Louis Kahan's long and distinguished career spanned most of the twentieth century. The range and scope of his oeuvre defies categorisation and covers a wide variety of media, encompassing painting, printmaking, design and stained glass.
Born in Vienna in 1905 his many lives include: fashion designer in 1920s Paris, WWII Foreign Legionnaire and war artist, stage and costume designer in post war Australia and Britain, and highly recognised visual artist represented in all major Australian public collections as well as in many abroad.
“Art is a journey into the most unknown thing of all - oneself. Nobody knows his own frontiers... I don't think I'd ever want to take a road if I knew where it led."
- Louis Kahan
Louis Kahan in his studio, c.1986
Painting
"He was one of the most inventive colourists of his generation. When the typically 'Australian' art was supposed to be tonally dark and heavy, Louis celebrated Australianness through light and exquisite passages of colour, vibrant, yet gentle and contemplative."
- Victor Majzner, writer and artist & Geoff La Gerche, Artist, 2002
Louis Kahan in his studio c.1980
Graphic Work
> Portraits
> Places
> Figures
> Prints
"His line is generous, rich, extravagant, uninhibited and articulate, always suggesting movement."
- Lou Klepac, Art Historian, Curator and Publisher, 1990
Louis and Lily Kahan in the studio c.1975
Yascha Heifetz, c.1968, ink on paper
Music
Louis Kahan grew up with music, attending his first opera at the age of eight. As a very young man he sketched the celebrated musicians who visited his father's bespoke tailoring business in Vienna. He continued the habit of drawing musicians for much of his life, most often depicting them in action and displaying a virtuosity and speed which captures the movement and intensity of performance. These portraits depict many of the greatest musicians, conductors and singers of the twentieth century.
In Paris in the 1920s Kahan made the leap from fashion designer with Paul Poiret to designing costumes for Josephine Baker, Mistinguett and Collette in her production La Vagabonde. He also designed for the French film La Châtelaine du Liban in 1926.
In 1950 in Melbourne, he met theatrical producer Stephan Haag, a former member of the Viennese boys choir. So began a most fruitful collaboration and Kahan's career as a set and costume designer for opera and theatre in Australia. The comprehensive collections of his portraits of musicians, and set and costume designs can be found at the Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne.
“[Kahan] had an unerring ability to depict, via some osmosis that would be impossible to describe, that crucial moment between a musician playing music and creating it: in that instant, a synthesis between brain and heart, soul and sound. The works[…] bring that moment alive so persuasively, you can almost hear the music behind them.”Michael Shmith, cultural journalist, editor and writer.
Louis Kahan making a mask for Tales of Hoffman, 1954