Wolf Kahn

Wolf Kahn was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1927, arriving in the United States in 1940. In 1945 he graduated from the High School of Music and Art in New York after which he spent some time in the Navy. Upon discharge he studied with Hans Hoffman in New York and Provincetown, where he became Hofmann’s assistant. In 1950 he enrolled in the University of Chicago from which he graduated in 1951 with a BA. After a time of wandering across the continent and working as a lumberjack in Oregon, he returned to New York to resume painting. He had his first one-man show at the Hansa gallery, which he had helped to found. In 1956 he joined the Grace Borgenicht Gallery where he exhibited regularly until 1995.

Mr. Kahn has received a Fulbright Scholarship, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, where he is vice-president for Art. He has recently completed an appointment to the New York City Art Commission. Travelling extensively, he has painted landscapes in such diverse locales as Maine, Mexico, Italy, Greece, Kenya, New Mexico, Hawaii and Egypt. He spends his summers and autumns in Vermont on a hillside farm which he and his wife, the painter Emily Mason, have owned since 1968. They have two daughters, Cecily and Melany.  Cecily Kahn is a painter, married to painter David Kapp. Wolf Kahn exhibits regularly at galleries and museums across North America, and a comprehensive monograph on his work was published in September 1996 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. A book on Wolf Kahn pastels was published by Abrams in 2000.

Solo Exhibitions

• Addison/Ripley Fine Art, Washington, DC – 2011, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2003, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1994
• Mandeville Gallery, Union College, Schenectady, NY
• Fleming Museum, University of Vermont, Burlington
• Morris Museum of Southern Art, Atlanta, GA – 1999
• Suzanna Allen Fine Art, London, England – 1999
• Beadleston Gallery, New York – 2000, 1998
• Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, OH – 1997
• Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV – 1997
• Marianne Friedland Gallery, Naples, Fl – 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1991
• Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA – 2000, 1997, 1994, 1992, 1988
• Diane Nelson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA – 1998, 1997
• Spheris Gallery of Fine Art, Walpole, NH – 1997
• Etherington Fine Art, North Tisbury, MA – 1997
• Miami Art Fair (Jerald Melberg Gallery) – 1997
• Mangel Gallery, Philadelphia, PA – 1996
• Boca Raton Museum, Boca Raton, FL – 1996
• DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY  - 1996
• Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore, MD – 1996
• Nardin Gallery, Somers, NY – 1996
• Drabinsky & Friedland Gallery, Toronto, ONT- 1998, 1996, 1993, 1992, 1990
• Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM – 1995, 1992, 1990, 1988
• Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, CA – 1996, 1994
• Gallery 30, Burlingame, CA- 1997, 1996, 1995, 1993
• Virginia Lynch Gallery, Tiverton, RI – 1997, 1996, 1993, 1992
• Morgan Gallery, Kansas City, MO – 1996, 1995, 1993
• Walker-Kornbluth Gallery, Fair Lawn, NJ – 1996, 1995, 1991, 1987, 1982, 1979, 1977
• Vered Gallery, East Hampton, NY – 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993
• Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY – 1995, 1994, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1981, 1979, 1977, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1969, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1962, 1961, 1959, 1958, 1957, 1956
• Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV - 1997, 1995, 1994
• Carone Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 1996, 1995, 1991, 1989, 1985
• Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston, MA – 1995, 1994, 1992, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1981
• The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA – 1994
• Marshall University, Huntington, WV – 1994
• The University of Louisville, Allen R. Hite Institute, Louisville, KY – 1994
• Cove Gallery, Wellfleet, MA – 1994
• John Ames Fine Art, Belfast, MA – 1994
• Skidmore College, Schick Gallery of Art, Saratoga Springs, NY – 1994
• Jerald Melberg Gallery, Charlotte, NC – 1998, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1992, 1991, 1987, 1984
• Gallery 69 Belfast, ME – 1994
• Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL – 1993
• Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA – 1993
• Lyman Allyn Art Museum, New London, CT – 1993
• Associated American Artists, New York, NY – 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989
• Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl – 1990-1991
• Nan Miller Gallery, Rochester, NY – 1991
• Barbara Kornblatt Gallery, Washington, DC – 1990, 1989, 1987
• Nina Freudenheim Gallery, Buffalo, NY – 1990
• San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA – 1987, 1983
• Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX – 1985, 1982, 1980, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1974, 1973, 1971
• Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY – 1982
• Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY – 1982
• The Arts Club of Chicago, IL – 1981
• Cheekwood Fine Arts Center, Nashville, TN – 1981
• Leslie Waddington Gallery, London, England – 1980
• Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art, Providence, RI – 1979
• Fontana Gallery, Philadelphia, PA – 1978
• David Barnett Gallery, Milwaukee, WI – 1978
• Princeton Gallery of Fine Art, Princeton, NJ – 1975, 1972
• Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA – 1972
• University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE – 1972
• Saversky Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – 1966
• Carlton Gallery, New York, NY – 1965
• Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO – 1963
• University of California, Berkeley, CA – 1960
• Hansa Gallery, New York, NY – 1955, 1953

