Synagogue Entrance 

Tia Peltz made this drawing of a Synagogue Entrance with ink on paper. While the date of this work is unknown, Peltz was most active in New York during the mid-20th century. This drawing gives us insight into the artist’s engagement with her community. The work depicts the facade of a modest synagogue behind a fence. The sketch-like quality of the drawing imbues it with a sense of immediacy, as if it were drawn ‘en plein air’. The drawing has a somewhat expressionistic style. The architecture of the synagogue takes on an almost ghostly quality. To appreciate the history of this work, one would look to the history of Jewish communities in New York, the importance of synagogues in these neighborhoods, and the function of art within these communities. Investigating the role of synagogues as sites for artistic expression could offer a deeper understanding of Peltz’s artistic intentions and the cultural context in which this drawing was created.