Joseph Schwartzbaum

1994-10-03 Chicago Tribune (IL) HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR JOSEPH SCHWARZBAUM By Ray Quintanilla, Tribune Staff Writer. Edition: Chicago TribuneA Holocaust survivor and local artist, Joseph Schwarzbaum, 72, died at his South Side home on Sept. 14. Mr. Schwarzbaum was best known locally for his surrealistic and abstract works using colorful tones in oil and acrylic paints. Friends said Mr. Schwarzbaum turned to painting and jewelry-making for relief from pain that he endured from four years in Nazi concentration camps in the 1940s. During that time, he fled twice, escaping death from the gas chambers in Auschwitz, where his parents, older sister and brother-in-law died. "He had a lot of suffering in his life," said Hannah Aronson, a second cousin. "The arts were his life. He got so much pleasure from it," said Aronson, who has known Mr. Schwarzbaum since 1936. Mr. Schwarzbaum moved to Chicago in 1952, after brief stays in Italy and Israel. He attended classes at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and once described his works as "materialism or symbolic realism." Those familiar with his works said they added to Chicago's rich artistic history. And though Mr. Schwarzbaum painted for pleasure more than for financial rewards, they said, his works were well-appreciated. "His art was very powerful in scope and they showed how he felt inside," said Demetria Nanos, a local artist. There were no immediate survivors. A graveside service was held at 10 a.m. Monday at Waldheim Cemetery, 18th Street and Harlem Avenue, Forest Park. Copyright 1994, Chicago Tribune.