Selected Group Exhibitions

• Meridian International Center, Washington, DC – Outward Bound: American Art on the Brink of the Twenty-First Century - Travelling exhibition – 1999 – 2000
• Paul Creative Center, Durham, NH – Together/Working – 1999
• Denise Bibro Gallery, New York, - Artist Mentors – 1999
• American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York – Centennial Exhibition – 1998
• Beadleston Gallery, New York – The Art of Giving – 1997
• Zabriskie Gallery, New York – the Hansa Gallery Revisited 1952 – 1959 - 1997 
• New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT – All in the Family – 1997
• Drabinsky & Friedland Galleries, Toronto, ONT – Modern Masters - 1997
• Art Show, New York, NY – 1996, 1994
• Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM & travelling to other venues – Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas – 1996
• DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY – Inaugural Exhibition – 1995
• Marianne Friedland Gallery, Naples, FL – Master Works, Modern and Contemporary: Avery, Frankenthaler, Hoffman, Kahn, Motherwell, et al – 1996
• Stremmel Gallery, Reno, NV – Selected Group Exhibitions – 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991
• Thomas Babeor Gallery, La Jolla, CA – 1996, 1995
• Nelson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA – 1995
• Art 25, 94 , Basel, Switzerland – 1994
• Midtown Payson, New York, Trees – 1994
• Feigen, Inc., Chicago, IL – Changing Views - 1994
• State University of New York, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY – Inspired by Nature – 1994
• Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME – MaineScapes – 1993, 1992, 1990
• Associated American Artists, New York – From Intimate to Monumental
• Gallery 30, Burlingame, CA – Contemporary Monotypes – 1993
• The Greenberg Gallery, St. Louis, MO – Landscapes – 1993
• Walker-Kornbluth Gallery, Fair Lawn, NJ – Monoprints II – 1993
• Foire International d’Art Contemporaine (FIAC) Paris, France – 1993
• Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA – US Artists – 1992
• Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany – 1993
• Krasdale Foods Gallery, White Plains, NY – Family Ties – 1993
• Gallery 30, Burlingame, CA – The Landscape in Pastel – 1992
• Virginia Lynch Gallery, Tiverton, RI – Emily Mason, Wolf Kahn, Jonathan Bonner – 1992
• Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY – Illumination and Radiance: Epiphanies in Contemporary Painting  - 1990
• University of Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY – Direct Response – co-curated by Wolf Kahn and Grant Holbrook, Director – 1989
• Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ – Pastels – 1986, Twenty Landscape Painters – 1977
• Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York, NY – Pastel Anthology – 1986
• San Franciso Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA – The Janss Collection – 1985
• Jerald Melberg Gallery, Inc., Charlotte, NC – 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, 1985, 1984
• Lillian Kornbluth Gallery, Fair Lawn, NJ – A Family in Art - 1983
• Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY – Twentieth Century Art from the Metropolitan Museum – 1983
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, new York, NY – Recent Acquisitions – 1980, Hans Hofmann as a Teacher: His Student’s Drawings – 1979
• National Academy of Design, New York, NY – Next to Nature – 1980
• American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY – paintings and Sculptures by Candidates for Art  Awards – 1979
• Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC – American Places – 1979
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY – Bloedel Bequest – 1977, Young America - 1960, Forty Artists Under Forty – 1962, Annual Exhibition – 1961, 1958, 1957
• Drawing Center, New York, NY – Artist Postcards – 1977
• Harkus-Krakow Gallery, Boston, MA – 1976
• Meredith Long Gallery, Houston, TX – 1976, 1973
• Union Carbide, New York, NY – Fulbright Artists – 1975
• Davenport Municipal Gallery, Davenport, IA – Family Album – 1975
• A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York, NY – Landscapes – 1971
• American Federation of the Arts, New York, NY – Artist International – 1971
• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI – 1965
• Pennsylvania Academy – Philadelphia, PA – 1965, 1961
• Cheekwood Fine Arts Center, Nashville, TN – 1964
• Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH – 1964
• Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO – 1963
• Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, Dallas, TX – 1963
• Kornblee Gallery, New York – Out of Doors Landscape – 1962
• Michigan State University, Lansing, MI – 1962
• Japanese Biennale, Tokyo, Japan – 1961
• Theatre Guild, New York – Benefit of Dissent Magazine – 1961
• University of Illinois, Urbana, IL – Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture – 1959, 1957, 
• Art USA, New York, NY – 1958
• Albright – Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY– 1958
• Des Moines Art Center – Des Moines, IA – 1958
• Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY – 1958
• Jewish Museum, New York, NY – The New York School, Second Generation  - 1957
• Stable Gallery, New York, NY – Annual Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture – 1956, 1953
• Seligmann Gallery, New York, NY – New Provincetown ’47; Paintings from the Cold Water Flats; Printmakers – 1947

