Stephen Hahn (February 1, 1921 – April 2, 2011) was an American art dealer and collector. An expert on

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French people, French Impressionism, Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, Print ...

, and others, he held one of the most significant collections of twentieth century masters during his years operating the Stephen Hahn Gallery in New York City.

Early life

Born in Hungary, Hahn moved to Paris at the age of twelve. His father was an art dealer who specialized in the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

. During World War II, Stephen lived in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, spending 6 years there and working as a surveyor. After the war, he returned to Paris, where he attended the

École du Louvre The École du Louvre () is a selective institution of higher education and prestigious ''grande école'' located in the Aile de Flore of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is dedicated to the study of archaeology, art history, anthropology ...

, and studied and taught at the Sorbonne. In 1952, he moved to New York City with his wife, Nancy, an American.

Career

Hahn began his career as a New York art dealer buying and selling paintings from the trunk of his car. An early champion of

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (; 31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor of the School of Paris, École de Paris (School of Paris). His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" a ...

, he eventually opened the Stephen Hahn Gallery at 75th Street and Madison Avenue. A founding member of the Art Dealers Association of America, he donated art to cultural institutions worldwide. His personal collection featured pieces by such

modern masters The collectible card game ''Magic: The Gathering'' has released compilation sets, reprint sets, and box sets over its history. These are distinct from core sets and expansion sets, the most heavily marketed sources of new cards. With the excepti ...

as Picasso, Cezanne, and

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Philanthropy

Hahn was a benefactor of the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

in Montecito near Santa Barbara, CA, with Hahn Hall being named after him.

Art theft

In 1969, seven paintings were stolen from the Hahn gallery. Valued at $500,000 in total, the works included pieces by

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

and

Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but t ...

. Ironically, while the theft was occurring, Hahn was discussing the subject of art theft with the Art Dealers Association of America.

Nazi looted art

Two paintings embroiled in Nazi-era restitution cases involved the Stephen Hahn gallery. The

Camille Pissarro Jacob Abraham Camille Pissarro ( ; ; 10 July 1830 – 13 November 1903) was a Danish-French Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter born on the island of St Thomas (now in the US Virgin Islands, but then in the Danish West Indies). ...

painting, "Rue St. Honoré, après midi, effet de pluie" which is disputed in the Cassirer v Thyssen case, was purchased in October 1976 by Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza from the Stephen Hahn Gallery after passing through the dealers Frank Perls and Knoedler. In another case, Picasso's “''Femme en Blanc''” (Woman in White) was purchased by Marilynn Alsdorf and her late husband, James from Stephen Hahn. When the painting turned out to be Nazi-looted art that had belonged to the Bennigson family, the Bennigsons sued the Alsdorfs for the restitution of the painting and the Alsdorfs sued Hahn for having sold them looted art.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn, Stephen American art collectors 1921 births 2011 deaths Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian expatriates in France Expatriates in the Dominican Republic