Scott Kahn's work is defined by the recurring night, taking the form of dreamlike landscapes he paints from memory, mixing the real and the psychological to produce a heightened narration of his life. After decades of being overlooked, the American artist was rediscovered in 2017, thanks to Instagram, at the age of 71 and at the peak of his talent.
“It’s just been an amazing journey and very unusual. Because I’m still alive,” recently declared the 76-year-old artist, who is indeed very much alive and whose trajectory has not only been far from conventional but took a spectacular turn in recent years. It’s not such a surprise though, for there is no set model for an artistic career, and critical and commercial success don’t necessarily come in a clear or organized manner, or even at the same time. Scott Kahn knows this well, he who, after almost 40 years of lukewarm critical success and modest earnings (his work sold well but for very low sums), became a star late in life. Overnight, the oeuvre of a whole career came to our attention in its exciting entirety. This kind of phenomenon is becoming more and more common in an age when, thanks to social media, artists suddenly find themselves the darlings of the art world and its capricious market. In Kahn’s case, all it took was for his name to be mentioned by another artist 40 years younger than him.