biography of John KANE (1860-1934)

Birth place: West Calder, Scotland

Death place: Pittsburgh, PA

Addresses: Pittsburgh, PA

Profession: Painter

Studied: self-taught.

Exhibited: CI, 1927 (first public recognition), 1928-34; Pittsburgh AA, 1930s; MoMA, 1930; Harvard Soc. of Contemp. Arts, 1929-30; Pittsburgh AA, 1930s; Contemp. Arts Soc., NYC, 1931; AIC, 1932, 1939; WMAA, 1932, 1934; PAFA Ann., 1932-34; Jr. Lg. of Pittsburgh, 1934 (solo); Salons of Am., 1934; Carnegie Mus., 1958 (retrospective)

Member: Pittsburgh AA

Work: Carnegie Mus.; Pittsburgh; Barnes Foundation, Merion, PA; La Salle Univ., Art Mus., Philadelphia; Detroit Inst. of Arts; The Chrysler Mus., Norfolk, Virginia; Albert-Knox Mus., Buffalo; MoMA; MMA; WMAA; priv. colls.

Comments: Came to the U.S. in 1879 and worked at various jobs. He married in 1897, but when his infant son died, he began traveling in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, painting freight cars, houses, amusement parks and interiors, supporting himself with odd jobs. His important work began in 1910 (although the 140 recorded paintings of his career are difficult to date), when he started painting on scraps of beaverboard, recording meticulous landscapes and industrial scenes. It was not until 1927, however, that he received public recognition, when one of his works was included in the Carnegie Intl. Exh. At the first memorial exhibit of his paintings in 1935, he was hailed as "America's Rousseau" and heralded as one of America's greatest primitive painters.

Sources: Chew, ed., Southwestern Pennsylvania Painters, 70-74; Baigell, Dictionary; Leon Anthony Arkus, John Kane: Painter (1971); Falk, Exh. Record Series.