WOLF KAHN

Toward the Larger View: A Painter’s Process

23 April – 5 June 2009

20 West 57th Street New York, New York 10019

tel: 212 445 0051 fax: 212 445 0102 www.ameringer-yohe.com
Toward the L ar g e r V i ew: A Pa i nte r’ s P roc e s s

What you see is a process, which starts from small pastel sketches and
drives toward eventual large-scale oil paintings. This activity may clarify, or
complicate, the result. A change of scale opens up new possibilities, often
allowing greater freedom of execution. Sometimes color and tone are
pushed to their extreme. I feel a pressure to extend limitations (although
old habits may sometimes interfere).

Each set of images is accompanied by a

narrative — what was on my mind, what sur-
prised me in the process, what held me back.
I attempted to be as open as each situation allowed so that the viewer
could be a companion and accomplice in each of these adventures.
Wolf Kahn
 E ARLY SUMM ER PA I N TI N G

In the pastel that initiates this series, I recognized a balance between the
whites in the lower left and the orange band on the middle right. Over
time, this orange started to look too pretty and predictable. I determined
to push for greater severity. The image became more and more suffused
White became the
with white and quite ambiguous spatially.
principal subject of the final painting.


Study for “Early Summer Painting”, 2008, pastel on paper, 14 x 17 inches 
 Early Summer Painting, 2008, oil on canvas, 22 x 24 inches
Springtime Tangle, 2008, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 inches 
 Early Summer Painting, 2008, oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches
 L IGHT BLU E HORIZO N

Just to show how useful it is to paint from simple observations, we have

here a view of the Connecticut River in the evening, when the sun leaves
one shore in deep shadow while bathing the other in brilliant evening light.
In value, one shore connects with the sky, the opposite one with the water.
The challenge here is to let neither predomi-
nate, so that the inevitable contrast between
sky and land is shared between two entities.

10
 Small Study for “Blue at the Horizon” I, 2008, pastel on paper, 7 x 81/2 inches Small Study for “Blue at the Horizon” II, 2008, pastel on paper, 7 x 8 1/2 inches
Small Study for “Blue at the Horizon” III, 2008, pastel on paper, 7 x 8 1/2 inches Small Study for “Blue at the Horizon” IV, 2008, pastel on paper, 7 x 81/2 inches 11
12 Study for “Light Blue Horizon”, 2008, pastel on paper, 17 x 24 inches
Study for “Light Blue Horizon”, 2008, oil on canvas, 22 x 30 inches 13
14 Light Blue Horizon, 2008, oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches
 ORA NGE FOREGRO U ND

This image of an orchard is reminiscent of

sketches I made a few years ago of macadamia
nut orchards in Hawaii and relies on memory
rather than direct observation of nature.
The transition from the small
pastel to the painting involves
increasing simplification and
coloristic intensification. In the
final oil, the orange of the foreground is less
subtle than that in the pastels. But it was forced
upon me since a more transparent orange could
not support the weight of the green and black
above it. About ten layers of bright orange,
yellow and red were required to achieve the
proper density, and it took three weeks.

16 First Study for “Orange Foreground”, 2008, pastel on paper, 8 x 10 inches

First Sketch for “Orange Foreground”, 2008, pastel on paper, 9 x 12 inches 17
18 Study for “Orange Foreground”, 2008, pastel on paper, 22 x 30 inches
Orange Foreground, 2008, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 inches 19
 DUNKL EE BARN

These attached barns in Dummerston, Vermont, belong to the Dunklees,

who are free of the deplorable but widespread obligation whereby every-
thing around structures has to be spruced up and “landscaped.” Instead,
the Dunklee place has a picturesque informality—not to say untidiness—
I discovered
which provides a variety of textures and colors.
there that the sky is blue, really blue, and
that grass, rather than green, is likely to be
grayish or ochre, if observed carefully. Careful
observation leads the artist to invent colors to correspond with each area
of the painting rather than following preconceived notions, or reading what
the paint tube has printed on its label.

20
Large Barn on the Dunklee Farm, 2007, pastel on paper, 14 x 17 inches On the Dunklee Farm, 2007, pastel on paper, 14 x 17 inches
Lester Dunklee’s Barn, 2007, pastel on paper, 12 x 18 inches Dunklee’s Barn in Perspective, 2007, pastel on paper, 14 x 17 inches 21
22 Dunklee Barn, 2007, oil on canvas, 42 x 52 inches
 TO NES O F S P RING

I have long sketched ordinary woodland scenes

contrast very
in ways that allowed me to
opaque with very transparent
penetrations of deep space.
I have also used variations of color and texture
to define these places more accurately.

