Wolf Kahn
Wolf Kahn created landscapes in rich, vibrant oils, pastels and prints for more than sixty years.
Early Life and Education
Wolf Kahn was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1927, the youngest of four children. His father was a prominent composer and conductor with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, who lost his appointment when the Nazis took power in 1933. Kahn was sent to live with his grandmother in Frankfurt, while his father, stepmother and his siblings emigrated to the U.S. Kahn’s grandmother recognized his talent and paid for private art lessons.
When he was twelve, Kahn’s grandmother arranged for him to stay with host families in England for a year, until he was able to join his family in New York.
Kahn graduated from the High School of Music and Art in New York, did a one-year stint in the Navy in 1945, then returned New York, where he studied painting at the New School with Stuart Davis. The G.I. Bill allowed him to continue his studies with Hans Hoffmann, at the Hans Hofmann School. Kahn worked as Hofmann’s studio assistant for two years and then transferred to the University of Chicago Hutchins Program, where he completed his BA in less than a year.
Career and Family
Kahn first exhibited in New York at a group show in 1947, curated by art critic Clement Greenberg. In 1955, Kahn was represented by the Grace Borgenicht Gallery. His work was included in a show at the Whitney Museum called Young America 1960: 30 Painters under 36.
In 1957, Kahn married painter Emily Mason, the daughter of painter Alice Trumbull. The Kahns had two daughters, Melany, and Cecily, a painter married to artist, David Kapp. Kahn was a member of the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was an honorary trustee of the Brattleboro Museum in Vermont, where he spent summers. Kahn worked in his New York studio the rest of the year.
Wolf Kahn died in March, 2020, at age 92. Kahn’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the Met, the Smithsonian, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Boca Raton Museum of Art and other galleries and museums in North America.
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The Influence of Hans Hofmann on American Art
July 12, 2024As an artist and teacher, Hans Hofmann (1880-1966) had a profound effect on art in America. Hofmann was born in Bavaria and showed a penchant...Read more -
Work by Julian Opie & Wolf Kahn at Surovek Gallery
July 3, 2024The simple, urbane works of London-based artist Julian Opie (b.1958) have a universal appeal. Opie currently has a solo exhibit of large, sculptural figures at...Read more -
Masters of Color: Hunt Slonem and Wolf Kahn
December 14, 2023Hunt Slonem (b.1951) surrounds himself with color. Pinks, violets, yellows …. are on the walls of his studio, his homes and on the feathers of...Read more -
Surovek Gallery at Art Miami 2023
November 30, 2023At Surovek Gallery our focus is on the finest American paintings, drawings, watercolors and prints of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries; the oeuvre which...Read more -
The Work of Wolf Kahn at Surovek Gallery
September 21, 2023Kahn’s beautiful landscapes of the views around their summer home in Brattleboro, Vermont are full of magnificent colors and a sense of serenity. Ironically, Kahn completed them in his Manhattan studio, above the noise and bustle of the city. "The environment in which my paintings grow best is at Broadway and 12th Street." he said. "I can see nature most clearly in my studio, undistracted by trees and skies. Art being emotion recollected in tranquility, I constantly find Nature too emotional, and Broadway very tranquil.”Read more -
Milton Avery and Wolf Kahn: Summer Scenes at Surovek Gallery
June 29, 2023One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter. – Henry David Thoreau Summer brings us long, sunny days, warm...Read more -
The Changing Landscape of Landscape Paintings
May 4, 2023The New York Historical Society is currently hosting an exhibit that explores the impact of social and cultural change on the environment through art. Many of the works displayed have been made by artists of the Hudson River School.Read more -
The Works of Wolf Kahn and Scott Kelley at Surovek Gallery
April 18, 2023Wolf Kahn was one of America’s greatest landscape painters. He also had a reputation for being kind and generous, a loving husband and father. Sadly, Kahn died in March of 2022, at age 92, just sixty-five days after the passing of his wife, artist Emily Mason. Last year, the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Foundation awarded $800,000 to six institutions, including the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center.Read more -
Milton Avery: Traveling Retrospective; Artle: Wordle for Art Lovers
August 2, 2022Milton Avery 1885-1965 The works of Milton Avery are serene, yet powerful, much like the man himself. At age 16, Avery became the sole support...Read more -
Surovek Gallery at the 2021 Miami Art Fair
November 22, 2021We are pleased to announce that Surovek Gallery will be represented at the 31st edition of Art Miami . The exhibit will run from November...Read more -
The Works of Derrick Adams, Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason
October 27, 2021Derrick Adams 1970 - Derrick Adams has built an 'invitation only' retreat in his home town of Baltimore called The Last Resort, hoping to give...Read more -
Wolf Kahn: New York Painterly Painting / Pat Steir: Artist
April 1, 2021Wolf Kahn 1927 - 2020 This year the Brattleboro Museum held an exhibit called Figuration Never Died: New York Painterly Painting, 1950-1970 . The exhibit...Read more -
The Pop! of Roy Lichtenstein and the Colors of Wolf Kahn at Surovek Gallery
March 3, 2021Roy Lichtenstein: Monet’s Garden Goes Pop! Roy Lichtenstein was not just inspired by comic books; he was a classically trained artist and college professor who...Read more -
The Art of Snow and Fog
February 2, 2021This has been a harsh winter in many parts of the country. It’s a natural human reaction to want to hunker down inside a warm,...Read more -
Serene American Scenes
January 20, 2021Art lovers know is that looking at a work of art is an emotional experience that can transport us to breathtaking places and stir feelings...Read more -
Wolf Kahn in Brattleboro
June 18, 2020Wolf Kahn was more than just a great American landscape painter. He was also a mentor, teacher, art ambassador, husband, father and friend. Wolf Kahn...Read more -
Remembering Wolf Kahn
April 15, 2020'Wolf Kahn is to southern Vermont what Winslow Homer is to the coast of Maine, Georgia O'Keeffe to the New Mexico high desert and Claude...Read more -
Wolf Kahn: Summer in Vermont Paintings at Surovek Gallery
July 30, 2019Wolf Kahn will be turning 92 in October. He is dealing with macular degeneration, and can no longer read or drive, but he can still...Read more -
The Radiant Colors of Wolf Kahn’s Landscapes
September 6, 2018The artist’s alertness to the coloristic demands of each picture, the ability to respond to the picture’s needs, to feed the color until its appetite...Read more -
Wolf Kahn Oil Paintings at Surovek Gallery
April 5, 2018Wolf Kahn and his wife of 61 years, abstract artist Emily Mason, leave their New York home and studio every summer to live and work...Read more -
Wolf Kahn: More Vibrant Than Ever
December 21, 2017Wolf Kahn has been awarded the 2017 U.S. State Department’s International Medal of Arts. Kahn’s work has been part of the State Department’s Art in...Read more