Art Museums Participating in Digital Homage to Rembrandt: 1669 - 2019

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

"Angel Announcing the Birth of Samson to Manoah" (after Rembrandt drawing in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY) serigraph by Mel Alexenberg, 1987.  Read his book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media.  

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History wrote that Mel Alexenberg’s “Digitized Homage to Rembrandt” lithograph from a computer-generated image is a most valuable addition to the national collection as a historic prototype of the use of new technology in printmaking.

The members of the acquisitions committee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York wrote that they were pleased to accept Alexenberg’s computer-assisted etching of Rembrandt’s imagery as an example of innovative technological experimentation of great interest to students of the development of graphic techniques.  

The first group of museums below represent seven of the 12 states in which there are places named JerUSAlem. Museums in the other five states, Arkansas, Maryland, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont, are also invited to participate in the Global Tribute to Rembrandt. See http://jerusalem-usa.blogspot.com. The second group are museums in USA and third group are museums throughout the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; Museum of Modern Art, New York City; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York; Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, North Carolina, Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

"Fortune 500 Angel" is a photoetching by Alexenberg created as a tribute to Rembrandt the businessman.  Read Svetlana Alperes' book Rembrandt's Enterprise: The Studio and the Market

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, Kentucky; San Antonio Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas; Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, Indiana; University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, Wyoming.

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel; Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic; Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary; Museum of Modern Art, Vienna, Austria; Malmo Art Museum, Malmo, Sweden; Art Museum of The Hague, The Netherlands; Rembrandthuis Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia; Museum of Contemporary Art, Caracas, Venezuela.

Rembrandt's Cyberangels Launch Book on Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media

“A ladder was standing on the ground, and its top reached up toward heaven, and angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)                                                   

What better way to launch the book Through a Bible Lens by Mel Alexenberg than to have Rembrandt inspired cyberangels on the book cover fly up from the Land of Israel and come down throughout the world. 

The launching is a series of global digital art events during the “Year of Rembrandt” commemorating the 350^th anniversary of Rembrandt leaving his artistic legacy for posterity.

The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media provides the conceptual background for the Global Tribute to Rembrandt by teaching how to transform today’s digital culture into imaginative ways for seeing spirituality in everyday life. 

It speaks to Jews and Christians who share an abiding love of the Bible by inspiring the creation of a lively dialogue between our emerging life stories and the enduring biblical narrative.

The book draws on Prof. Alexenberg’s research on creative thinking in the networked world at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies and on biblical thought in contemporary life at universities in Israel. See praise for the book from Christian and Jewish spiritual leaders and experts on art and digital culture at Israel365.

Meeting Rembrandt in Amsterdam and New York

See my Times of Israel article Meeting Rembrandt in Amsterdam and New York.  Below are excerpts from my article.

Meeting Rembrandt in Amsterdam

I walked across Amsterdam along the canals from the house on Joodenbreestraat (Jewish Broadway) where Rembrandt had lived to Westerkerk (West Church) where he was buried.  There was no tombstone in the church courtyard marking his grave.  No sign in or around the church indicated that it was the final resting place of the great master.  On the sidewalk in front of the church, however, a bronze life-size statue of Anne Frank stood watch.  She had been hiding in a room overlooking the church courtyard until the Nazis discovered her and carted her off to Bergen-Belsen to die.  A postcard reproduction of a Rembrandt painting of an old Jewish man that she had tacked to the wall remained behind.

From Westerkerk, I took a tram back to my mother-in-law’s apartment.  I had traveled with my wife, Miriam, to Holland to be with her family during the shiva, the seven-day period of mourning for her father.  He had suddenly died of a heart attack in Suriname, the former Dutch colony in South America where Miriam was born.  It was the first time I had been outside of the United States.  People who came to pay their respects told Miriam how lucky she was that her father had died a natural death, unlike her grandfather and her grandmother and her aunts and her uncles and her cousins.  The Nazis murdered them all.  Not one family member that stayed in Holland survived.

