Frank Stella: Had Gadya

Frank Stella: Had Gadya December 13, 2026 - April 18, 2027 Location: OJMCHE Main Gallery Share × " class="share-btn"> Share on Facebook &text=Frank Stella: Had Gadya" class="share-btn"> Share on Twitter Email In 1981, American artist Frank Stella encountered El Lissitzky’s 1919 illustrations of Had Gadya at the Tel Aviv Museum and found an unexpected source of inspiration. Drawn to the Russian-Jewish artist’s use of abstraction to tell the familiar Passover story, Stella spent the next several years developing his own response. The resulting 12 prints, created between 1982 and 1984, transform Lissitzky’s imagery through vivid color, layered forms, and dynamic movement. Although often associated with minimalism, Stella embraced bold colors and overlapping shapes in this series to explore how abstract art could convey violence, suffering, and redemption. His large, vibrant compositions seem to twist, collide, and move beyond their edges, inviting visitors to discover how forms and their relationships can tell a story. Shown alongside reproductions of Lissitzky’s illustrations, Stella’s prints reveal a visual conversation between two artists working in different times and places, and an important moment in Stella’s development . Presented in conjunction with Had Gadya: The Art of One Little Goat , the exhibition offers a chance to consider how a familiar story can inspire entirely new ways of seeing and creating —one that moves through struggle and destruction toward redemption and hope. Frank Stella: Had Gadya, Illustrations After El Lissitzky was organized by the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum at Hebrew Union College, under the direction of Jean Bloch Rosensaft. This exhibition is made possible by the Alice and Paul Meyer Exhibition Fund, with generous additional support from Dr. Gerald Green. Funding is also provided by the Judy Margles Education and Culture Fund . back