Max Kahn (1902–2005) was a
Litvak lithographer
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
,
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
and
sculptor born in
Slonim
Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...
,
Belarus in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103. He was one of a small group of lithographers in the late 1940s and 1950s demonstrating the self-expressive qualities of the medium.
Life and work
Max Kahnwent to the United States in 1907 studying art at
Bradley University
Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...
, went to
Paris in 1926–1928, where he studied primarily sculpture with
Charles Despiau
Charles Despiau (November 4, 1874 – October 28, 1946) was a French sculptor.
Early life
Charles-Albert Despiau was born at Mont-de-Marsan, Landes and attended first the École des Arts Décoratifs and later the École nationale supérieure d ...
and
Antoine Bourdelle
Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important fi ...
and drawing with
Othon Friesz
Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement.
Biography
Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of s ...
at the Academy Suede West on the
Rive Droite. In 1935 he met
Eleanor Coen, a lithographer and painter, whom he later married. They both went to the
Chicago Art Institute
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
where he studied and later taught.
In 1939 Kahn taught a four-week course at the
Herron School of Art
Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public art school at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional art school and has been accredited ...
. Eleanor Coen was on the
WPA Federal Arts project from 1939 to 1940.
[wpamurals.com]
/ref> and both she and Kahn were registered WPA artists.[ From the 1930s to early 1940 Kahn was the head of Chicago's WPA Art Print Department wit]
Eleanor Coen
at the Art Institute of Chicago. One of their WPA murals, painted in 1940, was discovered and restored in the 1990s. In 1941 after Eleanor won a fellowship they travelled to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. Max set up the printmaking studio and taught printmaking at the Universitaria de Bellas Artes, which had recently opened. The school is now a national monument. Political prints collected in Mexico by Kahn and Coen were exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Buil ...
in 2006. In 1942 after war started, Max and Eleanor returned to the USA, where they married. In the summer of 1942 they taught at Oxbow Summer School of painting at Saugatuck where Francis Chapin ran the summer school. In 1944 when Francis Chapin
Francis W. Chapin (February 14, 1899 – February 23, 1965) was an American artist. His works included both watercolors and oil paintings of landscapes and portraits.
Biography
He was born in Bristolville, Ohio. He graduated from Washingt ...
retired from the Art Institute he recommended Max for the job of teaching lithography, which Kahn did into the 60's.
Carl Zigrosser, a friend of Carl Shnewind, the curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
of the Art Institute, encouraged Max to show his prints at Weyhe Gallery in New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
, which specialized in exhibiting prints. This show in 1946 was the first large one-man show of color lithographs in this country. It was a very successful show from which New York's Metropolitan Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
and Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...
bought several of Kahn's lithographs. His work is internationally collected and is now handled a
Corbett vs. Dempsey
gallery in Chicago.
Se
www.maxkahn.com
for more information.
Kahn's works were shown in group exhibitions:
* 1939: Whitney Museum of American Art; Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...
; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
* 1939: World's Fair, New York City
* 1947–1951, 1958, 1960: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Annuals
* 1947, 1959: Corcoran Gallery
The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University.
Overview
The Corcoran School of the Arts & Desig ...
, Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
His work is held in the collections of the Illinois State Museum
The Illinois State Museum features the life, land, people and art of the State of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield. There are three satell ...
, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...
, the National Gallery of Canadabeaux-arts.ca
/ref> an
The Art Institute of Chicago
Among his pupils was Rosemary Zwick.
References
Books
* James Watrous
''American Printmaking: a century of American printmaking, 1880-1980,''
(Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.), Chapter 6, ''Printmaking in the 1950s,'' p. 183.
* David Acton
''The Stamp of Impulse: abstract expressionist prints,''
(New York : Hudson Hills Press ; Worcester, Mass. : In Association with the Worcester Art Museum, ©2001) , pp. 104, 132
* Peter H ed Falk
''Who was who in American art, 1564-1975 : 400 years of artists in America,''
(Madison, Conn. : Sound View Press, 1999.), , Vol. II:G-O, p. 1780.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Max
1902 births
2005 deaths
People from Slonim
People from Slonimsky Uyezd
Belarusian Jews
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century American male artists
Bradley University alumni
American centenarians
American lithographers
20th-century American sculptors
20th-century American male artists
American male sculptors
Federal Art Project artists
Works Progress Administration in Illinois
20th-century American printmakers
Men centenarians
American expatriates in France
20th-century lithographers