A trip to Jerusalem is not complete without a visit to the Israel Museum, the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel. The museum was founded in 1965 and houses over 500,000 biblical and Holy Land archeological objects, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and a fascinating Second Temple Era model of Jerusalem.
The most enchanting collection is scattered along the western slope of the museum’s campus. The Isamu Noguchi designed Art Garden is organized in the style of a Japanese Zen garden, featuring crescent-shaped gravel paths, rough fieldstone walls, water elements, exposed concrete, and fragrant trees and plants native to the Holy Land.
The diverse sculptures reveal themselves along a winding path and include some of the 19th and 20th century’s most renowned artists, such as Henry Moore, Claes Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, James Turrell, Menashe Kadishman, David Smith, Sol LeWitt, Donald Judd, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richard Serra, and Joel Shapiro. A visit to the Billy Rose Art Garden is lovely way to enjoy the fusion of East meets West artists against the beautiful backdrop of the rolling hills of Jerusalem.
-Emily Waldorf
