Leo Kahn

Leo Kahn was a German-born Israeli painter known for landscapes, still lifes and portraits.

1894 to 1983Landscape and still life paintingDecorating the Bruchsal synagogueTextile design in Ramat Gan

Born: 15 August 1894, Bruchsal
Died: 27 September 1983, Ramat Gan
Occupation: painter, university teacher

Leo Kahn was born in 1894 in Bruchsal

Leo Kahn was born in 1894 in Bruchsal, Germany. In 1914 he served in the German army in World War I and was wounded.

From 1919 to 1920 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe. He traveled to Berlin, where he befriended Max Liebermann, and to Holland and France. He decorated a synagogue in Bruchsal and showed his work in Germany, Zurich and Paris.

In 1928 he lived in the south of France and befriended André Derain. He then kept a studio in Paris until 1934.

In 1936 he moved with his family to the Land of Israel and settled in Ramat Gan. He founded a textile factory, later sold it and stayed on as a textile designer. One of his sons fell in Italy in 1944 while serving in the Jewish Brigade.

In 1960 he left the factory to paint full time, and in 1961 he bought a house in the Safed Artists' Colony. His work shows the influence of Paul Cézanne. He died in 1983.