Wolf Kahn

Thomas Segal Gallery, Baltimore

[with] Stiles T. Colwill, Lutherville, Maryland

Dr. and Mrs. Laurence Pakula, Baltimore (acquired from the above in 2011)

Acquired in 2023 by the present owner

Dated 2007, Yellow Band is a mature and highly accomplished example of Wolf Kahn’s commitment to exploring post-war abstraction through the vessel of the landscape genre. Aptly titled for the vibrant strip of color that bisects the composition, Yellow Band showcases a brilliant alternation of cool and warm hues that highlight the artist’s mastery with color.

Kahn’s decision to incorporate this golden band within the otherwise primarily lavender sky creates the effect of a beautiful sunset. “The light that suffuses the landscape at sunset, or just before, is especially inviting to me because it tinges everything with a warm glow,” Kahn stated of his affinity for sunset landscapes (Wolf Kahn, Wolf Kahn’s America: An Artist’s Travels, New York, 2003, p. 136). To Kahn, who liked to be “taken by surprise” when it came to his choice of subject matter, a sunset allowed for spontaneity while simultaneously symbolizing the familiarity of the natural landscape that surrounds him (ibid, p. 88). 

Yellow Band demonstrates Kahn’s signature style of illustrating delicately rendered thin trees in a rhythmic horizontal arrangement. Kahn split the majority of his adult life and artistic career between New York and Vermont, with the latter significantly informing his fascination with wooded landscapes such as this. Executed in 2007, Yellow Band is a testament to Kahn’s lifelong commitment to engaging with abstraction through the lens of nature.