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Revision as of 00:35, 15 June 2011
Wilfred Langdon Kihn | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Art Students League |
| Notable work | Portraits of American Indians |
Wilfred (or William) Langdon Kihn (September 5, 1898 – December 12, 1957) was a portrait painter and illustrator specializing in portraits of American Indians.[1]
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, son of Alfred Charles Kihn and Carrie Lowe (Peck) Kihn.[2] He attended Boys' High School in Brooklyn and was recognized there for his artistic talent.[3]
He married Helen Van Tine Butler in 1920, and lived in Hadlyme and Moodus, Connecticut.[4]
He studied with the Art Students League, 1916–17, and was a pupil of Homer Boss and Witold Reiss.
Motivated by a desire to document the disappearing aboriginal culture, he spent many years visiting and living with Indian tribes in the Western United States. In 1920, he was admitted to the Blackfeet tribe in Montana, under the name "Zoi-och-ka-tsai-ya," meaning "Chase Enemy in Water".[5]
His paintings were featured in one-man and group exhibitions in many different museums and galleries, starting in the early 1920s.[6]
In 1922, the New York Times described his work as follows:
Mr. Kihn's portraits are marvels of incisive characterization. These closely studied physiognomies show no trace of the sentimental idealization from which most painters of Indian subjects find it almost impossible to escape. Each is firm, clear, and direct, recording the subtle differences of aspect difficult enough to discern in races other than our own, and seizing the essential message of the face with youthful certainty and conviction.[7]
He was a Democratic candidate for the Connecticut House of Representatives from the town of Lyme, in the November 2, 1948 election.[8]
He died in Lawrence Memorial Hospital, New London, Connecticut, after a short illness, and was buried in Cove Cemetery, Hadlyme, Connecticut.[9]
His work is in the permanent collections of, among others, the McCord Museum in Montreal, Quebec,[10] and the Davison Art Center Gallery at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.[11][12]
See also
- Native Americans in the United States: Depictions by Europeans and Americans
- Native Americans in popular culture
- Elbridge Ayer Burbank
- George Catlin
- Seth and Mary Eastman
- Paul Kane
- Charles Bird King
- Joseph Henry Sharp
- John Mix Stanley
External links
- W. Langdon Kihn page at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art
- W. Langdon Kihn Papers at the Archives of American Art.
- Exhibition portraits of American Indians, by W. Langdon Kihn (1922) at Archive.org
Sources
- ^ "W. Langdon Kihn, Artist, 59, Dead: Potrait Painter Was Noted For U.S. Indian Studies--Illustrator for Books", New York Times, December 13, 1957
- ^ Who's Who in America, 1948, p. 1348.
- ^ Indian Art Exhibit: Young Brooklyn Artist to Show Work Under Western Auspices, New York Times, March 13, 1922
- ^ Who's Who in America, 1948, p. 1348.
- ^ "W. Langdon Kihn, Artist, 59, Dead: Potrait Painter Was Noted For U.S. Indian Studies--Illustrator for Books", New York Times, December 13, 1957
- ^ INDIANS' PORTRAITS SHOWN: W. Langdon Kihn's Brilliant Work in the Anderson Galleries, New York Times, March 21, 1922.
- ^ ART: Potraits of American Indians, New York Times, March 26, 1922
- ^ Connecticut Register and Manual, 1950, page 556
- ^ The Annual report of the Connecticut Historical Society, 1958
- ^ Musée McCord Museum search results
- ^ Catalogs in Print, Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University
- ^ Indian Portraits by Kihn Exhibited, New York Times, February 20, 1983