Art at All Ages

90-year-old Lois Baron reflects on a life of art

Life is for the living, and art is for the soul. That’s 90-year-old Lois Baron’s view.

“Art is what makes us human,” says Baron, a figurative artist and resident of Montgomery Place in Chicago, a senior living community in Hyde Park.

“It is often made from loss,” Baron says of art. “It is a way to process emotion, transform it, and to put it into the world, to share it with others.”

This past spring, Baron’s solo exhibition, “Real Illusions,” ran at Compound Yellow in Oak Park. It revisited artwork that garnered positive public and media attention in New York City during the early years of her career.

Baron’s cutout paintings of garments, all oil on canvas, include a paisley scarf, boots, a football helmet, and men’s ties.

“When I lived in New York, I always went to the Frick [Collection] or The Met to learn how [works of art] were created,” Baron says.

Her influences include American artist John Singer Sargent, Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, Spanish painter Francisco Goya, and Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer.

“Perhaps my greatest influence artistically was Alex Katz, who is one of the greatest living figurative painters,” Baron says of the American artist. “He was a teacher and became a mentor.”

She continues, “There is no secret to my long life. I think I just got good genes from my parents and had good food and healthcare.”

She sees lifestyle choices, such as exercise, as important as well. “For many years, I was a very serious Argentine tango dancer. I started in New York, and when I got better, I started going to Buenos Aires to work with some of the greats and to attend the milongas — the places where people go to dance tango,” Baron says.

What started as a form of exercise led Baron to learn Spanish. “Being aware of the world around you and engaging in it keeps me alive,” she says — no matter the language or medium.

Originally published in the Summer/Fall 2026 print issue.