Museum, University and Public Collections

• Ameranda-Hess Co., New York, NY
• American Express, New York, NY
• ARCO Chemical Corp.
• Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• AT&T, New York, NY
• The Bank of New York
• Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
• Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
• Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Princeton, NJ
• Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• Cahill, Gordon, Reindel, New York, NY
• Carnegie Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
• Charterhouse International, New York, NY
• Cheekwood Fine Arts Center, Nashville, TN
• Chemical Bank, New  York, NY
• Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, NY
• Citibank, New York, NY
• City Art Museum of St, Louis, St. Louis, MO
• Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
• Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
• Continental Grain, New York, NY
• Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
• Dartmouth College Hood Museum, Hanover, NH
• Dominion Bankshares, Roanoke, VA
• El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX
• Ernst and Young,  New York, NY
• Farragut Resources, Washington, DC
• First National Bank of Boston, Boston, MA
• Flint Resources Co., Inc., Tulsa, OK
• Fort Worth Art Center, Fort Worth, TX
• Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC
• Hublein Inc., Farmington, CT
• J.C. Penny Co., New York, NY
• Jewish Museum, New York, NY
• Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Ilays, and Ilandler, New York, NY
• Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Kansas City, MO
• Loch Haven Art Center, Orlando, FL
• Long Tern Credit Bank of Japan , Ltd., New York, NY
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
• Manolis and Co., New York, NY 
• Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX
• Mellon Bank, Pittsburgh, PA
• Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
• Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
• Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC
• Morgan, Stanley, Tokyo, Japan
• Morton Foundation, New York, NY
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
• Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MA
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
• National Academy of Design, New York, NY
• National Bank of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
• National Bank of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC
• New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
• Owens Corning Fiberglass
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, New York, NY
• Penn Central Corp., New York, NY
• Pennsylvania State University Palmer museum of Art, State College, PA
• Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, OK
• Philharmonic Center for the Arts, Naples, FL
• Port Authority of New York, NY
• Prudential Corporation
• Prudential Life Insurance Co., Newark, NJ
• RJR/Nabisco, Winston-Salem, NC
• Rahr-West Art Museum, Minitowec, WI
• The Rockefeller Group, New York, NY
• Salomon Brothers, New York, NY
• San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA
• Seagull Industries, New York, NY
• Signet Bank Corp., Richmond, VA
• Sonesta International Hotels Corporation, Boston, MA
• State University of New York University Art Museum, Albany, NY
• State University of New York, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY
• Summit Art Center, Summit, NJ
• Times-Mirror Corp., Los Angeles, CA
• Triangle Industries, Inc., New York, NY
• Union Carbide, Corp., New York, NY
• Union Trust Bank, Baltimore, MD
• University of California, Berkeley, CA
• University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
• University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
• University of New Mexico, Johnson Gallery  Albuquerque, NM
• University of Rochester, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY
• US Trust Co. of New York, New York, NY
• Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
• The Williams Companies, Tulsa, OK
• Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA

