New acquisitions

Since its opening in 1998, the mahJ has enriched its collections through numerous donations and an active policy of purchases, sometimes supported by public subscriptions. Discover the most recent acquisitions.

The museum's acquisition policy is a strategic activity for the mahJ's curators: it makes it possible to enhance collections in which the museum already has a reference collection or to fill gaps in order to better cover its vast field of expertise: the cultures of Judaism from Antiquity to the present day, in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean region, in which France plays an essential part.

Acquisitions are classified into four areas: Judaica, historical collections, photographic collections and fine arts.

Betsalel, online collection

Contact

You wish to propose a work of art to the museum: Contact us via this form

Specify the nature of your proposal, including photographs if possible. The curator will reply as soon as possible.
For your information, the definitive registration of a work in the inalienable inventory of French museums cannot be made before the agreement of a commission of experts convened by the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles.

Acquisitions by year

Acquisitions 2021

In 2021, the mahJ collections were enriched by some 180 entries, including 136 donations. Thisincludes 27 works of art including the Jewish Synod convened in Paris in 1807, a major painting by Edouard Moyse, 4 albums and 20 photographic prints, 57 judaica or ethnographic objects and 71 drawings, books or historical documents.

Acquisitions 2020

The year 2020 was marked by the entry of nearly 500 works or objects: 40 works of modern or contemporary art, 79 photographic prints, 46 judaica and some 340 historical pieces. This exceptional number can be explained in particular by the acquisition by subscription of more than 200 sketches by Maurice Feuillet produced during the Zola (1898) and Dreyfus (1899) trials and the donation of 130 posters in favor of the Jews of the Soviet Union.

Acquisitions 2019

In 2019, the mahJ’s collections were enhanced by one hundred and eleven artworks and artefacts: 84 donations (including 73 works on paper from Galerie Jacquester donated by Esther Topiol), 4 permanent loans by the Consistoire israélite de la Moselle and 23 purchases: a portfolio of drawings by Issachar Ryback and three small pictures by Alice Halicka at the Millon auction on 26 June 2019 and 19 objects at the Ader-Nordmann auction on 19 December 2019.

Acquisitions 2018

In 2018, 102 works joined the mahJ’s collections (70 purchases and 32 donations), including two collections of several hundred photographs and postcards. The mahJ, with the aid of the Fram and the Fondation Pro mahJ, devoted 68,000 € to acquisitions in 2018 (+210%).

Acquisitions 2017

In addition to the Taslitzky donation, Yolande Lévy also donated a portrait, Jewish Student, painted in 1927 by Mané-Katz (1894-1962).

Acquisitions 2016

63 works entered the mahJ's collections in 2016, including paintings by the Djiane family, a bronze plaque representing Theodor Herzl, numerous judaicas, Tunisian and Algerian costumes and 3 drawings of The Rabbi's cat by Joann Sfar.

Acquisitions 2015

2015 was marked by the acquisition by subscription of 435 photographs by Helmar Lerski, the typescript of Bernard Lazare's famous 1894 work L'Antisémitisme, son histoire et ses causes, and a canvas by Robert-Fleury, Jewish school.