Born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1927, Wolf Kahn fled Nazi Germany to Britain through the Kindertransport in the late 1930s. He eventually settled in the United States, where he completed high school and enrolled in the Navy. Following his service, he studied with the legendary teacher and Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann, eventually becoming his studio assistant.
In 1950, Kahn enrolled at the University of Chicago and completed his bachelor of arts degree within one year. He had his first solo exhibition at Hansa Gallery in New York City in 1953 and went on to be represented by Grace Borgenicht Gallery, where he exhibited regularly until 1995.
Kahn was the recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Medal of Arts from the State Department. He married the artist Emily Mason in 1957. Their marriage lasted sixty-two years until Emily’s death in December 2019, just a few months before Kahn's passing. The pair lived and worked between New York City and W. Brattleboro, Vermont.
Kahn’s work has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout North America. His work is held in important museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Find authentic Wolf Kahn paintings and prints on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Miles McEnery Gallery)
$175,000
“Middleton Place II, 1974” Wolf Kahn, West Brattleboro, Vermont Barn Oil Canvas
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Yardley, PA
A fantastic early painting from Kahn’s iconic barn series depicting Dr. Middleton’s property in West Brattleboro, VT. Here, Kahn turns a familiar rural motif into something hovering ...
Canvas, Oil
Riverside Drive, New York
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Greenwich, CT
Unframed dimensions: 14 x 11 inches Framed dimensions: 18 3/4 x 16 inches signed lower left Capturing the way in which light coalesces around form, substantiating or dissolving it,...
Paper, Pastel
Dark Pines
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) was a German-born American artist acclaimed for his stylized landscapes, which blend natural realism with the celebration of color in the spirit of Color Field ...
Screen
$185,000
Corps de Ballet
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Signed, original, 1994, oil–on-canvas painting, Corps de Ballet by significant American artist, Wolf Kahn (b. 1927). Winner: Fulbright and Guggenheim Fellowships. Award in Art from...
Canvas, Oil
Fall Splendor by Wolf Kahn
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New Orleans, LA
Wolf Kahn 1927-2020 American Fall Splendor Signed "W Kahn" (lower center) Oil on canvas A masterwork of modern American landscape painting, Fall Splendor exemplifies Wolf Kahn's ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,000
Art Card: Wolf Kahn, High Summer 1972 (Hand signed, dated and inscribed to Tom)
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Art Card: Wolf Kahn, High Summer 1972 (Hand signed, dated and inscribed) Offset lithograph card 1972, ca. 1988 Hand signed, dated 2/96 and inscribed "For Tom" in black marker on the ...
Postcard
"Summer Studio" Wolf Kahn, Vermont Landscape, Abstract Impressionist, Pastels
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Summer Studio, 2012 Signed lower center Pastel on paper 9 x 11 1/2 inches An important member of the second generation New York School, Wolf ...
Paper, Pastel
$9,500Sale Price|26% Off
"Four Winds" Blue House with White Roof in Yellow Field Abstract Landscape
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Houston, TX
Abstract drawing of a blue house in a yellow field by German-American painter, Wolf Kahn. Signed and dated by the artist in the lower right corner. Framed and matted in a silver wood...
