Baruch David Kirschenbaum (1931-2024)

Baruch David Kirschenbaum died on January 30, 2024 at his home in Providence, Rhode Island. Born November 27, 1931 into inauspicious circumstances in New York City, he led a remarkable life. Growing up on New York City’s West Side during the depression and war years, his early life was formed by the determination to better his circumstances. In 1948 he met the brilliant Blossom Steinberg. They married in 1951 and together they pursued their academic lives.

Barry, as he was known, was an admittedly indifferent student in grade school and high school. He worked at a variety of jobs throughout his younger life: at a NYC newspaper stand, a lunch car/soda fountain, pick-up jobs on the docks, a dairy farm in New England, in the shrimp industry in Florida, a muck farm in Wisconsin and driving cab. He was drafted into the Marine Corps during the Korean War. After basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, he went on to become a paymaster at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. After discharge from the Marines at the rank of sergeant, with the aid of the GI Bill, he attended Hunter College in New York City, graduating Summa cum Laude with a degree in History and Art History in 1957. He was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Hunter College and awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He went on to attend graduate school at Harvard University, receiving an M.A. in Art History in 1959 and a Ph.D. in Art History in 1966. With their three children born in Boston, and with Blossom’s support, in 1962 Barry began commuting to Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island where he ultimately taught for almost 40 years.

Over the course of these RISD years, in many settings, the sense of extended family took hold. An extraordinary mix of artists and colleagues gathered often for parties and work collaborations. It was a powerful life-affirming scene. During his faculty tenure, he was the Director of RISD’s European Honors Program in Rome, Italy from 1969 to 1971 and again from 1981 to 1982. He served terms as Dean of the Liberal Arts Division, as its Head of the Department of Art History and Chair of the RISD Faculty Meetings. He loved teaching at RISD and had the respect and affection of generations of art and design students over the years. His engaging teaching style often included current music on a “boom box” along with masterful “slide shows” and presentations of images. His various courses and memorable large-scale lectures to each year of RISD freshman foundation students elicited thought-provoking notions about the impact of art in society. He also served as a Visiting Professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, at The University of Rhode Island, and at Saint Augustine’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina.

He published two books and many scholarly articles during his career. The Religious and Historical Paintings of Jan Steen was published in 1977. It remains a definitive study on the subject of Steen’s religious work. Slippage, a collection of poems that he composed during his retirement, was published in 2016.

He volunteered at Amos House, a shelter in Providence, Rhode Island, at the Rhode Island Free Clinic and taught adult education classes in art history at various venues in the Providence area. His knack for connecting with others crossed cultures, class, gender and societal norms. He could communicate with everyone he encountered. Charming, eloquent, streetwise and curious, he was always interested in what others were engaged with.

Baruch and architectural historian Elizabeth Greenwell Grossman were a couple for many cherished years. They treasured extensive traveling as well as their life together at homes in Providence and Westport, Massachusetts. Their beloved “Shack” on Cadman’s Neck was the perfect perch where he regularly marveled at the views over the Westport River. There, family and friends would gather for great feasts and quiet moments on the porch, fishing and boating on the river, and hard-fought games of croquet. His grandchildren Joshua and Julia remember especially that he taught them to drive a stick shift in the parking lot of Horseneck Beach.

A loving and most reassuring father, his guidance remains lasting and embedded. He is survived by three children: Jennet Kirschenbaum of Providence, Rhode Island, Abram Kirschenbaum of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, and Helena Kirschenbaum of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts and was an adored Babbo to his grandchildren, Joshua and Julia Kirschenbaum.

Burial services were private. Contributions in Dr. Kirschenbaum’s memory can be made to: Project Thrive c/o RISD, First-Generation to College Pre-Orientation Program (FGC POP) or online.