Jewish Women and Their Salons: The Power of Conversation

About this book

From their debut in Berlin in the 1780s to their emergence in 1930s California Jewish womens salons served as welcoming havens where all classes and creeds could openly debate art music literature and politics. This fascinating book is the first to explore the history of these salons where remarkable women of intellect resolved that neither gender nor religion would impede their ability to bring about social change. Emily D. Bilski and Emily Braun examine the lives of more than a dozen Jewish salonires charting the evolution of the salon over time and among cultures in cities including Berlin Vienna Paris London New York and Milan. They show how each woman uniquely adapted the salon to suit her own interests while maintaining the salons key characteristics of basic informality and a diversity of guests. Other distinguished contributors to the volume discuss in detail the Berlin salons of the 1800s; the salon in terms of Jewish acculturation and its relation to gender and music; and the relations of Marcel Proust Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein to the literary salon. The book is enriched with a lavish array of illustrations including documentary photographs paintings drawings prints and decorative arts. Published in association with The Jewish Museum New York Exhibition Schedule: McMullen Museum of Art Boston (August 22 - December 4 2005)