Customer Reviews

Wolf Kahn

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I had never even heard of Wolf Kahn until I saw this book at a local store. I looked through it fell in love with the art and had to have it. I recieved the book as a present(ordered from amazon--saved 15 bucks or so) and loved it. It has great info on Kahns life and comments on style, use of color etc. But what really makes this book great are the pages and pages of paintings. What makes most art books truly great(to me at least) is a lot of high quality color photos of the artists work to go along with some insightful commentary. This has many. From his early works up to as recent as 1995 paintings I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the painting on the cover. If you like that you will not be disappointed

I own a few coffee table art books. This is one I have actually read, cover to cover, several times. There are two major sections, one about Wolf Kahn's life and the other concentrating on his artistic content. Both are insightful into this genuine imported American Treasure.

I've been following Kahn since the 1980's. Somewhere online is a remarkable video lecture by Kahn with some title like 'Why not to be a Landscape Painter'. This captures his independent spirit perfectly.

Many of us artists struggle with the vision we want to express. In this book, you can see the progress of Kahn's struggle and success as he moves into his current, very effective, and now over-imitated style (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but often one of the ugliest.)

I hope Kahn lives and paints for many more years, because he is one of the tops painting today. Great book, by the way.

I saw Wolf Kahn's work for the first time this year at the Ameringer Yohe gallery and found it inspiring and exciting. Because Kahn is now 81 years old, the story of his life and careers spans several important art movements including Color Field and Abstract Expressionism. Early on he was a teaching assistant for Hans Hoffmann, and his contemporaries include Larry Rivers and Jane Frielicher. Anyone interested in art will learn a lot in a pleasurable way by reading this book. And the paintings are luscious!

Wolf Kahn is a thorough going an American painter as anyone dealing solely with the landscape. Born in Germany in 1927 Kahn immigrated to the US in 1940, studied with Hans Hofmann (at that time one of the leading abstract expressionist painters in the country) and from Hofmann's influence he delved into color field painting and eventually attached those color fields to naturescapes. He is now one of those easily recognizable artists whose works are so consistently eloquent and beautiful that they cause viewers to pause and enter his canvas spaces. He is dismissed by some critics as being repetitive in subject matter and in color juxtapositions, but to the viewer his technique never falters.

This monograph is as fine as any of the several that have been published, and much of that is due not only to the elegant design and over one hundred color reproductions of his works, but also to the warm conversation art critic and writer Justin Spring brings to the informational aspects of the monograph. As is his usual style, much of the information in written form is from interviews with the artist, and it is form these edited interviews that Spring's gift for creating a bridge between the subject and character of the artist and the viewer shines. In addition to Justin Spring's luminous contribution to this book, there is also a fine essay by Louis Finkelstein sharing the relationship between abstraction and representation in a manner as well as it can be explained.

In all this is a book of incandescent paintings by one of the country's most respected and enduring landscape artists. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 10

This book about Wolf Kahn is exceptional. He is a colourist and abstract landscape painter. The reproductions are beautiful colour images of his work and the text is very informative. I highly recommend this book for artists and art enthusiasts who are searching for inspiration and a better understanding of the abstract movement in North America.

I love the paintings of Wolf Kahn. The book was exactly what I had hoped for.

This was a gift and a perfect one for the person I gave it to. Lots of color and something to display !

This is such a beautiful book and the text is very informative in so many ways. It tells of his life and mentors and it tells about how his works have developed. I love this artist and knew nothing about him so this is just perfect to have the gorgeous paintings so perfectly reproduced and the history of his life too. After seeing a video of Wolf Kahn in which he tells us he is suffering from Macular Degeneration and so he has had to let go of some of the preciseness of his paintings; he gives the viewer a gift in that we must look at each painting harder and deeper. This is a book that would be a great addition to any art book collection.

This book is an excellent representation for one of my favorite painters. The reproductions are first rate and plentiful. This is a reprint of the book which now includes the last fifteen years which is good to see that Wolf Kahn continues to paint. Wonderful colors abound throughout the book. If you are
a fan of Wolf Kahn, you will love this book.

This is a perfect book with a lot of good quality full page pictures. You can discover the complete development in his art from the beginning. A must for a painter.