Biography

Capturing the way in which light coalesces around form, substantiating or dissolving it, is a central theme in Wolf Kahn's painting. His work is recognized to masterfully balance the sensuous qualities of color, light, and paint with a relatively stark geometry of form, giving free reign to complex investigations of perception. Possessing an exceptional ability to discern fleeting atmospheric effects, he gave them presence in a two-dimensional world. His canvases are palpably about place, and yet they transcend mere description.

Photograph by Christopher Burke, courtesy of Miles McEnery Gallery

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The Foundation

The Wolf Kahn Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the artistic achievements of Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) and to sharing them with audiences, scholars, and other artists towards a greater understanding of his work and his lasting contribution to American art of the Second Generation New York School.

Through its grants program and other initiatives, the Foundation supports artists and arts organizations that educate youth and the broader public and that advance artists’ careers through exhibitions, publications, and residencies.

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Photograph by Christopher Burke, courtesy of Miles McEnery Gallery

Wolf Kahn

interviewed by Dore Ashton in Wolf Kahn: Landscapes. San Diego: San Diego Art Museum, 1983.

I am always trying to get to a danger point in color,

where color either becomes too sweet or it becomes too harsh, it becomes too noisy or too quiet, and at that point I still want the picture to be strong, forceful, and the carrier of everything that a painting has to have: contrast, drama, austerity.

News

Exhibition of Wolf Kahn’s Abstract Landscapes Opens at Miles McEnery Gallery

February 2, 2023

Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of paintings by Wolf Kahn (1927-2020), on view 2 February through 11 March 2023 at 525 West 22nd Street. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated publication featuring text by Maura Reilly, PhD.

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Lydia Claire Peabody Joins Wolf Kahn Foundation Board

November 29, 2022

The Wolf Kahn Foundation is pleased to announce the election of Lydia Peabody, Associate Curator at The Peabody Essex Museum, to its seven-member Board of Trustees.

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A daughter of acclaimed Vermont artists finds her own creativity mushrooming

September 29, 2022

Melany Kahn knows many people recognize her father, the late acclaimed artist Wolf Kahn, for his blurred, bucolic works. But she remembers his delight in searching fields and forests for the details he left out of his landscapes.

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