Painting
"He was one of the most inventive colourists of his generation. When the typically 'Australian' art was supposed to be tonally dark and heavy, Louis celebrated Australianness through light and exquisite passages of colour, vibrant, yet gentle and contemplative."
- Victor Majzner, writer and artist & Geoff La Gerche, Artist, 2002
Louis Kahan in his studio c.1980
Music
Louis Kahan grew up with music, attending his first opera at the age of eight. As a very young man he sketched the celebrated musicians who visited his father's bespoke tailoring business in Vienna. He continued the habit of drawing musicians for much of his life, most often depicting them in action and displaying a virtuosity and speed which captures the movement and intensity of performance. These portraits depict many of the greatest musicians, conductors and singers of the twentieth century.