A Museum Tackles Myths About Jews and Money – The New York Times

By the 19th century, Jews were regularly portrayed as beggars or poverty-stricken peddlers — the exhibition describes how most Jews in England at that time were economic migrants with limited financial means who were forced to scrape together a living any way they could.

Conversely, Jews were also portrayed as greedy bankers. One of the financiers who came in for much negative representation was Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who arrived from Germany in 1798, opened his namesake bank soon after, and went on to finance British military campaigns.

The exhibition includes an 1837 portrait of Rothschild — as well as an 1829 caricature depicting him as an overweight figure with a sack of money slung over his shoulder, titled, “The Man Wot Knows How to Drive a Bargain.”

As well as historical items, “Jews, Money, Myth” features two works of contemporary art specially commissioned for the exhibition, including one by a Turner Prize winner, Jeremy Deller. Mr. Deller’s contribution is a film: a compilation of excerpts from homemade propaganda videos from the United States and Europe, cartoons, televangelist programs, presidential speeches and political campaign ads, all of which make oblique or overt references to Jews and money.