A year or so ago, I visited friends in Clinton, New

Jersey, who have a property which still sports some
quite unkempt and weedy sections of woods. I
decided to document with a pastel the near-chaotic
disposition of elements. As I worked toward the
final painting, I became more and more aware of
the special light emanating from a kind of a clearing
in the middle of the woods. This reminded me of
the illuminated center of 17th century landscapes
(especially Claude Lorrain) and through a number
of works this center translated into strong yellows
and whites and became the focus of the painting.

24 Chaotic, 2007, pastel on paper, 11 x 14 inches

Neglected, 2007, pastel on paper, 14 x 17 inches 25
26 Tones of Spring, 2008, oil on canvas, 70 x 90 inches
 Dri veway with Loc usts

How to integrate the forward trees on the left with the row of trees along
the driveway? This was the most difficult problem to solve in this series.
In the pastel, the foreground trees are too isolated. In the final painting,
I was able to integrate the trees by darkening not only them, but the
whole left side of the picture.

The presence of fog allowed me to concen-

trate on small contrasts to describe how the
driveway moved away from my location.
Whenever possible, I am happier to derive the structure of a painting from
observation of nature rather than to depend upon a preconceived notion
of natural happenings.

28
Driveway Fog, 2007, pastel on paper, 12 x 18 inches 29
30 Foggy Driveway, 2008, pastel on paper, 22 x 30 inches
Summer Fog, 2008, oil on canvas, 18 x 20 inches 31
32 Driveway with Locusts, 2008, oil on canvas, 40 x 52 inches
 BARN IN THE CORN ER

This series is a total invention. To work calligraphically in a predominantly

dark context allows for a great deal of contrast and generates new color
combinations. I introduce green with trepidation as I do not want that color
to be more than a gentle hint. Otherwise, the viewer would inevitably think
of 19th century Impressionism to which my work has often been incorrectly
related. I do start from nature and use “broken” brush strokes, but in
everything else I depart from impressionistic practice. I feel more related
to Abstract Expressionism, which was part of my artistic upbringing, and
I like the idea that one should drive toward
spontaneity as a painter, rather than follow
preset agendas.

34
Study for “Filled with Foliage”, 2008, pastel on paper, 12 x 18 inches 35
36 Sky of Pale Orange, 2008, oil on canvas, 22 x 30 inches
Filled with Foliage, 2009, oil on canvas, 30 x 52 inches 37
38 Barn in the Corner, 2009, oil on canvas, 65 x 84 inches
 B E FORE S U NRISE

Rothko has given us permission to simplify our

A line
paintings by using coloristic bands.
of dark woods bordering
my pasture in Vermont gave
me the impulse to paint a
Rothko-like landscape. The pink
above and the green below the black act as a
transition to the adjoining areas. Don’t think that
finding the right size and colors of these con-
nections was any kind of a cinch…

40 Perfect Sunrise, 2007, pastel on paper, 9 x 12 inches

Large Study for “Before Sunrise”, 2008, pastel on paper, 14 x 19 inches 41
42 Before Sunrise, 2008, oil on canvas, 52 x 66 inches
 MAGE NTA VARI ATI O NS

I had a pastel that I felt was clear enough in

its structure to be translated almost exactly
into a large painting. The color relations move almost logically
across the surface. The order of the trees does not follow a hierarchical
sequence but a purely tonal one where no one object is more important
than any other. Because I have previously painted a number of tree rows, I
am now quite comfortable with this subject. Therefore, the transition from
the pastel to the painting came about with enjoyable ease.

44
Mostly Austere Pink, 2008-09, pastel on paper, 15 x 22 inches 45
46 Magenta Variations, 2009, oil on canvas, 52 x 83 inches
 Published on the occasion of the exhibition

WOLF KAHN
Toward the Larger View: A Painter’s Process

23 April – 5 June 2009

Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art

20 West 57th Street
New York, New York 10019
tel: 212 445 0051 fax: 212 445 0102
www.ameringer-yohe.com
www.wolfkahn.com

Statements by Wolf Kahn copyright © 2009

Credits:
Photography by Jordan Tinker
Catalogue designed by Hannah Alderfer, HHA Design
Printed by CA Design, Hong Kong

Publication copyright © 2009 Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-0-9820810-2-0

Cover: Barn in the Corner (detail), page 39

Inside cover: Early Summer Painting (detail), page 9

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