Scott Kahn

Scott Kahn is an American artist known for his saturated, fantastical landscape paintings. At times, he integrates solitary figures, animals and objects. Drawing inspiration from his memories and imagination, Kahn captures the people and places he has encountered. His oeuvre thus acts as a vivid visual diary. The style of his figurative paintings is reminiscent of the naivety of Henri Rousseau’s works and the surreal quality of René Magritte’s works.

Kahn was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1946. He studied Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a BA in 1967. Upon graduating, he relocated to New York. For a year, he studied at the Arts Student League under Theodoros Stamos, meeting other first-generation Abstract Expressionists, including Mark Rothko. Kahn soon discarded abstraction however, forming a figurative style that has a realist touch. In 1970, he received an MFA from Rutgers University.

From living in his cousin’s attic a few years prior, Kahn has become one of today's most sought-after contemporary artists. In recent years, Kahn has worked at his home in Westchester, New York, while maintaining a studio in Brooklyn. He credits the support of well-known Canadian painter Matthew Wong to his booming rise to stardom. Wong and Kahn became acquainted through an initial Facebook correspondence, sharing the same interests in nature and magical realism as self-taught artists. Wong bought Kahn’s painting Cul de Sac (2017) in 2018 and posted it on social media, fuelling overwhelming positive feedback from dealers and art enthusiasts alike.

In May 2022, Kahn’s painting Big House, Homage to America (2012) sold for $1,430,000 at Christie’s, a world auction record for the artist.

Another genre that Kahn has mastered is portraiture. His figures often seem unassuming and reserved yet imbued with complex emotions. The figures are typically set against moody landscapes or interiors, positioned towards the viewer with direct eye contact.

Kahn received an award from the Pollock Krasner Foundation in 1986 and 1995 and completed a residency at the Edward Albee Foundation between 1975 to 1977.