Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland presented “Wolf Kahn: Beyond Intention,” an exhibition of the artist’s expressive pastel landscapes, from July 3 through Aug. 1.
Kahn depicted the American landscape through a brilliant fusion of color, light and gesture, combining representation with the influence of his training under Abstract Expressionist artist and teacher Hans Hofmann.
“I’m interested in an overriding rhythm. I’m trying to get beyond intention,” Kahn said.
Radical in his approach to color and devoted to experimentation, Kahn sought what he called a “danger point” at which color might become too sweet, harsh, noisy or quiet while the image remained strong.
Pastel was foundational to Kahn’s practice, offering direct engagement with his subjects and an essential space for experimentation. Quick, staccato marks and layered veils of color captured fleeting atmospheric effects in a medium he described as “dust on butterfly wings.”
Born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1927, Kahn fled Nazi Germany for Britain through the Kindertransport in the late 1930s. He immigrated to New York City in 1940 and later studied with Hofmann, eventually becoming his studio assistant.
Kahn received a Fulbright Scholarship, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, the Award in Art from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts. His work is held in the collections of institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Also on view through Aug. 1 were Richard Estes’ “Woods and Waters,” Jacob Bond Hessler’s “Garden of Shadows” and the group exhibition “Gardens: Real and Imagined.”
Dowling Walsh Gallery is at 357 Main St. in Rockland. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and by appointment Sunday and Monday. For more information, call 207-596-0084 or visit www.dowlingwalsh.com.
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