Walt Kuhn (1877-1949)
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949)
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949)
Walt Kuhn (1877-1949)
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WALT KUHN (1877-1949)

Green Apples on Blue Cloth

Details
WALT KUHN (1877-1949)
Green Apples on Blue Cloth
signed and dated 'Walt Kuhn 1943' (lower right)—inscribed with title (on the stretcher)—inscribed and dated twice 'Green Apples 1943' (on the tacking edges)
oil on canvas
30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm.)
Painted in 1943.
Provenance
Durand-Ruel Galleries, Paris, France.
Otto and Eloise Spaeth, New York, 1945.
Estate of the above.
Gerald Peters Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2003.
Literature
Art News, November 15, 1944, p. 22, illustrated.
Art News, January 1, 1945, p. 27, illustrated.
P.R. Adams, Walt Kuhn, Painter: His Life and Work, Columbus, Ohio, 1978, pp. 198, 271, no. 439, pl. 122, illustrated.
Exhibited
New York, Durand-Ruel Galleries, 1944, no. 4.
Washington, D.C., Phillips Memorial Gallery, 1944, no. 8.
New York, American Federation of Arts, In Memorium, October 1955-October 1956, no. 16.
Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Art Museum, Walt Kuhn: A Memorial Exhibition, 1960, p. 67, no. 93, illustrated.
Boston, Massachusetts, Museum of Fine Arts, Maine and Its Artists, 1710-1963, December 12, 1963-January 26, 1964.
Fort Worth, Texas, Amon Carter Museum of Western Art; Omaha, Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum; Wichita, Kansas, Wichita Art Museum, Walt Kuhn: A Classic Revival, August 6, 1978-January 6, 1979, no. 51.

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Lot Essay

Although primarily known for his figurative works depicting circus and stage performers, Walt Kuhn painted still lifes throughout his career and experimented with a variety of painting styles derived from European influences such as Paul Cézanne. Maine apples were a favorite subject in his still lifes, which became increasingly sophisticated over time with refined color and composition. Philip Rhys Adams writes of the present work, "...Green Apples on Blue Cloth of 1943 could be described as sheer elegance, a quality he denied himself in earlier treatments of the same subject." (Cincinnati Art Museum, Walt Kuhn: A Memorial Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, 1978, n.p.)

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