The Lost Princess, with Yiddish wall texts
Artist Jessica Tamar Deutsch invites viewers into a storybook walk of The Lost Princess, where whimsical framed illustrations and large-scale canvases trace a path through spiritual dislocation and the longing to return. This exhibit at JCC San Francisco will be up through January.
The Lost Princess is a Hasidic folktale first told by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov. It is an allegory of spiritual exile, searching, and the return of what has been lost. When a princess vanishes, a faithful Viceroy sets out on a long and uncertain journey to bring her home. Rebbe Nachman’s tale speaks across generations to the human experience of longing, disconnection, and the hope of return.
In her adaptation, artist Jessica Tamar Deutsch brings this mystical narrative into the present, illuminating its themes of grief, resilience and the pursuit of justice with 41 framed pages from Deutsch’s acclaimed book alongside six original large-scale canvases. Through expressive illustrations and layered meaning, she invites us to travel with the story’s seeker, moving through emotional and spiritual landscapes shaped by loss, repair and the deep desire for wholeness.
Rebbe Nachman first told The Lost Princess in Yiddish in the 18th century. Artist Jessica Tamar Deutsch reimagined the tale through a modern English translation and now, in a full-circle moment, translator Arun “Arele” Schaechter Viswanath has crafted new Yiddish wall texts; Viswanath is best known for having translated Harry Potter into Yiddish.