Paper, Pastel
20th century landscape pastel drawing colorful grass path hills sky signed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Study for Connecticut at Putney' is an original pastel drawing by American artist Wolf Kahn. The landscape is an exploration of color and light: it is rendered in cool blues and purples with fields of subtle yellow, the pastels treated with the same gesture as Kahn's paintbrush on a canvas. Indeed, this pastel was a study executed en plein air for a painting – the painting now sometimes called 'Bend in the River' – that he later created in the studio. This process of creating studies, selecting the best of the studies, and then recreating them as paintings was typical of Kahn's studio process and makes this pastel a significant example of the artist's creative output. 9 x 11 inches, artwork 15.5 x 18.13 inches, frame Signed 'W. Kahn' lower right Framed to conservation standards using archival materials including 100 percent rag matting. Housed in a gold finish wood moulding. Acquired directly from the artist. Wolf Kahn, the youngest of four siblings, was born into a well-to-do artistic family. His father was the conductor of the Stuttgart Philharmonic Symphony, and his mother came from a family of art collectors.(1) During 1938, Kahn took his first art lessons, but most of his initial drawings were of military or historical events. The next year Kahn was sent to England for safety following the ascendancy of Hitler to power, and in 1940, he immigrated to the United States. In 1942, he entered New York's High School of Music and Art, and while there, he was employed by a commercial art firm doing illustrations. After a stint in the Navy, Kahn entered Hans Hofmann's school, and among his fellow students were Neil Blaine, Jane Freilicher, Allan Kaprow and Larry Rivers. His initial results were done with a dark palette and abstracted forms, and although Hofmann's style of teaching was difficult, Kahn has consistently praised him for teaching him the value of control and understanding.(2) Kahn's first exhibition was a 1951 group show in a loft with several other artists in lower Manhattan. From this impromptu show, a group effort evolved called the Hansa Gallery Cooperative.(3) In 1953, Wolf Kahn had a one-man show at this gallery, which was reviewed by Fairfield Porter, and at this same time bolder, more vivid colors began to appear in his work. By the mid-1950's, on a summer trip to Provincetown, Kahn's paintings indicated a new direction of softening warm colors in the manner of Bonnard. He was included in Meyer Shapiro's seminal exhibition, The New York School: The Second Generation at the Jewish Museum, and by the end of the 1950s, he had developed his abstracted landscape style for which he is best known. In 1966, he made his first "barn" painting on Martha's Vineyard that reduced the complexities of detail of the architecture to a more basic shape, a stylistic convention that is evident in the Museum's painting. Kahn has since commented frequently on his use of color as a unique and specific component of each work as the situation demands, where the gradual buildup of the colors resembles the beauty and translucent nature of pastels.(4) Since then Kahn has had one-person exhibitions at the Kansas City Art Institute, Chrysler Museum, San Diego Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art and the Columbus Museum, among others. His work is in the permanent collections of numerous museums throughout the United States. Footnotes: 1. Much of the biographical information is drawn from Justin Spring, Wolf Kahn (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996). 2. Spring, 21. Wolf Kahn draws this from a 1973 address to the College Art Association. 3. This group included Jane Wilson...
Pastel, Paper
$7,500
Wolf Kahn - Ocean Cove, unique signed pastel on paper landscape painting FRAMED
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Ocean Cove, 1996 Pastel on paper painting Hand signed and dated by Wolf Kahn on the lower right Frame included: elegantly matted and framed in a wood frame with UV plexigla...
Oil Pastel, Pastel
$10,000
Wolf Kahn - Bay with Boats Color Monotype signed abstract color field landscape
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Bay with Boats, 1987 Color monotype on Somerset white wove paper Hand signed and dated by Wolf Kahn on the lower right front, bears labels on the back Frame Included: matte...
Lithograph, Monotype
Hardback monograph book with dust jacket: Wolf Kahn (hand signed by Wolf Kahn)
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn (hand signed by Wolf Kahn), 2011 Hardback monograph with dust jacket (hand signed by Wolf Kahn) Hand signed by Wolf Kahn on the title page 13 × 12 × 1 1/2 inches This gorge...
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
Wolf Kahn's America (Hand signed and inscribed illustrated hardback monograph)
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Wolf Kahn's America (Hand signed and inscribed), 2003 Hand signed and dedicated hardback monograph with dust jacket Boldly signed in ink with heartfelt personal dedication ...
Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
Wolf Kahn, Emily Mason & The Baby II (Grace Borgenicht Gallery) unique signed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Emily & The Baby II (Grace Borgenicht Gallery), 1960 Pastel on Paper. Hand signed on the front. Grace Borgenicht gallery label on the back Vintage frame included Proven...
Pastel
$9,500Sale Price|26% Off
"The Winter Valley" Purple and Brown Toned Winter Landscape Townscape
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Houston, TX
Blue, purple, and green toned winter landscape pastel drawing by German-American painter, Wolf Kahn. Signed by the artist in the lower right corner. Framed and matted in a gold frame...
Paper, Pastel
$3,750
"Study of a Child" Wolf Kahn, Expressionist Sketch, Bright Colors, Gestural
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Study of a Child Signed lower right Pastel on paper 10 x 13 inches An important member of the second generation New York School, Wolf Kahn is renowned for his luminous, r...
