Elena Jahn (May 3, 1938, in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...

— November 26, 2014, in Brunswick, Maine) was an artist noted for both figurative paintings and landscapes and for her connection to Monhegan Island, Maine.

Biography

Jahn was born on May 3, 1938, in Moscow, Idaho, to Helen (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Schumann) and Edwin C. Jahn. She spent her childhood in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. Her family started visiting Monhegan Island in 1949 when her interest in art began. She resided in Rhode Island for ten years, starting in 1966, and helped found a cooperative art gallery in her community. In 1976, she moved to Brunswick, Maine and resided there for 12 years, whereafter she divided her time between a studio on Monhegan and Culebra, Puerto Rico. Jahn received a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

the University of Wisconsin, followed by studies in Paris on a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

. She had college and university teaching positions in art departments in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Maine and in Nova Scotia and Norway. She married Garrett C. Clough, a zoologist; they had a daughter and a son. She died in Brunswick, Maine of complications from scleroderma on November 26, 2014.

Painting career

Jahn's paintings included both the human figure and landscapes from many locations in Scandinavia, Iceland, Paris, Puerto Rico, the American Southwest, Maine and elsewhere in the U.S. She exhibited at the Portland Museum of Art in its "Maine Perspectives" series in 1991 with a solo display of work from Maine and Puerto Rico. In 2015 her work was displayed retrospectively at the Heron Point Gallery in Portland. Her work was described in multiple surveys of Maine artists.

References

External links

Website for Elena Jahn's artwork
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jahn, Elena Artists from Idaho Painters from Maine 1938 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American painters American women painters Syracuse University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni People from Culebra, Puerto Rico People from Moscow, Idaho Artists from Syracuse, New York 20th-century American women artists Deaths from scleroderma