Yona Verwer: Art Born of Waters, Leadership Rooted in Spirit­. The Mikvah Series

I am deeply honored with this in-depth, 18-page article by art historian Matthew Baigell in Images Magazine. He writes about my immersion / mikvah painting series, as well as my role as founding director of the Jewish Art Salon.

A paywall prevents me from sharing the article, so here are two short quotes:

“The importance of Verwer’s mikvah paintings is twofold for the history of Jewish-themed art in America. First, both series reflect the still largely unrecognized devotion to their religion of artists who explore Jewish themes. And second, Verwer has developed an entirely new iconography of mikvah experiences as a base for other artists to explore further.”

And the last paragraph:

“This series is therefore central to the history of Jewish-themed art at a time when ethnic, racial, and religious identity has been an uppermost consideration
in contemporary mainstream American art. But what gives these works special resonance, and which –I want to emphasize – has been an unstated strength of Jewish-themed art in the United States, is that Verwer, and others, however deep their faith, are able to express both their pleasure and displeasure with aspects of their religious experiences through their art
because there are no longer any restrictions on doing so. Personal expression is primary.”

Matthew Baigell is professor emeritus of art history at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He has written many books and articles on Jewish American and mainstream American art since the late 1960s.

Many thanks to editors Margaret Olin and David Sperber!

One of the paintings in this series is currently on view at the HUC-Heller Museum’s exhibit “Children of Ruth”, up until February 26th, 2026.

1 West 4th Street (& Broadway), NYC; Mon-Thurs 9 am-6:30 pm.
Curated by Nancy Mantell and Susan Picker.

Yona Verwer, Immersion VIII, Acrylic on Canvas, 42” x 20”, 2025.

Also mentioned in the article are artists Helene Aylon, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Ruth Weisberg, Ellen Holtzblatt, authors Rivka Slonim and Law Lax, and the Jewish Art Salon.

Link to purchase the article: bit.ly/3WeYooD