Daniel Rolnik: ‘The world’s most adorable art critic’

Published on May 8, 2013

Daniel Rolnik bills himself as “The World’s Most Adorable Art Critic,” and if you speak to him for even a minute, it’s easy to see why. Animated, passionate, whimsical and delightfully upbeat, Rolnik, 24, has made it his mission to introduce people to new and exciting artists, and more recently, to Judaism as well.

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 29, 2013

Germany to restitute two Nazi-looted paintings

Published on November 21, 2011

Germany will return two paintings to the sole heir of a collector who was murdered by the Nazis.

German casino returns Nazi-looted painting

Published on October 25, 2011

German casino has returned a Nazi-looted painting to the heirs of a German-Jewish art gallery owner.

Fla. museum told to hold painting allegedly looted by Nazis

Published on September 13, 2011

A small Florida museum was ordered to hold onto a painting on loan from Italy because it may have been looted by the Nazis.

Two Nazi-looted paintings restituted to Vienna family

Published on April 6, 2011

Two paintings confiscated by the Nazis from a Jewish family in Vienna have been returned to its heirs following two years of negotiations. The London-based Commission for Looted Art in Europe announced Wednesday that a work by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein (1788-1868) was delivered by the Dresden Gemaldegalerie museum to London to be given to the heirs of the Rosauer family in Vienna. Another work, by Johann Baptist Lampi the Elder (1751-1830), was returned to the family in late 2010. It had been in the custody of the German government.

RARE PHOTOS OF MICHAEL JACKSON’S POSSESSIONS

By JewishJournal.com
Published on June 26, 2009

I Ate the Whole Thing!

Published on August 31, 2006

Circuit News.

7 Days in The Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on April 6, 2006

Not that there's really any question about it, but bang Improv Studio poses it just the same. In the arena of funny, only one religious group can reign supreme, and tonight, bang hosts its biannual showdown of "The Jews vs. The Christians" for the title of Funniest People.

Austria Makes Reparations for Nazi Past

By Tom Tugend
Published on January 26, 2006

In a high-profile case, Maria Altmann won her seven-year battle to recover from Austria five famous paintings looted by the Nazis and now valued at $200 million. The art works were seized in Vienna in 1938 from Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy Jewish sugar magnate and Altmann's uncle.

Art Exhibit Links Trojans, Bruins

By Robert David Jaffee
Published on January 19, 2006

"Makor/Source" marks the first time that the Hillels of the two universities have collaborated on an exhibition. Roughly 20 local artists submitted works to the show, including collages, paintings and photographs.

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on June 16, 2005

7 Days In The Arts

Spectator - ‘Time’: a Truthful Family Portrait

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 2, 2005

"The black-and-white snapshots revealed little worlds and scenes I wanted to bring alive in color," said Shelley Adler, whose "Shades of Time: The Extended Family of Shelley Adler" runs through July 1 at the Workmen's Circle.

Artful Solution to Nazi Looting

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 26, 2005

After six years of litigation and diplomatic battles over Nazi-looted art, in a legal case stretching from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to Vienna and back, the Austrian government has agreed with Maria Altmann, an 89-year old widow, to let arbitration decide who now owns masterpieces that once belonged to her family.

The Paintbrush as Sword

By David Finnigan
Published on December 9, 2004

Samuel Bak's first art exhibit was in the Vilna ghetto when he was 9 years old. While the Nazis killed 75,000 Vilna residents, he and his mother emerged as just two of 200 survivors.

Some of that young boy's artwork, which depicted a culture that once was called "the Jerusalem of Lithuania," has survived the 20th century and can be found in the Lithuanian capital's Jewish museum. But Bak's storied 45-year career in painting also brings more than 40 of his works to Los Angeles for the two-month "Between Worlds" exhibit at the Finegood Gallery at the New Jewish Community Center at Milken in West Hills.

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on November 11, 2004

7 Days in the Arts.

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on October 28, 2004

7 Days In The Arts

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on July 8, 2004

Free tunes at the Skirball this afternoon, as part of their continuing "Café Z" series.

A Great Beginning

By Andrea Adelson
Published on July 1, 2004

Block's father owned the lithograph collection, because he was a childhood friend of Abraham Rattner's publisher, New York art dealer Bill Haber.

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on June 24, 2004

Bite off a rose, scoop up your honey and dance on down to the New JCC at Milken.

Court Clears Way for Suit Over Nazi Loot

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 10, 2004

"Iam thrilled that there is justice in this world," said a jubilant Maria Altmann, after celebrating her victory with a family dinner outing.

High Court’s New Territory: Nazi Loot

By Tom Tugend
Published on March 4, 2004

The paintings were confiscated by the Nazis when they took over the Bloch-Bauer mansion in Vienna and the rest of Austria in 1938. They are currently in the hands of the Austrian Gallery, which claims that Bloch-Bauer willed the paintings to the gallery before her death.

An Artistic Homage to Big Brother

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on January 29, 2004

Not many artists begin an ambitious new series at 76, but Arnold Mesches did just that after receiving a large box stuffed with FBI documents in 1999. It had taken the Jewish American painter three years and dozens of letters to obtain the 760-page dossier, his FBI file from 1945 to 1972. The papers -- obtained under the Freedom of Information Act -- chronicle his left-wing activities from the Communist red scare of the 1950s to the Vietnam War era.

