Oscar Cahén

Oscar Cahén
Life & Work by Jaleen Grove
Grosz, George (German/American, 1893–1959)
A caricaturist and scathing social critic, painter, and draftsman associated with Dada in
his early career, Grosz became a pioneer of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). His
avidly anti-war work grew out of his participation in the First World War. His late career
focused on landscape and still-life painting, though it retained a bleak tone.
Group of Seven
A progressive and nationalistic school of landscape painting in Canada, active between
1920 (the year of the group’s first exhibition, at the Art Gallery of Toronto) and 1933.
Founding members were the artists Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson,
Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley.
Heartfield, John (German, 1891–1968)
Born Helmut Franz Josef Herzfeld, John Heartfield was a pioneer of Dada and actively
integrated his leftist, pacifist politics with artistic practice. He worked in print design and
typography and as an editor for the German Communist Party. With George Grosz,
Raoul Hausmann, and Hannah Hoch, Heartfield developed photomontage, combining
images from mass media to support his political perspective.
Hirschfeld, Al (American, 1903–2003)
Known for his linear calligraphic style, Hirschfeld was a caricaturist whose long and
prolific career focused on portraits of celebrities. Hirschfield’s work was published
widely, from the New York Times to Rolling Stone to Playboy and TV Guide.
Hodgson, Tom (Canadian, 1924–2006)
An Abstract Expressionist painter, advertising art director, respected art teacher, and
champion athlete raised on Centre Island, in Toronto Harbour. Hodgson was a member
of Painters Eleven; he trained with Arthur Lismer at the Ontario College of Art (now
OCAD University) and made action paintings that were often immense in scale.
impasto
Paint applied so thickly that it stands out in relief and retains the marks of the brush or
palette knife.
Kettlewell, Charles William (1914–1988)
“Bill” Kettlewell was an equestrian painter who also worked as an art director in Toronto.
Kline, Franz (American, 1910–1962)
An Abstract Expressionist painter and draftsman whose gestural works drew inspiration
from contemporaries such as Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning. From the late
1940s Kline’s paintings were largely black and white, but in the last years of his career
he returned to a full-colour palette.
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