psalm IV | Edmund de Waal

Edmund de Waal | psalm IV

Edmund de Waal, English, born 1964
psalm IV, 2019

Porcelain, marble, steel

Gift of Ealan and Melinda Wingate

The Stewart and Lynda Resnick Entrance Hall, Floor 0

De Waal, a multi-media artist and author of the best-seller, The Hare with Amber Eyes, arranges his porcelain vessels around mutual themes of literature and music. The collection displayed here reflects the form of a page of the Talmud printed in the early 16th century by Daniel Bomberg of Venice. It is a tribute to the rich Hebrew heritage that emerged in the Italian diaspora, in parallel with the creation of the first Jewish ghetto. The title of the work – psalm – echoes the well-known lamentation of the biblical exiles: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept...” (Psalm 137).

Another work by de Waal graces the entrance of the library synagogue.