Selected  Publications

• Arthur, John, Spirit of Place: Contemporary Landscape Painting and the American Tradition, Little, Brown and CO., Boston, 1989
• “Announcing the Winners of the 1993 American Artist Achievement Awards,” American Artist Vol. #57, June 1993, pp.19-29.
• Ashton, Dore, “Art: New York School.” The New York Times, March, 1957.p.59.
• Ashton, Dore, “Art: PostImpressionism.” The New York Times, Dec. 13, 19-56. P.34
• Ashton, Dore, “Wolf Kahn.” Art Digest,  vol. #28, Nov. 1, 1953, p.22.
• Ashton, Dore, “Pastel Anthology.” Arts, vol. #40, Feb. 1966. pp.29-32
• “Bringing Landscape up-to-date,” American Artist, Nov. 1974.
• Campbell, Lawrence, “In the Mist of Life,” Art News, Feb. 1969.
• Campbell, Lawrence, “Wolf Kahn’s Landscapes,” Arts Magazine, April, 1977.
• Campbell, Lawrence, “Wolf Kahn at Grace Borgenicht,” Art in America, Nov. 1989.
• Gaines, Charles, “Artist’s Dialogue: Wolf Kahn – Landscapes of Color,” Architectural Digest, 44, June 1987, pp.44-46.
• Glueck, Grace, “ The Hansa Gallery (1952-1959) Revisited,” The New York Times, Oct. 24, 1997.
• Gussow, Alan, A Sense of Place, The Seabury Press, New York, NY.
• Hayt-Atkins, Elizabeth, “Wolf Kahn,” Art News, Summer, 1989.
• Henry, Gerrit, “Wolf Kahn at Grace Borgenicht,” Art in America, Nov. 1993,p.132.
• Hess, Thomas B., “ U.S. Painting,” Art News Annual, 1956.
• Hulburt, Roger, “Artist’s Canvas Glows with Magic,” Sun-Sentinel (FL), Nov. 25, 1994 pp. 1F, 5F
• Huey, Michael, “Home Forum Interview with Wolf Kahn,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec.12, 1988.
• Jacobs, Jay, “Pertinent and Impertinent,” The Art Gallery, Feb. 1969.
• Kahn, Wolf, American Academy of Arts and Letters Centennial Book, (1948-1957), 1997.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Gently Down the Stream,” Art New England  Oct/Nov1993. Pp.14-15.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Connecting Incongruities,” Art in America, Nov. 1992.pp.116-121.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Hofmann’s  Mixed Messages,” Art in America, Nov. 1990.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Autocratic and Democratic Still Life Painting,” American Artist, 1986.
• Kahn, Wolf, Pastel Light, Stanton Hill Press, Barrytown, NY, 1983.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Milton Avery’s Good Example,” Art Journal, Spring, 1983.
• Kahn, Wolf, “Hans Hofmann’s Good Example,” Art Journal, Spring, 1982.
• Kahn, Wolf, “The Subject Matter in the New Realism,” American Artist, Nov. 1979.
• Kahn, Wolf, “ Uses of Painting Today,” Daedalus, Summer, 1969.
• Kohen, Helen L., “A Fresh Perspective on Landscapes,” The Miami Herald, Dec. 2, 1990, p.31
• Kosloff, Max, “Wolf Kahn,” Artforum, June 1974