Symphonies in Paint

By Keren Engelberg
Published on December 4, 2003

When she was 18 years old, Desy Safán-Gerard conducted an a cappella choir in her native Chile and won a yearlong scholarship to study musical composition in Jerusalem.

Today, the Venice-based artist has long since left music, but not her love of it. Now an abstract painter and psychoanalyst, Safán-Gerard insists the fields are not mutually exclusive, saying that her interests in music, in painting and in psychology are thematically linked.

Building the Perfect Painting

By Michael Aushenker
Published on September 25, 2003

For local artist Rebecca Levy, building a body of work literally begins with the building. "Each one is different and has a charm of its own,"

7 Days In Arts

Published on September 4, 2003

Betty Green's paintings work on so many levels -- seriously.

7 Days In Arts

Published on August 28, 2003

7 Days in Arts

Your Letters

Published on July 3, 2003

Your Letters

7 Days In Arts

Published on June 26, 2003

7 Days In The Arts

L.A. GOAL Opens ‘Doors’ at Skirball

By Ellie Kahn
Published on April 24, 2003

Sherrie has cerebral palsy, which causes her hands to tremble. So when she was hired to work as an artist for L.A. GOAL in Culver City, she was concerned.

7 Days In Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on April 17, 2003

7 Days in Arts

7 Days In Arts

Published on February 27, 2003

7 Days in Arts

Is Lucian Freud Hot?

By Tom Teicholz
Published on February 27, 2003

This show gathers Lucian Freud's work over six decades -- paintings, watercolors, drawings, as well as new works for this exhibition -- a powerful testament to one painter's life's work. It is a demanding and challenging show. As I walked through the exhibit last week, I wondered, why L.A.? Why now?

Artist’s Works From Death Camp Live On

By Gaby Wenig
Published on January 2, 2003

Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was a prolific Bauhaus artist, who taught art to the children of Terezin. Her art and the art produced by the children in the camp under her tutelage is the subject of a new exhibition at the Simon Weisenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance.

7 Days in the Arts

By Keren Engelberg
Published on November 21, 2002

7 Days in the Arts

Finding ‘Frida’

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on October 24, 2002

"I was shocked, drawn in and repulsed," Taymor said of the paintings, which included visceral images of miscarriage. "I was frankly put off by her work."

The Art of the Matter

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on October 3, 2002

When artist Ted Meyer was first diagnosed with Gaucher disease, a lipid-storage disorder that is the most common genetic disease affecting Jews of Eastern European descent, he used his artistic talents to express his pain.

Israel’s Best Hangs

By Michael Aushenker
Published on September 5, 2002

"Israel in Crisis: 20 Years of Israeli Art, 1980-2000," a summerlong avant-garde art exhibit at The Jewish Federation's Bell Family Gallery, distills some of the best painters who have brought about a revolution in the Israeli art scene.

Melancholy and an Intimate Sadness

By Keren Engelberg
Published on July 18, 2002

Piero Cividalli's paintings call to mind decayed Italian frescos and prehistoric art. But these nods to the past are woven through Cividalli's artistic vision, emerging as finished pieces both intelligent and original.

From Krakow to Pico

By Mike Levy
Published on July 19, 2001

Vogler's first solo exhibit in the United States, now on view at A Shenere Velt Gallery, displays a range of the artist's styles and settings.

7 Days In Arts

By Solange Borna
Published on July 12, 2001

7 Days in Arts

In Search Of Home

By Melissa Minkin
Published on June 14, 2001

When 20 artists with developmental disabilities began talking about the idea of home and community, they never expected to land their first major exhibition. But the Skirball Cultural Center is now featuring their work in an exhibit called "In Search of Home."

Painting Nightmares Away

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on June 7, 2001

Thea Robertshaw suffered recurring nightmares long after her parents hid Jews in Nazi-occupied Holland. "They were always about ominous, faceless soldiers waiting in the dark," said the artist, whose dream paintings are on display at the University of Judaism and the ElevenSeven Gallery in Long Beach.

Shock Value

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on April 20, 2000

He is most renown for his Holocaust works, which have received an "almost reverential" response from the curators and critics who have visited the show, Rutberg says.

Eyes Wide Open

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 18, 1999

Ruth Schrier paints wolves and landscapes of the mind; Judith Margolis captures the interior journey of her move to Israel. The work of both artists is on display in an exhibit, "Spiritscapes," at the University of Judaism.

Haunting Visages

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on September 24, 1998

The show is the artist's first major West Coast exhibit in three decades.

Three’s Company

By Orit Arfa
Published on April 9, 1998

Perli Pelzig first knew he had talent at the ageof 5, when he would chalk life-size figures of animals on thesidewalks in his native Germany. These figures attracted attentionfrom passers-by, and, not long after, Pelzig was named "wunderkind"for his dazzling artistic capabilities.

The Paintings of Chaim Soutine

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 30, 1997

The creator of what has been described as churning brushwork is the subject of a retrospective: "An Expressionist in Paris: The Paintings of Chaim Soutine," now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.