Paper, Pastel
$2,500
Wolf Kahn, Memorial Bridge, Springfield, Mass, signed, dated & inscribed, Framed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Untitled, 1982 Original Etching 10 × 15 inches Edition AP (aside from the regular edition of 90) pencil signed, dated and inscribed to Cynthia Frame included: Ships framed ...
Etching
Umbria Pastel Landscape Drawing, Signed, Framed, Circa 1970s
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Umbria" is a landscape pastel on paper by American artist Wolf Kahn. Green hills and trees dominate the composition as a light blue sky evens it out almost exactly in the middle. Ti...
Pastel
Machias Seal Island Light Pastel Drawing, 19th Century American Art
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Wolf Kahn was commissioned by the Smithsonian to design a postcard for them. He made four designs and they selected a singular one. This drawing here is one of the few rejected designs. This piece was given to the founder, David Barnett, of the David Barnett Gallery...
Paper, Pastel
$1,358
H 23.43 in W 23.43 in D 0.04 in
Central Park, New York, Detailed Cityscape, Illustrative Art, NYC Art, BrightArt
By Laura Jordan
Located in Deddington, GB
Laura Jordan Central Park NYC Limited Edition Print Edition 20 Image Size: H 49cm x W 54cm Sheet Size: H 59.5cm x W 59.5cm x D 0.1cm Sold Unframed Please note that in situ images ar...
Glitter, Archival Paper, Screen
$1,697
H 31.11 in W 21.66 in
Abstract India Edition 3/5 Linocut Print Green Blue Turquoise Architectural
By Mukesh Sharma
Located in Norfolk, GB
There is a natural and raw understanding in Mukesh Sharma’s prints that both depict, and are influenced by, the Rajastani communities of his home town in rural India. In these Limited Edition fine-art prints, made over a period of twenty years, we are offered the colours of India’s ancient land, the textures, light and the patterns that are everywhere. In the patterns of the arable fields to the jali's (carved screens) in the architecture. This work is however not romantic nor nostalgic but shows a deeper rooted need to offer a visual heritage of place, of where the artist is from and the journey that he is taking. The results are both compelling and honest. Mukesh Sharma, Celebration B, Lino-cut on Drawing paper Edition: 3 of 5, 2005 Image size: 47 x 39 cm / Sheet size: 79 x 55 cm Unframed Mukesh Sharma's work: It is often in childhood that paths are set for what we will become. Mukesh Sharma hails from a rural, agricultural village in Rajasthan, India. His Father is a craftsman who fixed and mended farm machinery and understood the working parts in the processes. Sharma followed in his Father’s footsteps, as is often the case in Indian families, but his was not the machines of the fields but the presses of the printing studio. Like his Father, Mukesh Sharma is fascinated with understanding how things work and how he can manipulate the metal in his hands. It is not surprising then that his medium of choice is printing. One of the most physically challenging of all the practices, it can often be physically challenging as well as technical and detailed. In his youth, Sharma would draw with stones on walls and floors. He was lucky his family encouraged this and he is grateful for his early art-training at the Jaipur School of Art but it was at the Baroda Art Department that he was introduced to the great printing traditions of Jyoti Bhatt...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Linocut, Archival Pigment
$75,000
H 31 in W 27 in D 2 in
Till the Clouds Roll By 1945 Frank Sinatra Mid Century Modern Hollywood Film WPA
By Richard Whorf
Located in New York, NY
Till the Clouds Roll By 1945 Frank Sinatra Mid Century Modern Hollywood Film WPA TILL THE COULDS ROLL BY (Film Set), oil on canvas, 20 x 24 inches signed “Richard Whorf” lower right and signed and dated on the verso “R. Whorf/ Dec. 21, 1945. Frame by Hendenryk. ABOUT THE PAINTING This painting is from the collection of Barbara and Frank Sinatra, dated December 21, 1945 (just nine days after Frank Sinatra’s 30th birthday), and depicts the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Culver City backlot during the filming of Till the Clouds Roll By, the direction of the film having been taking over by Richard Whorf in December 1945. It is not presently clear if Whorf gave the Sinatras this painting as a gift, as the presence of the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries label on the verso indicates the painting may have been sourced there. Frank and Nancy Sinatra acquired a number of works from Dalzell Hatfield Galleries during the 1940’s, or perhaps they framed it for the couple. Sinatra performed “Old Man River’ in the film. Sinatra and June Allyson are depicted in the center of the painting. PROVENANCE From the Estate of Mrs. Nancy Sinatra; Dalzell Hatfield Galleries, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. An image of the Dalzell Hatfield label and the back of the original frame (which we replaced with a stunning Heydenrk frame) are attached. Nancy Sinatra was Fran's first wife. Nancy Rose Barbato was 17 years old when she met Frank Sinatra, an 18-year-old singer from Hoboken, on the Jersey Shore in the summer of 1934. They married in 1939 at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City where Frank gave Nancy a recording of a song dedicated to her titled "Our Love" as a wedding present. The young newlyweds lived and worked in New Jersey, where Frank worked as an unknown singing waiter and master of ceremonies at the Rustic Cabin while Nancy worked as a secretary at the American Type Founders. His musical career took off after singing with big band leaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey...