• Kramer, Hilton “Wolf Kahn,” New York Times, Mar. 16, 1974, p. 27.
• Marcus, Stanley, “Wolf Kahn Monograph,” American Artist, October, 1996.
• Meyer, Susan, Twenty Landscape Painters, Watson-Guptil Publications, 1989.
• Nixon, Bruce, “Lovers of the Land,” Artweek, Sept., 26, 1991.
• Paine, Piera F., “Interview with Wolf Kahn,” Christian Science Monitor, May 8, 195.
• Pagel, Davis, “Wolf Kahn at Babeor,” Art and Auction Vol. # XVII, Sept. 1994. P.50.
• Phillips, Jonathan, “Wolf Kahn,” American Artist, May , 1997.
• Porter, Fairfield, “Reviews and Previews,” Art News, vol. #52, Nov. 153, p.41.
• Porter, Fairfield, “Reviews and Previews,” Art News, vol. #53, Feb. 1955, p. 56-57.
• Pozzi, Lucio, “Lecascine misteriose di Kahn,” Il Giornale dell’ Arte, May 1995.
• Quiller, Stephen, Color Choices, New York, Watson-Guptil Publications, 1989.
• Russell, John, “Wolf Kahn,” New York Times, May 4, 1979.p. C. 23.
• Sandler, Irving, “The New York School – 2nd Generation", Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1978.
• Sawin, Martica, “Wolf Kahn and the American Landscape: Return to Paradise,” Museum Magazine, May/June 1981.
• Sawin, Martica, Wolf Kahn, Landscape Painter, Taplinger Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1981.
• Schjeldahl, Peter, “Wolf Kahn,” The New York Times, March 1979.
• Shirey, David, “A Mood of Peace and Quiet,” The New York Times, March 1979.
• Spring, Justin, “Wolf Kahn” Artforum, Oct. 1993, p. 91.
• Wolf Kahn: new Landscape Paintings, Orion, Summer, 1993, pp. 36-41.

Awards and Appointments

• New York City Art Commission, Member, 1994-5
• American Artist Achievement  Award, 1993
• National Board of College Art Association, Elected to Membership, 1980-85
• American Academy of Arts and Letters, Elected to Membership, 1984
• National Academy of Design, Elected to Membership, 1980; Board , 1982; Treasurer, 1990-94
• American Academy of Arts and Letters, Art Award, 1979
• National Academy of Design , Ranger Fund Purchase, 1979
• American Academy of Arts and Letters, Hassam Fund Purchase, 1979
• John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 1966-67
• Fulbright Scholarship, 1962

Commissions

• “The Atlantic Golf Club,” major painting for clubhouse, Atlantic Golf Club, Bridgehampton, NY – 1995
• Designed First Day of Issue for the United Nations Philatelic Collection – 1992
• “The C & O Canal” painting for the lobby, 2000 K Street Building, Washington, DC – 1987
• “The Four Seasons,” painting series for AT&T Headquarters, New York, NY – 1985
• Landscape Commission of Young Smith, Litchfield Plantation, SC – 1970
• Portraits for Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY – 1968, 1967, 1966