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New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

New York, NY: Miles McEnery Gallery, ‘Wolf Kahn,’ 2 February 2023 - 11 March 2023

South Pond in Sunlight, 1985, Oil on canvas, 52 x 72 inches, 132.1 x 182.9 cm, MMG#34900

South Pond in Sunlight, 1985, Oil on canvas, 52 x 72 inches, 132.1 x 182.9 cm, MMG#34900

Imaginary Shoreline on a Lake, 1986, Oil on canvas, 43 x 66 inches, 109.2 x 167.6 cm, MMG#8187

Imaginary Shoreline on a Lake, 1986, Oil on canvas, 43 x 66 inches, 109.2 x 167.6 cm, MMG#8187

Evening Confrontation (AKA Evening Experience), 1989, Oil on canvas, 40 x 52 inches, 101.6 x 132.1 cm, MMG#8378

Evening Confrontation (AKA Evening Experience), 1989, Oil on canvas, 40 x 52 inches, 101.6 x 132.1 cm, MMG#8378

Dark Complimentaries, 1990, Oil on canvas, 28 x 40 inches, 71.1 x 101.6 cm, MMG#34716

Dark Complimentaries, 1990, Oil on canvas, 28 x 40 inches, 71.1 x 101.6 cm, MMG#34716

Edged Meadow, 1990, Oil on canvas, 26 x 36 inches, 66 x 91.4 cm, MMG#34718

Edged Meadow, 1990, Oil on canvas, 26 x 36 inches, 66 x 91.4 cm, MMG#34718

Evening Melancholia, 1990, Oil on canvas, 42 x 72 inches, 106.7 x 182.9 cm, MMG#30210

Evening Melancholia, 1990, Oil on canvas, 42 x 72 inches, 106.7 x 182.9 cm, MMG#30210

Hot Summer, 1990, Oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches, 132.1 x 167.6 cm, MMG#21548

Hot Summer, 1990, Oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches, 132.1 x 167.6 cm, MMG#21548

Last Light Along the River, 1990, Oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches, 132.1 x 167.6 cm, MMG#15808

Last Light Along the River, 1990, Oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches, 132.1 x 167.6 cm, MMG#15808

Penobscot Bay III, 1990, Oil on canvas, 53 x 79 inches, 134.6 x 200.7 cm, MMG#8994

Penobscot Bay III, 1990, Oil on canvas, 53 x 79 inches, 134.6 x 200.7 cm, MMG#8994

Unlikely Light, 1990, Oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches, 71.1 x 96.5 cm, MMG#34717

Unlikely Light, 1990, Oil on canvas, 28 x 38 inches, 71.1 x 96.5 cm, MMG#34717

Diagonals II, 1991, Oil on canvas, 26 x 36 inches, 66 x 91.4 cm, MMG#34719

Diagonals II, 1991, Oil on canvas, 26 x 36 inches, 66 x 91.4 cm, MMG#34719

Pond's Edge, 1994, Oil on canvas, 20 x 34 inches, 50.8 x 86.4 cm, MMG#34720

Pond's Edge, 1994, Oil on canvas, 20 x 34 inches, 50.8 x 86.4 cm, MMG#34720

River (2 squares format), 1994, Oil on canvas, 16 x 32 inches, 40.6 x 81.3 cm, MMG#8385

River (2 squares format), 1994, Oil on canvas, 16 x 32 inches, 40.6 x 81.3 cm, MMG#8385

Wedge, 1995, Oil on canvas, 40 x 52 inches, 101.6 x 132.1 cm, MMG#34721

Wedge, 1995, Oil on canvas, 40 x 52 inches, 101.6 x 132.1 cm, MMG#34721

Magenta Reflected, 1996, Oil on canvas, 22 x 38 inches, 55.9 x 96.5 cm, MMG#34868

Magenta Reflected, 1996, Oil on canvas, 22 x 38 inches, 55.9 x 96.5 cm, MMG#34868

Press Release

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.

Wolf Kahn is a celebrated colorist who uniquely blended representational painting with abstract methods and principles. Over the course of his seven decade career as an artist, he painted landscapes illuminated with sweeping bands of color that possess a captivating rhythm and vibrancy. Kahn embodied a synthesis of artistic traits—the modern abstract training of Hans Hofmann, the palette of Matisse and Bonnard, Rothko’s variegated hues, and the atmospheric qualities of American Impressionism. The fusion of color, spontaneity, and representation has produced a rich and expressive body of work. 

The paintings in this exhibition survey a pivotal era in Kahn’s career. Dating from the mid-1980s through the 1990s, the artist employed a brilliant color palette to depict the natural world. As Dr. Maura Reilly writes, “Each of the vibrant landscapes from this period is reduced to a series of mostly horizontal or diagonal bands of bright colors, often in stark contrast with one another. Each composition verges on total abstraction. Often, the only indication that the viewer is looking at a landscape is the title of the work.”

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, before becoming his studio assistant. In 1950, he enrolled at the University of Chicago and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree within one year. In 1957, Kahn married the artist Emily Mason. The pair lived and worked between New York City and West Brattleboro, VT. In March 2020, Wolf Kahn died at the age of 92 in New York, NY.

Kahn’s work has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout North America. He 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.

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.

After years of working closely with Kahn, Miles McEnery Gallery is pleased to exclusively represent the Wolf Kahn Foundation. This is the gallery’s first exhibition in direct partnership with the Foundation.

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