Strathmore and Princeton Come Together
We are excited to welcome Princeton Artist Brush Co.TM to the Strathmore family, where beautiful fine art brushes meet high quality paper.
Princeton is joining Strathmore under the same parent company, Pacon Corporation. Pacon provides a wide range of education aids, paper products, and art and craft materials to teachers, students, parents and artists. Strathmore became part of the Pacon family in 2006.
Princeton will remain in New Jersey under the oversight of its founder, Howard Kaufman. The company representatives, marketing and technical experts, and warehouse will all remain with Princeton.
Both Strathmore and Princeton are aligned when it comes to important values like innovation, inspiring and educating artists, listening to the artist community and addressing the needs of artists.
Through this partnership, you'll get all the same lines of brushes and papers that you've come to know and love from both Strathmore and Princeton. We're excited about what lies ahead and how we can continue to innovate together.
More About Princeton
More than 25 years ago, Howard Kaufman began a small brush business in the basement of his home in Princeton, New Jersey. Previously the president of one of the world’s largest art supply manufacturers, Howard had gained a vast knowledge of brush-making and an understanding of the needs and desires of artists. He believed that by focusing on innovation, value and the best service, he would always have an appreciative audience for his products.
Working in tandem with Naohide Takamoto, third-generation of Japan’s revered Takamoto brush-making family, the two worked tirelessly to create the finest synthetic sable, beginning with Princeton’s flagship Series 4050. Howard Kaufman and his team have continued to innovate, inspire and set the industry standard in hair, handle technology and innovation, releasing Neptune, Select, Aspen™, Catalyst™ Polytip and Velvetouch™ in the past few years.
Princeton Artist Brush Co.™ brushes are specially designed with the artist in mind and include brushes for watercolor, mixed media, oil, acrylic, acrylic short and long handle, and specialty.
Artist Jess Park uses Princeton Velvetouch™ brushes to create a watercolor wreath with leaves, branches, and calligraphy in this fun watercolor tutorial.
More About Howard Kaufman
Howard Kaufman has a passion for connecting artists and tools. As founder of Princeton Artist Brush Co.™, success for Kaufman involves staying in touch with the people who hold the brush. He is often found chatting one-on-one with art store owners and artists, hauling boxes at the company’s warehouse, or even volunteering to take out the garbage. Over the past 25 years as Princeton Artist Brush has grown into the number-one supplier of artist brushes in North America, Kaufman keeps his focus on one thing: a love of the craft.
Kaufman’s career began in 1973 with a family of companies dedicated to serving art retailers. Kaufman progressed from sales to product development to marketing, ultimately securing the role of general manager at Grumbacher in the late 1980s. It was then that Kaufman began formulating a vision for his own company—one where he could freely pursue his zeal for leading-edge design while maintaining a personal commitment to old-fashioned customer service. In 1992, from Kaufman’s basement in Princeton, NJ; Princeton Artist Brush Co. was born.
The company distributes a broad range of brushes varying by size, design, function and price. Princeton Artist Brush is a staple brand in major retailers as well as many boutique artist supply shops throughout not only the U.S. but also in many countries including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South America, Kuwait and Israel.
Kaufman wakes up every day energized to produce innovative, quality brushes that artisans can depend on to bring their visions to life. And he doesn’t just do this from an office. From 1992 to 2012, Princeton Artist Brush operated out of Kaufman’s home, where stacks upon stacks of boxes filled every room. Although daily operations moved to a 17,500-square-foot warehouse six years ago, Kaufman’s wife Debbie says the house sometimes still smells like paint brushes.
Kaufman’s daughter Ashley, who holds a master’s degree in accounting from New York University, handles most of the company’s operations. As the business has grown, Howard says, “I could not have done it without her. Sometimes I feel like I work for her but that’s OK. She challenges me and we motivate each other. We can just about read each other’s minds. It’s great teamwork.”
Now paired with Strathmore Artist Papers, one of the businesses of Pacon Corporation, Princeton Artist Brush will remain located and continue to operate out of its current location in New Jersey, under the direction of Kaufman. It will be business as usual for retailers worldwide with exceptional products and service delivered by Princeton Artist Brush.
Artists are a community, and Kaufman enjoys being an active part of it, personally calling his customers to find out how he can best serve them and asking questions about how he can help make the artist’s work more meaningful. As innovation continues, the business transitions and the future of art evolves, one thing is certain: Howard Kaufman continues to listen and exceed expectations like only Princeton Artist Brush Co. ™ can.
After more than 45 years in the art material industry, Howard says “This is just the next chapter in my career.”
More About Strathmore
The Strathmore Paper Company was founded in 1892 with the belief that better paper makes better art. The company founder, Horace Moses, opened the Mittineague paper mill in West Springfield, Mass. After the first mill opened, Moses visited the Valley of Strathmore in Scotland. Impressed by the beauty of the thistle in full bloom and the site, the thistle became the symbol of high quality art and printing papers. The Strathmore brand quickly became known as one of the highest quality art papers used by many leading artists around the world including Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth and today’s Heather Rooney.
Strathmore fine art papers are designed for drawing and illustration, painting, books and art journals, matting and presentation, specialty arts and crafts, blank cards and more.
