Rememberences of Eastern Europe
 The extensive experiences of the Jewish people in Eastern Europe over many centuries have been diverse, and filled with a range of situations from joy to horror. Works in the current exhibit in the Robert 1. Kahn Gallery have been selected to remind us of this broad history of both good and bad times for the Jews of the region.
Most of the pieces shown are from the Kahn Gallery collection, but by the generous loan of work by Houstonian Irene Sheytman, we have been able to add vibrant color to the show. She brings us reflections of Moscow, Prague, and places in Poland, created in watercolor or painted on silk.
Selections include shtetl life, mythical scenes, historical references, and remembrances of the Holocaust that destroyed a large part of Eastern Europe's Jewry. The happy faces of little girls photographed by Roman Vishniac in 1938 are in stark contrast to the tattooed arms of Holocaust survivors in Mark Seliger's 1995 photograph. Chaim Goldberg's watercolors and lithographs reflect life in small villages. Laurence Salzmann's black and white photographs give us a look at the hard village life in winter. We have several references to the famous Jewish cemetery in Prague, including some of Ms. Sheytman's paintings.
Many of us trace our roots to this area of the world and these works of art allow the viewer to reflect on personal connections to far away places and times.
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