Canvas, Oil
$950
H 10.5 in W 19.75 in D 1.25 in
A Bustling, 1950s Mid-Century Modern Summer Harbor Scene of Martha's Vineyard
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A Bustling 1950s Mid-Century Modern Harbor Scene of Martha's Vineyard by Famed Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). A busy harbor scene of sandy shoreline, docks and boat...
Canvas, Oil
$1,100
H 27 in W 35 in D 1.5 in
A Compelling 1940s American Scene, Social Realism Oil Painting, "Tenement Ruins"
Located in Chicago, IL
A Brooding, Compelling 1940s American Scene, Social Realist Oil Painting, "Tenement Ruins" by Notable Canadian / American artist Emil Weddige (1907-2001). Oil on canvas, dating from...
Canvas, Oil
$22,000
H 35 in W 41 in
"Day at the Beach, " Nikol Schattenstein, Sunny Seaside Belgian Figurative Scene
By Nikol Schattenstein
Located in New York, NY
Nikol Schattenstein (1877 - 1954) Day at the Beach Oil on canvas 27 3/4 x 33 1/2 inches Signed lower left Provenance: Descended in the family of the artist Estate of Howard Aronso...
Canvas, Oil
Volcano
By Billy Childish
Located in London, GB
Billy Childish volcano, 2022 22 Colour Screenprint with Lithographic elements on Somerset Velvet warm white 400gsm Signed and numbered by the artist 76 x 60 cm Edition of 100 Billy ...
Screen
$1,600
H 24 in W 29 in D 0.13 in
A Dynamic Mid-Century Modern Manhattan Scene, New York City by Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A Large, Dynamic 1950s Mid-Century Modern Watercolor of Lower Manhattan, New York City by Noted Chicago Artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). The image is watercolor, pastel and c...
Watercolor, Archival Paper, Charcoal, Pastel
"Mountain Village in Winter" Anthony Thieme, Snowy Landscape
By Anthony Thieme
Located in New York, NY
Anthony Thieme Mountain Village in Winter Signed lower left Oil on canvas 25 x 30 inches Anthony Thieme was born in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam in 1888. He studied at the Acade...
Canvas, Oil
$147,500
H 14 in W 24 in
Racing Yacht Comet Off New York, Oil on Canvas, Framed, 1879
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Racing Yacht "Comet" Off New York, 1879 Oil on canvas 14 x 24 inches (35.6 x 61 cm) Framed dimensions: 24 1/2 x 34 1/2 inches Signed lower left: A. Cary Smith 79 Provenance Private...
Canvas, Oil
Neighbors
By Norman Barr
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Neighbors, 1939, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 22 x 26 inches Norman Barr was an American Scene painter and muralist known for his poignant depictions of working-clas...
