Photos from the most recent catalogue of Marilyn Braiterman Rare Books. About my mom’s business I’ve posted before. It’s thanks to my mother that I have come to understand a little about how to put two and two together with three, four, and five, visually and aesthetically: neoclassical architecture, French art nouveau and Jugenstil design, German expressionism, neuesachlichkeit, Ballet Russe, English gardens, Hebrew books, landscapes, landscape design, Japanese erotica, the Song of Songs. Visual cues from the world of high-end modern traditions with which to make sense modern Judaism, Jewish thought, and culture. These images may have nothing to do with ethics and social justice, but they are deeply “moral,” in the technical sense relating to coded conduct and value. I may not be so stylish myself, but I have come to learn that nothing matters more than style. Even substance has always already stylized.