Meeting in New York

I was seated at a large oak table in the printroom of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  In a quiet ritual, one Rembrandt at a time was placed on a delicate easel in front of me as the tissue paper protecting the picture was slowly removed.  As his etching Abraham Entertaining the Angels was uncovered, I saw that only two of the angels had wings.  The figure facing Abraham had no wings.  Perhaps Rembrandt wanted to show that although they looked like men to Abraham, they were really angels in disguise. 

The Torah (Genesis 18:1-8) relates how three angels disguised as men appeared to the Abraham while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.  When he looked up and saw them a short distance from him, he ran to greet them and invited them to stay to eat with him.  He rushed to his wife, Sarah, and asked her to bake cakes for their guests. 

Then Abraham ran to the cattle to choose a tender, choice calf.  The Midrash questions why Abraham ran after the calf. The calf ran away from him into a cave.  When inside, he discovered that he had entered the burial place of Adam and Eve.  He saw intense light emanating from an opening at the end of the cave.  He was drawn to the light.  As he approached, he saw the Garden of Eden through the opening.  This deeply spiritual person, the patriarch Abraham, found himself standing at the entrance to Paradise.  About to cross over the threshold into the pristine garden, he remembered that his wife and three guests were waiting for lunch back at the tent.  What should he do?  Should he trade Paradise for a barbeque?  

The Torah tells us that he chose to return to the tent and join his wife in making a lunch for the three strangers.  They sat together in the shade of a tree and enjoyed the barbeque.  We learn from this legend that we ourselves create heaven or hell in our relationships with our spouses, children, friends, neighbors, and strangers.  Visions of Paradise far off at the end of a cave or in some heavenly realm above are mere mirages or fraudulent lies.  Abraham knew that he and Sarah had the power to create heaven together in their tent.

Art is a Computer Angel

It was a few weeks later, while listening to the Torah reading in a small synagogue, translating the Hebrew words into English in my mind, that a flash of insight revealed to me that “computer angel” MaLAkH MaHSheV was the masculine form of the biblical term for “art” literally “thoughtful craft” MeLAekHeT MaHSheVeT.  I immediately knew what was missing in my paintings of food store facades – angels! 

I pulled my paintings of Brooklyn storefronts out of storage.  I understood that bringing computer angels into these paintings would raise them to a new level of significance.  They would express Hebrew linguistic connections between food and angel, between artist and angel, and between the material and spiritual realms.  The Hebrew words for food and angel are spelled with the same four letters to teach us that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life.  Since each of the 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical equivalent, both the word for angel and artist equal 91.   

Cyberangels Honor Rembrandt on his 350th Jaartijd When the Curtain Comes Down

Alexenberg in the garb of Rembrandt's friend Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel in Rembrandt House Museum in Amsterdam

See article in Times of Israel Cyberangels Honor Rembrandt on his 350th Yahrtzeit.

My wife Miriam whose native tongue is Dutch tells me that Rembrandt would recognize the Dutch word jaartijd for "date of death." It is pronounced in English yahrteid.  It sounds like the Yiddish word yahrzeit, the word I use in the title of my Times of Israel article since it expresses the concept in Judaism that a person should be honored on the day he died rather than on his birthday. It’s like applauding after seeing a great play when the curtain comes down rather than when it goes up when we don’t yet know the story.

I present the conceptual background for the Global Tribute to Rembrandt in my highly acclaimed book Through a Bible Lens. See praise for the book from experts on art and digital culture and Jewish and Christian spiritual leaders at Israel365.  On the book’s cover, cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of Israel as they emerge from a smartphone screen. It is based on my serigraph “Angels Ascending from the Land of Israel” in the collection of the Israel Museum.

Alexenberg's Rembrandt inspired serigraph "Angels Ascending from the Land of Israel" in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Cyberangels Fly to Midwest Museum of American Art in Indiana from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem

 Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University, research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, and professor at universities in Israel.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12) Angels ascend from the Land of Israel and come down throughout the world.

The top image shows cyberangels arriving from Israel in time for a banquet at the Midwest Museum of American Art in Indiana. The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food. 

