KAHAN, LOUIS (1905-2002)

"Two Figures" (c.1970) 
mixed media 
cm
signed lower right
*private collection, Melbourne
 
Louis Kahan AO was an award-winning Austrian-Australian Artist, Illustrator, Fashion Designer & Printmaker. In 1925, Kahan travelled from Vienna to Paris where he worked with renowned couturier Paul Poiret, first as a tailor and then designer. Through Poiret he met many artists, including Matisse, Dufy and Vlaminck. He designed costumes for Josephine Baker, Collette and the Follies Bergeres. He immersed himself in the bohemian life of the city and began life drawing in Montparnasse. At this time he also produced freelance illustrations for newspapers and magazines. He enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1939 and was sent to Algeria, North Africa as a war artist, although he had never received any formal art training. After travelling across the United States he moved to Perth, Western Australia to join his family, who had emigrated to Australia before the war. In Perth he had his first solo exhibition and began to be recognized by the art world, with work purchased by the Art Gallery of Western Australia. He moved to Melbourne in 1950 where his talent for portraiture was recognized by Melbourne Herald art critic, Alan McCulloch, who introduced him to Clem Christesen, editor of Meanjin. He made many portraits of Australian and other celebrities, including Geoffrey Blainey, Judy Cassab, Manning Clark, Arthur Boyd, Dame Joan Sutherland, Yehudi Menuhin and Luciano Pavarotti. He won the Archibald Prize in 1962 with a portrait of Patrick White. In 1993 Kahan was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to the arts. He is represented in several Major National Galleries & Collections.