Sunday December 23,2001

Southern California Living

Wanna Buy A Painting?

Len Aaron of Aaron Bros. fame fancies himself a kind of Jackson Pollock.

By Hilary E. MacGregor LA Times Staff Writer

Each of the collectible cars parked in the gracious curve of Len Aaron's Beverly Hills driveway is loaded with paintings, ready to go. There are two canvases in the trunk of the blue 1987 Zimmer, and three more in the back of the Jaguar. There are probably a few stashed in the rear of the Testarossa, too.

Eighty-four-year-old Aaron, the cofounder and former president of Aaron Bros -- purveyor of frames, framed art, prints and art supplies to the masses -- has returned to his business roots. In the 1930s, he got his start selling frames door-to-door. This time around, he's hawking paintings. His own drippy spattered, splotchy canvases.

"They aren't Renoirs," he points out. "I don't kid myself."

No, they are not Renoirs, or Rembrandts. And much as Aaron likes to make the comparison, they are not even Pollocks. But, as so many in this town have proven, if you've got money, adream and a silver-tongued publicist, you can reinvent yourself as just about anything.

Aaron has never taken an art class in his life and hasn't read much about art, either. He saw the movie "Pollock, " and it seemed to leave a strong impressing. "He used to drip paint down, crawling around on this hands and knees," Aaronsaid, "Personally, I do it from upstairs."

In the backyard of his mansion, the wild-halred former cowboy film extra spends his days creating what he calls primitive abstract mixed-media" paintings by pouring colors from atop a jungle gym ladder onto canvases below. If the gardener accidentally spews grass clippings on a canvas, or a wayward squirrel skids across a still-moist patch of blue goo., Aaron just incorpaorates that into the chaotics whorls of the works-in-progress that litter his house, yard and pool area.

Aaron has no highfalutin notions about art. He's not trying to make a statement with the paintings. "What they are is just color," he says,.

It's hard to tell if he is making a mockery of the artistic process, celebrating it or just trying to cash in on it. Maybe all three.

Aaron says he sells his paintings, which are churned out at a rate of about 10 a month, for between $500 and $5,000. (More sell in the lower range than the high.) He estimates he's sold about 5,000 pieces in the course of his career. His work is available at select Aaron Bros.

Update October 2007 ** Select signed collection available exclusively at www.seamagicchartersandaaronart.com For more information call 1-877-834-2033 **