In the next image, cyberangels reach the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower with the shape of a Bible scroll.

The third image shows Rembrandt inspired cyberangels spiraling up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on the cover of the book Through a Bible Lens. The cyberangels go up from the Land of Israel and go down in America's midwest. See praise for the book at Israel365. 

LOOKING BEYOND THE IMAGE

That the ladder in Jacob's dream is a ladder is the simple meaning.

That the ladder was spiral, like a spiral staircase, is the symbolic meaning. We arrive at the spiral shape of the ladder by noticing that the numerical value of the Hebrew words for “ladder” and for “spiral” are both 130. Creative play using numerical equivalents of Hebrew letters, a system called gematriah, can lead to fresh insights.

 

A more contemporary symbolic meaning links Jacob’s ladder to the DNA spiral ladder with rungs on which codes for all forms of life are written with four words: A-T, T-A, C-G, G-C. The SPR root of SPiRal is found in many ancient and modern languages.  It is expressed in the words SPiRitual and inSPiRation,   The hand-written scroll of the Five Books of Moses is called SePheR Torah. In contemporary Hebrew, SePheR means "book." 

The ladder as a metaphor for Mount Sinai reaching up towards heaven from the ground below is the conceptual meaning.  Jacob’s dream was a prophetic vision of angels ascending the mountain to bring the Torah down to earth. The numerical value of “Sinai” is also 130.

The significance of the ladder is symbolized in its deepest spiritual and inspirational meaning teaches that Jacob’s ladder is his body with his head in the clouds dreaming of what can be while his feet rest on the ground where dreams are realized.  Every human being has the potential to connect heaven and earth by making spiritual energy flow through him into the everyday world.

(Based upon the chapter "Looking Beyond the Image" in Mel Alexenberg's latest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media.)

 FIRST RESPONSE AFTER 33 YEARS

The Midwest Museum of American Art was the first of the thirty museums that have artworks from my "Digital Homage to Rembrandt" series in their collections to respond to my request to participate in the Global Tribute to Rembrandt. I was amazed to receive the response from the same Brian D. Byrn that wrote to me in 1986.

Below is correspondence from Brian D. Byrn, Director of Midwest Museum of American Art in 2019 and Curator of Exhibitions/Education in1986.

July 3, 2019. It is good to know you are actively working and reaching new heights of technological acclaim. I remember when you donated the work in 1986. It was a groundbreaking moment since it was the first computer-generated image acquired by MMAA. I have been Curator for 38 years and was recently appointed Director in 2017.

Your artwork is listed in our permanent collection as:

 ALEXENBERG, Mel, (b. 1937- ),“Digitized Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels”, 1986, computer generated lithograph, (86.36.00), Gift of Pratt Graphics Center, Brooklyn, NY

 It was really good to hear from you. Brian D. Byrn, Director of MMAA

 

December 12, 1986. Thank you for your interest in our collection. Your lithograph will be a welcome addition to our growing contemporary print collection.  I look forward to further information on the “High Tech/High Touch” exhibition in the future. Enclosed please find a gift agreement for the donation of "Digitized Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels." By our records, we received the gift as of November 13,1986.

Sincerely, Brian D. Byrn, Curator of Exhibitions/Education

 

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY

Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York: 5,698 miles from Jerusalem, Israel; 78 miles from Jerusalem, New York; or 0 cybermiles via The Cloud

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from Israel at the elegant café of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, in time for lunch.  The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their virtual flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in construction in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through aBible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Angel Announcing Birth of Samson to Manoah” that has been in the collection of Everson Museum of Art since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover in Jerusalem, Israel, to Syracuse, New York, 78 miles from Jerusalem, New York.

Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio: 5,943 miles from Jerusalem, Israel; 136 miles from Jerusalem, Ohio; or 0 cybermiles via The Cloud

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from Israel at the elegant café of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in time for lunch.  The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digitized Homage to Rembrandt: Night Angels” that has been in the collection of since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to Youngstown, Ohio, 136 miles from Jerusalem, Ohio.

Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama; 5,951 miles from Jerusalem, Israel; 167 miles from Jerusalem, Alabama; or 0 cybermiles via The Cloud

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from Israel at the Birmingham Museum of Art in time for lunch.  The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens.  They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s serigraph “Long Island Angels” is in the collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art.  See The New York Times story about this serigraph that documents connecting Long Island to the 48 states of continental United States. 

In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels  adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media.  They fly from the book cover to Birmingham, Alabama, one of the 12 US states that have places named JerUSAlem.

Greenville Museum of Art in Greenville, North Carolina: 6,180 miles from Jerusalem, Israel; 211 miles from Jerusalem, North Carolina; or 0 cybermiles via The Cloud

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive at Greenville Museum of Art in Greenville, North Carolina from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Middle image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digitize Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels” that has been in the collection of Meridian Museum of Art since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to Greenville, North Carolina, a 211 miles drive from Jerusalem, North Carolina. Greenville is 0 cybermiles from both Jerusalem, NC, and Jerusalem, Israel.

Follow Global Tribute to Rembrandt blog

Cyberangels Fly to Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, from Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from Israel at the café of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City in time for lunch.  The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Angel Announcing Birth of Samson to Manoah” that has been in the collection of Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to Kansas City, Missouri.

New Orleans Museum of Art

Cyberangels Fly to New Orleans Museum of Art in Louisiana from Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem at the café of the New Orleans Museum of Art in time for lunch. 

The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digitized Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels” that has been in the collection of New Orleans Museum of Art since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to New Orleans.

Cyberangels Fly to Meridian Museum of Art in Mississippi from Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive at the Meridian Museum of Art in Meridian, Mississippi from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Middle image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digitize Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels” that has been in the collection of Meridian Museum of Art since 1986.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to Mississippi. 

Cyberangels Fly to University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie from Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies. 

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels arrive from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem at the café of University of Wyoming Art Museum in Laramie in time for lunch.  

The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. Perhaps there is spiritual significance that museums that offer art also offer food.

Second image: The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, home of Facebook’s R&D Center, until construction is completed for the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower in Tel Aviv with the shape of a Bible scroll.

Third image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Alexenberg’s lithograph “Digitized Homage to Rembrandt: Day Angels” that has been in the collection of University of Wyoming Art Museum since 1987.  In tribute to Rembrandt on the 350^th year of his death, his digitized angels dormant in the museum’s flat files awaken to adorn the cover of the 2019 book Through a Bible Lens.  The Rembrandt inspired cyberangels fly from the book cover to Wyoming.

Cyberangels Fly to Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic, from Israel Museum in Jerusalem

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University and research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies.

“He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching uptowards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)

Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from the Land of Israel and go down throughout the world.

Top image: Rembrandt inspired cyberangels ascend into The Cloud, the network of networks, from the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and go down at the Spanish Synagogue, a part of the Jewish Museum in Prague.

Middle image: Cyberangels spiral up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen on Mel Alexenberg’s newest book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media. They launch the book throughout the world from the artist/author’s studio in Israel. See praise for the book at Israel365.

Bottom image: Pixilated Angel Stopping Abraham, serigraph by Mel Alexenberg inspired by Rembrandt, printed at Brand X Press in New York. Exhibited in Mel Alexenberg's one person exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Prague in 2004.  

Opening of exhibition "Mel Alexenberg: Cyberangels/Aesthetic Peace Plan for the Middle East" at the Robert Guttmann Gallery, Jewish Museum in Prague, on 12 August 2004. The artist explains his peace plan to the ambassadors to the Czech Republic from Israel and the United States. 

The exhibition proposes that peace in the Middle East can emerge from a fresh metaphor in which the Arabs see Israel’s existence as Allah’s will. This metaphor, derived from Islamic art and thought, invites a shift in perception in which the conflict is seen as aesthetic problem that requires an artistic solution. On the wall is Alexenberg's computer-generated painting of Rembrandt cyberangels carrying a message of peace from the Islamic countries of the Middle East and North Africa with a overall pattern from a Damascus mosque.