Aaron Birnbaum (1895 - 1998) was one of America's oldest folk painters. Birnbaum painted actively until two years ago when he was incapacitated by a stroke. In 1995, the Museum of American Folk Art celebrated the artist's one hundredth birthday with an exhibition and reception. He also attended the opening of a one-person exhibition of his work at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, Conn. in 1997. Birnbaum was born in Skola, a small town in Eastern Galicia, on July 18, 1895. He worked as a tailor both before and after immigrating to the United States in 1913. He turned to painting in the mid-1960's to fill his time after the death of his wife, Sadie, and his subsequent retirement. Many of his paintings are peaceful narratives that evoke an optimistic, idealized view of the world, contrasting with Birnbaum's early life experience of struggle and loneliness. The artist also painted more enigmatic and complex pictures of buildings, bridges and self-portraits of himself as a younger man. He worked with oil and acrylic paint on cardboard, velvet, mirrors, old fruit-crate tops, and other everyday materials. KS Art has represented the work of Aaron Birnbaum exclusively since 1986.

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