From Memory to Canvas, Lost Way of Life in Poland.

Sometimes it takes a family, and a persistent one at that. So it was with Mayer Kirshenblatt, a reluctant painter and accidental memoirist whose words and images form an extraordinary exhibition at the Jewish Museum. ''They Called Me Mayer July: Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland Before the Holocaust'' contains nearly 70 canvases and a dozen works on paper. Nearly all depict scenes of Jewish (and some gentile) life in between-the-wars Poland with a charming combination of poignancy and precision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]