Wolf Kahn
(Vermont/Germany, born 1927)View of Venice, 1958, signed lower right "W. Kahn '58", pastel on paper, 17-3/4 x 24 in.; gilt frame, 23-3/4 x 29-3/4 in. Note:“I drew the orchestra at the botanical gardens in Frankfurt at the age of five. My father was the conductor. By the time I was 10, my painting teacher was a German aristocrat. She was a painter herself. The first thing she taught me to do correctly was to paint the fuzz on peaches. And ever since I’ve been painting equally far-out subjects.” -Wolf Kahn, in an interview by Joyce MarcelWolf Kahn was a brilliant colorist and masterful modern luminist He was guided in part by a summer assisting Hans Hofmann, who influenced his approach to color as being one of "intuition". Marcel details a segment of the interview in which Kahn reminisces about the time in 1956 that he met Emily Mason at the National Arts Club in New York City. It gives a charming personal glimpse into the period in which this pastel was drawn. “'They had such a thing in those days, before the artists all began to hate each other,' Kahn said. 'She had some guy with hair in his eyes and I figured, ‘Hey, she’s not hard to pry away from this guy.’ Mason had just won a Fulbright scholarship to study and paint in Venice. 'I didn’t want to get involved with anybody,' she said. 'Of course, that’s all I had to say to Wolf. I went to Europe and he came over.' At his going away party before he left for Italy, the great painter Willem de Kooning more or less told Kahn to bring Mason back. 'He said to me, ‘I want her to come back with you. She’s a wonderful girl,’ Kahn recalled. The couple were married in Venice in 1957."They stayed in Venice for the duration of Mason's Fulbright Scholarship through 1958.Reference: Marcel, Joyce, "A Fortunate Life: Morning Coffee with Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason". So Vermont Arts & Living. 27 Sept. 2017: http://vermontartsliving.com/?p=28093
Condition Report: spiral edge from sketchbook present on left edge, some rubbing of pastel, paper with toning, some handling crease, small 1/4 in. tear, tape residue verso top; frame with abrasions
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(Vermont/Germany, born 1927)View of Venice, 1958, signed lower right "W. Kahn '58", pastel on paper, 17-3/4 x 24 in.; gilt frame, 23-3/4 x 29-3/4 in. Note:“I drew the orchestra at the botanical gardens in Frankfurt at the age of five. My father was the conductor. By the time I was 10, my painting teacher was a German aristocrat. She was a painter herself. The first thing she taught me to do correctly was to paint the fuzz on peaches. And ever since I’ve been painting equally far-out subjects.” -Wolf Kahn, in an interview by Joyce MarcelWolf Kahn was a brilliant colorist and masterful modern luminist He was guided in part by a summer assisting Hans Hofmann, who influenced his approach to color as being one of "intuition". Marcel details a segment of the interview in which Kahn reminisces about the time in 1956 that he met Emily Mason at the National Arts Club in New York City. It gives a charming personal glimpse into the period in which this pastel was drawn. “'They had such a thing in those days, before the artists all began to hate each other,' Kahn said. 'She had some guy with hair in his eyes and I figured, ‘Hey, she’s not hard to pry away from this guy.’ Mason had just won a Fulbright scholarship to study and paint in Venice. 'I didn’t want to get involved with anybody,' she said. 'Of course, that’s all I had to say to Wolf. I went to Europe and he came over.' At his going away party before he left for Italy, the great painter Willem de Kooning more or less told Kahn to bring Mason back. 'He said to me, ‘I want her to come back with you. She’s a wonderful girl,’ Kahn recalled. The couple were married in Venice in 1957."They stayed in Venice for the duration of Mason's Fulbright Scholarship through 1958.Reference: Marcel, Joyce, "A Fortunate Life: Morning Coffee with Artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason". So Vermont Arts & Living. 27 Sept. 2017: http://vermontartsliving.com/?p=28093
Condition Report: spiral edge from sketchbook present on left edge, some rubbing of pastel, paper with toning, some handling crease, small 1/4 in. tear, tape residue verso top; frame with abrasions
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