Visions of Ottoman Jewry: The art of Nicholas Stavroulakis in New York

THE DAILY SABAH
By Matt Hanson

Nicholas Stavroulakis, Woodcut from the Book of the Jeremiah.

NEW YORK---New York City is almost synonymous with modern Jewish prosperity. It has become a physical and spiritual refuge for an ancient religious minority descended from a nation that barely survived modernity, and for its secular and faith-based traditions now preserved on an urban foundation unmatched in its forward speculation. Nicholas Stavroulakis was born in the American Midwest and lived mostly in England, Israel and Greece. Following his passing on May 19 at the age of 84, eulogists from Gabriel Negrin, the Chief Rabbi of Athens to The New York Times, remembered his life in great detail. Relatively little, though, is relayed about the special relationship he had to New York during his life, and that New York continues to have with him and his artistic legacy. [More]