Given that previous articles have dealt with a plethora of ancient or modern Jewish artists, the present article shall focus on contemporary ones. Analyzing the artists of a specific people is a rather difficult endeavor, due to the fact that there are so many areas to cover – music, theater, film, painting, sculpture, etc. As a result, the following paragraphs shall present in little detail (due to space constraints) some of the most well-known Jewish artists of contemporary days.

When analyzing contemporary Jewish painting, one usually thinks of Jankial Adler, Ida Applebroog, KKen Aptekar, David Bomberg, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Lucien Freud, Alexander Gierymski, Reuven Rubin, Hyman Segal, Bruno Schultz, Nancy Spero, Elbert Weinberg, Amedeo Modigliani, etc. Although these artists are renowned for their painting, some of them have dabbled in more than one art. For instance, Ida Applebroog is a post-modernist specializing in transposing on canvas complex topics such as the manifestation of violence in the contemporary society, gender issues of identity or the constant competition between the personal and the political spheres. Due to the specifics of her work (strong lines, graphics, cartoon-like images), she could engage also in experimenting with cartoons, filmmaking and sculpture. Jim Dine is another American Jewish artist who moved relentlessly between painting and sculpture. As far as the latter is concerned, he resorted mostly to everyday objects and transformed them into works of art. He is also know for a unique combination between visual arts, music, theater and dance known as the ”Smiling Worker”, which was launched in 1959. Finally, as far as Modigliani is concerned, his work moved between sculpture and painting and is dominated by linear designs. While his characters are linearly shaped, many art critics found them to be breath-taking beautiful, despite their protracted sense of weakness and illness which dominates them.

As far as Marc Chagall is concerned, although he was a painter, the many artistic influences he absorbed – fauvism, cubism, surrealism, made him a post-modern designer. His paintings are inspired by Biblical themes, as so is the rest of his art - -ceramics, mosaic, stained glass. He is known to have decorated the Hadassah Hospital in Tel Aviv with twelve stained glass windows, as well as the walls of the Knesset.

Among the most well-known Jewish sculptors are: Sir Anthony Caro, Sir Jacob Epstein, Louise Nevelson, Chana Orloff, Boris Schatz, George Segal, Elbert Weinberg, William Zorach, etc. Louise Nevelson is known for the ”Homage to 6.000.000” a tribute paid to the 6 million Holocaust victims, as she barely made it herself to the United States in 1937 escaping Hitler’s Germany. Sculptor Chana Orloff also fled from the Nazis during the Second World War from France and her sculptures remained behind and were destroyed. However, upon return she worked on a famous sculpture entitled “The Return” bearing references to the fleeing the Nazis situation. She is also the designer of the “Woman with a Basket” work placed in front of the Histadrut in Tel Aviv, dedicated to the Hebrew Working Woman.

Other well-known Jewish visual artists include:

• Yaacov Agam, a kinetic artist, whose works eliminated the idea that art should be a fixed thing. He is focusing on moving representations of Judaism, which are constantly changed and improved so that every work is different from the other. A well-known work of his is the water fountain in Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv;
• Anni Alberts is a textile artist, specializing in designs in ink washes for textile, as well as dabbling in print mark and jewelry. Her textile and print work has been exhibited on numerous occasions and she is the recipient of the American Craft Council Gold Medal for “uncompromising excellence”
• Richard Avedon was one the most prominent fashion photographers of the 21^st century. His innovation resides in the fact that he introduced a new facet to portrait photography, showing unknown approaches to the human face in a series of portraits of known and unknown people. He took photos of fashion and political related events, such as the civil rights movement in 1963, the anti-Vietnam war protests, the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well working as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue;
• Alfred Eisenstaedt was a journalist photographer who revolutionized journalism photography. Being among the first to use a 35 mm camera, his pictures capture the very essence of the story intended to be told. In his honor, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism awards the Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards for Magazine Photography;
• Annie Leibovitz is a renowned portrait photographer, mostly known for the nude picture of John Lennon hugging his clothed wife Yoko Ono on the morning of his death, the nude picture of Demi Moore with a suit painted all over body and the picture of Whoopi Goldberg in a bathtub filled with milk;
• Erich Moses is a graphic artist and painter, a Holocaust survivor, whose works decorate the walls of the Israeli Opera House, several theaters and even the buildings of the leading industries. It is little known that during the Second World War he joined the IDF Intelligence unit and was in charge of drawing maps, due to his great graphic skills;
• Art Spiegelman is a cartoonist and comics advocate, whose most well-known work is the graphic novel entitled “Maus”. His work in comics’ books began in the 1960s and years after, his cartoons were to be found in the pages of New York Times, Village Voice and even Playboy.

As far as Jewish musicians and actors are concerned, the wider public is familiar with the following: Rachel Bilson, Amanda Bynes, Zoey Deutsch, Zac Efron, Eva Green, Jake Gyllenhaal, Katherina Graham, Mila Kunis, Daniel Radcliff, Corey Feldman as actors and David Guetta, Barbra Streisand, KISS, Bob Dylan, Eric Carmen, Lesley Gore, Carol King, Bette Midler, Paul Simon, Helen Reddy, Simon & Garfunkel, Michael Bolton, Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Paula Abdul, Barry Manilow, Pink, Neil Diamond and Billy Joel as musicians.

Naturally, such lists may continue, but these are the most well-known Jewish artists of nowadays. Except for the more recently born ones, many chose to live in the United States after fleeing Germany or other European countries during the Second World War. In the United States they found a favorable space to express their art and have known fame as Jewish American artists.