Boat Basin

 

Wolf Kahn

  1927 - 2020 (biography)

1959  

oil painting on canvas 

26 x 26" canvas 

unsigned, exhibition label 

 

pencil titled on canvas frame, verso; original label on verso, upper right: "Grace Borgenicht Gallery Inc.", titled, dated, artist's name and price typed on label. 

Grace Borgenicht Gallery label on verso, dated 1959 

 

 

 

SHBA112 

SOLD

An early example of Wolf Kahn's foray into Abstract Expressionism, "Boat Basin" was exhibited by his first dealer, the Grace Borgenicht Gallery at 1018 Madison Avenue, New York, in 1959.

Kahn's exposure to Abstract Expressionism through his mentor, Hans Hoffman, had inspired him to go beyond his figurative comfort zone. By 1959 he had effectively abandoned objectivity to experiment with pure tonality. Combining this with his love of the natural elements, he spent the late 1950s and early 1960s rendering the foggy mornings of the coast Maine, the Hudson River, Provincetown, Venice, and other water-bound landscapes that lent themselves to subtle shifts of light.

This painting was purchased at the 1959 exhibition by a family member.