Anne Kahane Explained

Anne Kahane
Spouse:Robert Langstadt
Birth Date:1 March 1924
Birth Place:Vienna, Austria
Nationality:Canadian
Education:École des Beaux-Arts, Montreal (night school) (1940); Valentine's School of Commercial Art (1942); Cooper Union, New York (1945–1947)
Known For:Sculptor, teacher
Elected:A.R.C.A., S.S.C.
Awards:International competition, London, 1953 for Unknown Political Prisoner; Concours artistique, Quebec, 1956; Canada Council grant 1961

Anne Kahane (March 1, 1924 – September 29, 2023) was an Austrian-born Canadian artist. Best known for her figures carved in wood, Kahane began her career as a printmaker and commercial artist.[1] In addition to her work as a sculptor using wood, brass, and aluminum, Kahane's artistic repertoire also included drawing and printmaking.

Early life

Kahane was born in Vienna, Austria on March 1, 1924.[2] In 1925, she and her family moved to Canada, and settled in Montreal.[3] In Montreal, Kahane attended high school at Strathcona Academy where no art course was taught. The absence of these studies influenced her to seek extra-curricular activities related to art.[4]

Upon enrolling in night classes at the École des Beaux-Arts in Montreal (1940), she furthered her studies in traditional sculpture, commercial art, industrial design, and architecture. In the fall of 1942 Kahane began training as a commercial artist at Valentine's School of Commercial Art.[4]

Kahane lived with her mother, using the home of her friends as studio space, and obtained planks of wood for her art from the local lumberyard.[5] In 1945 she went to New York to study at the Cooper Union Art School. It was there that she discovered the art of woodcarving, the technique that would later shape her career.[6]

Career

In 1953, Kahane's maquette for The Unknown Political Prisoner Monument was the only Canadian entry to take a prize in the international sculpture competition organized by the Institute of Contemporary Arts of London, England.[7] In the same year, Kahane had her first solo exhibition at the Galérie Agnès Lefort.[8] She received no financial prize from her London competition, but as a result, in 1952, was asked to join the Sculptors Society of Canada. At the 1956 Concours Artistique de la province au Quebec, Kahane won the grand prize for her work Ball Game. As an associate member of the Royal Canadian Academy, Kahane exhibited with them between 1964 and 1976, and with the Art Association of Montreal from 1957 to 1965.[9]

Kahane's work was internationally celebrated, representing Canada with James Wilson Morrice, Jacques de Tonnancour, and Jack Nichols at the Canadian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1958),[10] at Expo 67 in Montreal and at the Brussels World's Fair (1968).[11] She received public and private commissions, notably her sculpture for the Winnipeg airport (1963) and a piece for Montreal's Place des Arts (1963–1964).[12] Kahane taught fine arts at Concordia University from 1965 to 1980. Later, as a resident sculptor, she taught at McMaster University in Hamilton (1980–1982), where she explored flat structural techniques using flexible materials to depart from traditional three-dimensional structures.

Kahane died on September 29, 2023, at the age of 99.[13]

Selected exhibitions

Public artworks

Notes and References

  1. Book: Art Gallery of Ontario: the Canadian Collection . 1970 . McGraw-Hill Company of Canada . 9780070925045 . 225 . 9 March 2021.
  2. Web site: Anne Kahane . www.gallery.ca.
  3. Web site: Anne Kahane – The Canadian Encyclopedia . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
  4. The sculpture of Anne Kahane . Sylvia . Antoniou . 1992 . . en . March 26, 2018 . MA .
  5. Book: Lambton, Gunda . https://books.google.com/books?id=-CYZQIjo9QQC&pg=PA34 . Stealing the Show: Seven Women Artists in Canadian Public Art . Anne Kahane: Humour and the Human Condition . 34–49 . 1994 . 0773511881.
  6. Book: Tippett, Maria . Sculpture in Canada: A History . November 11, 2017 . Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Limited . 9781771620949 . en.
  7. Web site: 1953 – Model for the « Monument to the Unknown Political Prisoner by Anne Kahane . January 2017.
  8. Book: Carney, Lora Senechal . Canadian Painters in a Modern World, 1925–1955: Writings and Reconsiderations . 2017 . . 9780773551145 . en.
  9. Web site: Kahane, Anne . Canadian Women Artists History Initiative.
  10. Web site: Venice Biennial, 1972 . National Gallery of Canada . https://web.archive.org/web/20131013125245/http://www.gallery.ca/venice/80.htm . May 11, 2021. October 13, 2013.
  11. Book: North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary . Heller . Jules . Heller . Nancy G.. December 19, 2013 . Routledge . 9781135638894. en.
  12. Web site: Anne Kahane | the Canadian Encyclopedia.
  13. Web site: Anne Kahane . . Remembering.ca . October 19, 2023.
  14. Web site: National Gallery of Canada resumes state-of-the-art restoration of the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Biennale . 2018-03-26.
  15. Web site: Artists Drawn to Wood . 2018-03-26.
  16. Book: Lambton, Gunda. Stealing the Show: Seven Women Artists in Canadian Public Art. August 17, 1994. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. 9780773511897. Google Books.
  17. https://www.ville.mont-royal.qc.ca/sites/default/files/documents/politique_culturelle_eng.pdf Cultural Policy of Mount Royal 2017
  18. Book: North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Jules. Heller. Nancy G.. Heller. December 19, 2013. Routledge. 9781135638894. Google Books.
  19. Web site: Les chants de la terre (1963) – Anne Kahane. July 3, 2018. Place des Arts.
  20. Web site: Work Detail.

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