Into the Light: The Healing Art of Kalman Aron - Hardcover

Magee, Susan Beilby

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1555953859 ISBN 13: 9781555953850

Publisher: Hudson Hills, 2012

Synopsis

A six-year-old girl sits for a pastel portrait by an unknown immigrant artist... Fifty years later, he asks her to write his story.

INTO THE LIGHT is a profound, visual story of hope, courage and healing in the face of evil. It relates the epic life journey of Kalman Aron as he emerges from the ashes of the Holocaust to explore the nature of humankind, his own humanity and the mystery of life - all on canvas.

Born in Riga, Latvia in 1924, Kalman Aron began drawing at age three. At seven, he had his first gallery show of drawings, which sold out on opening day. The Latvian president commissioned the boy to paint his official portrait and arranged for Aron to attend Riga's Academy of Fine Arts. Three years later, in 1941, the Nazis invaded Latvia, massacring many thousands of Jews - including his parents.

Over the course of four years, he was imprisoned in seven different camps. Aron became an astute observer of human nature; he drew portraits of guards who sometimes paid him with morsels of food that helped him not starve to death. After the war, he was admitted to the Vienna Fine Arts Academy, where he received his Masters in Fine Art, then left Europe to settle in Los Angeles in 1949.

Kalman Aron's early post-war pictures darkly project Holocaust horrors, then in the slow course of healing and freeing himself from his past, Aron's work gains poise and an inner perspective that radiates new and ever-changing vitality. He becomes well-known for his portraits, vibrant landscapes and intriguing studies of people in his unique style, "psychological realism." His work catches the attention of Hollywood celebrities and connoisseurs alike, and commissions arrive from such notables as Ronald Reagan, Henry Miller and André Previn.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

A six-year-old girl sits for a pastel portrait by an unknown immigrant artist.... Fifty years later, Kalman Aron asks her to write his story.
 
"His blue eyes still have that sparkle and curiosity I saw a lifetime ago. His hands are strong. The fingers of his right hand curl with arthritis after all these years of painting. It is uplifting to be in his presence. He is so alive...How, I wonder, after all he experienced?"
 
Born in Latvia in 1924, Kalman Aron was recognized as a prodigy with a debut show of portraits at age seven and a commission to paint the Latvian president's official portrait at thirteen. He was studying at the Riga Fine Arts Academy when the Nazis invaded Latvia and massacred many thousands of Jews--including his parents. Aron managed to survive four war years in slave labor and concentration camps by "learning to be invisible." An astute observer of human nature, he drew portraits of guards for "a piece of bread."
Settling in Los Angeles as a refugee in 1949, Aron painted flowers on china and drew maps to eke out a living, while making art at night. "Discovered" by an interior decorator, he did portraits of her children and her clients. Word of his talent spread and he became one of California's leading portraitists, winning commissions to paint major figures such as Ronald Reagan, Henry Miller and André Previn. He also earned recognition for vibrant landscapes and penetrating studies of people, painted in a style uniquely his own--psychological realism. He went on to exhibit internationally.
Into the Light is a dazzling story of the alchemy of the soul. By weaving his first-person memoir and her third person critical biography with the evolution of his paintings, Magee explores Kalman Aron's instinctive responses to elemental questions. How does one respond to the extremes of human brutality? What happens to the rage, sorrow and despair? Does one choose to remember, forgive and heal? 
Aron wrestled with these questions on canvas, transforming evil into truth and beauty. In the process he recaptured his own light, as Magee reveals in this exploration of the human spirit, this odyssey of healing.

About the Author:

Susan Beilby Magee, graduate of Pomona College and Wharton and formerly a White House Fellow, is a certified hypnotherapist with 25 years experience in the healing arts.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hudson Hills
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1555953859
• ISBN 13: 9781555953850
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224