As I posted awhile back, Diana and Murray were married at the home of Murray’s sister Eileen and her husband, Louis Horowitz.

Louis D. Horowitz was born 18 February 1916 in New York City to Max and Sarah (Fink) Horowitz. He was the youngest of three sons.

We know that Lou went to P.S. 20 because the gardener’s cousin still has his father Lou’s autograph book from 28 January 1931.

Max owned a paint store, M. Horowitz & Sons, which eventually Lou and his brother Aaron took over. The store was a NYC institution and known internationally for paint, paint supplies, and gold leaf. Lou sold gold leaf all over the world, for all purposes, including cathedrals and museums. He sold to artists such as Ben Shahn and Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

Lou’s older brother and business partner, Aaron, passed away in 1963. Max had died around 1946 or 1947.

The store was first located at 11 Cooper Square on the Bowery. In the early 70s the city took over the building by eminent domain in order to build a low to middle income housing development. At that point the store was moved to the location that I remember, which was 166 Second Avenue.

Here is Lou inside the 166 Second Avenue store in this very special photo.

I found the following in a copy of Old House Journal from 1979.

Unfortunately, the wrong address in a print journal is not easily corrected. The address of the store was 166 Second Ave., not 166 Seventh Ave.!!!

I have also found the store listed in the back of books as a source for materials, but I was not able to find any actual ads purchased by the family. I suspect that they did not need to advertise.

A few years after the gardener and I were married, the movie Ragtime was being filmed. They wanted Lou’s store, which was situated in the Bowery, to be in the filming. The film makers made some changes to the front of the store to make it look as if it fit the time period of the movie.

The store opened in 1940 and only closed its doors in 1985. However, Lou removed all the remaining merchandise and brought it to his home, where he continued business for another ten years. He passed away on 17 April 1995.

You can imagine that Diana, an artist, loved her brother-in-law’s store. He used to give her beautiful brushes and oil paints for her painting.