Canvas, Oil
$45,000
H 40 in W 46 in
"Other Side of Town (Leading to Pigeon Cove)" Anthony Thieme, Rockport Cape Ann
By Anthony Thieme
Located in New York, NY
Anthony Thieme (1888 - 1954) Other Side of Town (Leading to Pigeon Cove) Oil on canvas 30 x 36 inches Signed lower left Provenance: David H. Hall Fine Art, Dover, Massachusetts Vose Galleries, Boston, Massachusetts Private Collection, New Jersey Anthony Thieme was born in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam in 1888. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam, at the Royal Academy at the Hague, as an apprentice to George Hoecker, a well known stage designer in Düsseldorf, Germany, and to Antonio Mancini, an Italian Impressionist. After completing his studies, Thieme journeyed throughout Europe and South America, working in stage design to support his travels. Thieme first came to the United States in 1917 and initially worked as a set designer and book illustrator first in New York and later in Boston. By the late 1920s, Thieme had married and moved from Boston to Cape Ann in Rockport, Massachusetts, an emerging art colony. Like the other Rockport artists...
Canvas, Oil
Arborium by Wolf Kahn
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New Orleans, LA
Wolf Kahn 1927-2020 American Arborium Signed "W Kahn" (lower right) Oil on canvas A masterwork of modern American landscape painting, Arborium exemplifies Wolf Kahn's revolutiona...
Canvas, Oil
Landscape in Orange and Turquoise Pastel, Signed, 13x16 Inches
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Provenance The Artist Private Collection, NY (acquired from the above) Private Collection, CT (by descent) Signed in bottom center: W Kahn Wolf Kahn was born in Stuttgart, Germany i...
Pastel, Paper
Venice by Wolf Kahn
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New Orleans, LA
Wolf Kahn 1927-2020 American Venice Signed "W Kahn" (lower right) Pastel on paper An exceptionally rare early work by one of America’s preeminent colorists, this pastel captures ...
Paper, Pastel
Barn and Forsythia III
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Wolf Kahn (1927-2020) was a German-born American artist acclaimed for his powerful landscapes, which masterfully combine elements of natural realism with the celebration of color emb...
Screen
Sold
H 23 in W 29 in D 0.5 in
Wolf Kahn, Red Barns, rare 1980 color lithograph, hand signed 45/50, Framed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Red Barns, 1980 Color Lithograph on wove paper Hand signed, dated, and numbered 45/50 by the artist on the front Original vintage wood frame included Classic 1980 Wolf Kahn...
Lithograph
Sold
H 16.25 in W 19.75 in D 1.5 in
Blau-Grün (Blue-Green) unique pastel painting hand signed, authenticated, Framed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Blau-Grün (Blue-Green), 2000 Pastel painting on paper Signed on the lower left front Frame included: elegantly framed in a museum quality white wood frame with UV plexiglas...
Oil Pastel, Pastel
Down in the Valley by Wolf Kahn (Purple and blue landscape)
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
'Down in the Valley' is a screen print on wove paper created by Second Generation New York School artist, Wolf Kahn (1927 – 2020). As a child of German-Jewish parents, Kahn emigrate...
Screen
Foggy Morning By Wolf Kahn
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New Orleans, LA
Wolf Kahn 1927-2020 American/German Foggy Morning Signed "W. Kahn" (lower left) Oil on canvas Beloved for his strikingly vivid and colorful landscapes, Wolf Kahn is one of the mo...
Canvas, Oil
Wolf Kahn-Barn and Forsythia III-Signed
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This limited edition print titled Barn and Forsythia III by renowned artist Wolf Kahn was printed by Brand X on Somerset Textured Rag paper and published by the Lincoln Center for th...
Screen
2003 Wolf Kahn 'Down in the Valley' SIGNED
By Wolf Kahn
Located in Brooklyn, NY
"Wolf Kahn Down in The Valley" is a serigraph that exemplifies Kahn's mastery of light and color, hallmarks of his artistic style. This piece, signed and numbered AP out of 18 in the...
Screen
"Purple Hills" Wolf Kahn, Vermont Meadow Landscape, Pastels
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Purple Hills Pastel on paper 10 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches Provenance: Collection of Stafford Elias Christies New York, Interiors, December 13, 2017, Lot 343 Private Collection, ...
Paper, Pastel
Sold
H 15.75 in W 17.25 in
"Behind Reeds" Wolf Kahn, Vermont Marsh Landscape with Trees and Barn, Pastels
By Wolf Kahn
Located in New York, NY
Wolf Kahn Behind Reeds, 2004 Signed lower left Pastel on paper 7 x 9 inches Provenance: The artist Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery, New York Private Collection, Florida An important...
Paper, Pastel