Picture Stories
Portraits of Munich Jews
May 15, 2024 – March 2nd, 2025 | Levels 1 and 2
Picture Stories. Portraits of Munich Jews
The Exhibition Ausstellung
boy in a sailor suit, a lady in a beret and with huge puffed sleeves, a rabbi with an open prayer book. In its exhibition entitled “Picture Stories. Portraits of Munich Jews,” the Jewish Museum Munich shows wellknown and forgotten faces and asks: Who had their portrait painted by whom? How did they want to be seen? What kind of person did they want to represent?
Visits to studios formed part of the self-image of Munich’s bourgeoisie to which Jews also belonged from the middle of the 19th century onward. Their portraits tell of their contribution to municipal society as well as of the long path to emancipation and their struggle to be seen. The exhibition traces the stories behind some 40 portraits and shows the multiplicity of Jewish identities.
After 1933, the situation of Jewish artists and their clients changed abruptly. Munich Jews were systematically deprived of their rights and persecuted. Many of the portraits shown survived with family members in exile and had long been forgotten in Munich.
Curators: Bernhard Purin s. A. and Lara Theobalt in cooperation with Yuval Schneider
Exhibition Architecture: Architect Martin Kohlbauer
An exhibition of the Jewish Museum Munich
#PictureStoriesJMM
Download the exhibition flyer now
Duration of exhibition
May 15th, 2024 – March 2nd, 2024
Where
Levels 1 and 2
Curator
Bernhard Purin s. A. and Lara Theobalt
Assistance
Yuval Schneider
Architecture
Architect Martin Kohlbauer
What else is going on?
Find out more about our current events and regular guided tours.
Opening of the exhibition
Regular Tour of the exhibition (in German)
ZUM BLOG
Teachers & Schools
Are you a teacher and would like to visit our museum with your class(es) or colleagues? Find out more about our individual packages for teachers and school classes.
Schau hin! Bilder erzählen Geschichten. Rundgang für Schuklassen ab der der 3. Klasse
Beyond the Canvas. Jüdische Identitäten im Porträt. Rundgang für Schulklassen ab der 8. Klasse
OFFERS
PUBLICATION (IN GERMAN ONLY)
The exhibition catalog
A boy in a sailor suit, a lady in a beret and with huge puffed sleeves, a rabbi with an open prayer book. In its exhibition entitled “Picture Stories. Portraits of Munich Jews,” the Jewish Museum Munich shows well-known and forgotten faces and asks: Who had their portrait painted by whom? How did they want to be seen? What kind of person did they want to represent? The works from the 19th and early 20th centuries tell of the self-image of Jewish families in Munich and their contribution to urban society up until their persecution by the Nazis, and reveal the diversity of Jewish identities. Many of the portraits in Munich and the stories behind them have long since been forgotten.
With contributions by Andrea Bambi | Monika Berthold-Hilpert | Lilian Harlander | Ulrike Heikaus | Diana Oesterle | Yuval Schneider | Beate Thalberg | Lara Theobalt | Sapir von Abel | Ayleen Winkler