Max Kahn (1902–2005) was a Litvak

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

born in

Slonim Slonim ( be, Сло́нім, russian: Сло́ним, lt, Slanimas, lv, Sloņima, pl, Słonim, yi, סלאָנים, ''Slonim'') is a city in Grodno Region, Belarus, capital of the Slonimski rajon. It is located at the junction of the Ščar ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in 1902. He worked until age 100 and died in 2005 at the age of 103. He was one of a small group of lithographers in the late 1940s and 1950s demonstrating the self-expressive qualities of the medium.

Life and work

Max Kahn
went to the United States in 1907 studying art at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. The ...

, went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

in 1926–1928, where he studied primarily sculpture with

Charles Despiau Charles Despiau (November 4, 1874 – October 28, 1946) was a French sculptor. Early life Charles-Albert Despiau was born at Mont-de-Marsan, Landes and attended first the École des Arts Décoratifs and later the École nationale supérieure d ...

and

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important ...

and drawing with

Othon Friesz Achille-Émile Othon Friesz (6 February 1879 – 10 January 1949), who later called himself Othon Friesz, a native of Le Havre, was a French artist of the Fauvist movement. Biography Othon Friesz was born in Le Havre, the son of a long line of ...

at the Academy Suede West on the

Rive Droite The Rive Droite (, ''Right Bank'') is most commonly associated with the river Seine in central Paris. Here, the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two parts. When facing downstream, the northern bank is to the right, and the sout ...

. In 1935 he met Eleanor Coen, a lithographer and painter, whom he later married. They both went to the

Chicago Art Institute The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

where he studied and later taught. In 1939 Kahn taught a four-week course at the

Herron School of Art Herron School of Art and Design, officially IU Herron School of Art and Design, is a public art school at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a professional art school and has been accredited ...

. Eleanor Coen was on the WPA Federal Arts project from 1939 to 1940.wpamurals.com
/ref> and both she and Kahn were registered WPA artists. From the 1930s to early 1940 Kahn was the head of Chicago's WPA Art Print Department wit
Eleanor Coen
at the Art Institute of Chicago. One of their WPA murals, painted in 1940, was discovered and restored in the 1990s. In 1941 after Eleanor won a fellowship they travelled to

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Quer� ...

in Mexico. Max set up the printmaking studio and taught printmaking at the Universitaria de Bellas Artes, which had recently opened. The school is now a national monument. Political prints collected in Mexico by Kahn and Coen were exhibited at the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Bui ...

in 2006. In 1942 after war started, Max and Eleanor returned to the USA, where they married. In the summer of 1942 they taught at Oxbow Summer School of painting at Saugatuck where Francis Chapin ran the summer school. In 1944 when Francis Chapin retired from the Art Institute he recommended Max for the job of teaching lithography, which Kahn did into the 60's. Carl Zigrosser, a friend of Carl Shnewind, the

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Art Institute, encouraged Max to show his prints at Weyhe Gallery in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, which specialized in exhibiting prints. This show in 1946 was the first large one-man show of color lithographs in this country. It was a very successful show from which New York's

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

and

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

bought several of Kahn's lithographs. His work is internationally collected and is now handled a
Corbett vs. Dempsey
gallery in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. Se
www.maxkahn.com
for more information. Kahn's works were shown in group exhibitions: * 1939:

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

;

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

;

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and Private university, private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

* 1939:

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

* 1947–1951, 1958, 1960: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Annuals * 1947, 1959: Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. His work is held in the collections of the

Illinois State Museum The Illinois State Museum features the life, land, people and art of the State of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield. There are three satel ...

, the

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the F ...

, the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

beaux-arts.ca
/ref> an
The Art Institute of Chicago
Among his pupils was

Rosemary Zwick Rosemary Zwick (1925–1995) was an American printmaker and sculptor. Born in Chicago, Zwick received her BFA at the University of Iowa in 1945; her teachers there included Phillip Guston and Humberto Albrizio. She took evening classes in prin ...

References

Books

* James Watrous
''American Printmaking: a century of American printmaking, 1880-1980,''
(Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press, 1984.), Chapter 6, ''Printmaking in the 1950s,'' p. 183. * David Acton
''The Stamp of Impulse: abstract expressionist prints,''
(New York : Hudson Hills Press ; Worcester, Mass. : In Association with the Worcester Art Museum, ©2001) , pp. 104, 132 * Peter H ed Falk
''Who was who in American art, 1564-1975 : 400 years of artists in America,''
(Madison, Conn. : Sound View Press, 1999.), , Vol. II:G-O, p. 1780. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Max 1902 births 2005 deaths People from Slonim People from Slonimsky Uyezd Belarusian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists Bradley University alumni American centenarians American lithographers 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors Federal Art Project artists Works Progress Administration in Illinois 20th-century American printmakers Men centenarians American expatriates in France 20th-century lithographers