Barbara Louise Burns Hirschowitz

With sorrow, we announce the death of Barbara Louise Hirschowitz of Birmingham on Monday, June 10, 2024. She is survived by her children; David Hirschowitz of Nashville, TN; Edward (Alison) Hirschowitz of Lexington, KY; Vanessa Hirschowitz, of Boston, MA. She survived her daughter Kaaren Hirschowitz Engel and is survived by seven grandchildren; Zoe Engel Breitberg, Simon Engel, Iris Engel, Maxwell Hirschowitz, Sophie Hirschowitz, & Sydney Hirschowitz, and Alexander Kouchoukos.

Barbara was a brilliant abstract artist, creating paintings for decades and building a body of work that is truly astounding. She was an avid supporter of the arts through her work with the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Barbara had a love of birdwatching, and had an avian encyclopedic knowledge.

Born on March 21st, 1930, she grew up in a big family. She had five sisters and one brother. She is the last of her family.

She always gave with an open heart, and viewed life with wonder and appreciation. She expressed this through her large scale paintings. Her paintings show an expert application of acrylics—playing with textures, shapes, and colors. Her process rarely involved visualizing the work before it was finished, rather she let the paint and canvas evolve on its own. Barbara first began painting in college, as part of her work as an occupational therapist.

Barbara influenced her family, having two of her children and two of her grandchildren pursue creative endeavors. She stayed active throughout her career, showing in group and solo shows across Birmingham. These included a three generational art show involving herself, her daughter–Kaaren Engel, and her granddaughter–Iris Engel.

Willing to try new materials and forms, she worked with collage, and ink on paper in her later years.

She will be profoundly missed.

There will be a Graveside Service Friday, June 14, 2024 at 1:00 PM in Elmwood Cemetery Block 36.