Jules Kirschenbaum

American, 1930 - 2000

BiographyMonday, March 6, 2000 edition of the Des Moines Register carried an article (copy in accession file) stating: "Jule Kirschenbaum, 69, of the 2800 block of Forest Drive died of cancer Saturday at Davanagh House on Grand in West Des Moines. The body was cremated, and no services are planned. Mr. Kirschenbaum was born in New York and lived in Des Moines for 36 years. He was an artist. Survivors include his wife and son. Dunn's Funeral home is handling the arrangements."

Biography from Olson-Larsen Galleries web-site

Jules Kirschenbaum was a former professor of art at Drake University, where he taught for over 25 years. His work has been shown on a national level and is included in numerous private and public collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art. Jules has been awarded several prizes and fellowships throughout his career, including a Fulbright scholarship as well as the Sawyer Prize for Painting and the Grumbacher Gold Medal-both from the National Academy of Design.

Jules' paintings are predominantly large-scale still lifes that portray objects of all kinds, including bones, books, mannequins, mirrors, and other elements that held symbolic importance for the artist. He was inspired by history, philosophy, and architecture and references to these disciplines were made frequently in the objects he selected to paint. The denseness of his compositions and the precise manner in which the objects are painted create a complexity that draws the viewer in to inspect each level of detail.

http://www.olsonlarsen.com/artists.cfm?artist_id=661&cmd=display, 5/30/2012