Article

Anne Kahane

Published Online March 4, 2008

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Anne Kahane, sculptor (b at Vienna, Austria 1 Mar 1924). Kahane is nationally recognized for dense, monumental and 3-dimensional figures carved in wood, portraying political satire, humour and human foibles. She immigrated with her parents in 1925, settling in Montréal at age 5.

Kahane, Anne

Anne Kahane, sculptor (b at Vienna, Austria 1 Mar 1924). Kahane is nationally recognized for dense, monumental and 3-dimensional figures carved in wood, portraying political satire, humour and human foibles. She immigrated with her parents in 1925, settling in Montréal at age 5. Kahane studied at Cooper Union School, New York City, 1945-47. Her entry took a prize at the first International Sculpture Competition sponsored by the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1953. Delegation (Venice Biennale, 1953) is a strong statement on frustration and red tape. In the 1960s she carved large decorative panels for the Winnipeg airport and Winnipeg General Hospital, and figures for Montréal's Place des Arts. By 1978 Kahane had abandoned wood for thin, strong sheets of aluminum, which gave flexibility to figures flattened into abstraction. This new technique was first shown at McMaster University, where she taught 1980-82.