... more Published transcript of an interview with Laura Siegel Larson, daughter of Superman creator Jerry Siegel.
Archie Rand: The Book of Judith, 2016
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Books by Samantha Baskind
Articles by Samantha Baskind