Scott Kahn - 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session New York Wednesday, November 16, 2022 | Phillips

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  • "…Kahn’s surrealism is not of the front-page, national-news variety. It’s more visual, more mystical."—Andrew L. Shea

    Scott Kahn’s Momentum Story – A Timeline

     

    Scott Kahn was born in 1946 in Springfield, Massachusetts and resides in upstate New York. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts from Rutgers University in 1970, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. His distinctive oeuvre received critical acclaim throughout his career, including being the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation award in 1986 and 1995, and a fellowship at the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Despite this early recognition, Kahn soon fell into relative oblivion until the endorsement of fellow artist Matthew Wong re-ignited his career. Kahn had formed a friendship with the self-taught Canadian artist via social media, both sharing an interest in magical realism.

    "No one was paying any attention to me. I thought I’d die in my cousin’s attic, in poverty, without any recognition. And then Matthew came along.”
    —Scott Kahn

    • In 2018, Matthew Wong bought a painting by Kahn that he posted to Instagram–crediting Kahn as a major inspiration to his own practice which itself garnered incredible critical and market acclaim.

     

    • In summer 2019, Kahn received a solo show first at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, and then at Harper’s Books, Easthampton.

     

    • Harper Levine gave Kahn solo shows at his uptown and Chelsea galleries in 2021.

     

    • In July 2021, Almine Rech announced their exclusive representation of Kahn, who hadn’t been represented by a gallery for 15 years.

     

    • In November 2021, Phillips established a new benchmark in Kahn’s secondary market, offering Cadman Plaza in the 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in November 2021 which sold for $963,203. Up until then, the few paintings offered at regional auction houses barely sold, with the last work offered in 2017 selling for merely $500.

     

    •  A new auction record for Kahn was achieved in May 2022, when a canvas sold for nearly $1.5 million 

    • Provenance

      Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

    • Artist Biography

      Scott Kahn

      Scott Kahn (b. 1946) is an American painter. He received his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from Rutgers University. He is now best known for the explosion of his own market on the international stage late in his career and over the last five years. His subject matter reflects the people and places of America, primarily influenced by the bucolic landscapes and daily life of the northeast, USA.

      Kahn has been a recipient of awards from the Pollock Krasner Foundation and a residency at the Edward Albee Foundation in Montauk. His work is included in major corporations and two museums in China, including the Long Museum, and the ICA Miami in Florida. His work is in the collection of the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater.

       
      View More Works

329

Bush at Sunset

signed and dated "Scott Kahn '84" lower right; signed, titled, inscribed and dated "BUSH AT SUNSET 1984 KAHN © 1984 by Scott Kahn all rights reserved" on the overlap
oil on canvas
50 x 35 in. (127 x 88.9 cm)
Painted in 1984.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$150,000 - 200,000 

Sold for $214,200

Contact Specialist

Patrizia Koenig
Specialist, Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session
+1 212 940 1279
pkoenig@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session

New York Auction 16 November 2022