 |
|
Qualifications
- Master of Fine Art,
Kunstakadame, Dresden
- Professor of Design,
Illustration and Painting, Rotter School, Prague
 Affiliations
- Canadian Society of Graphic
Artists
- Canadian Society of Painters
in Watercolour
-
Ontario Society of Artists
- Founding Member Painters
Eleven
Biography
- Born in Copenhagen, Denmark,
February 8th 1916;
- Studies design, illustration
and painting in Germany, Italy, France, Sweden and
Czechoslovakia;
- Following a Masters Degree in
Fine Art from the Kunstakadame in Dresden, becomes professor
of design, illustration and painting at the Rotter School in
Prague;
- Anti-Nazi activities in
pre-war Germany necessitates flight bringing him to Canada.
q.v. Men Against Hitler by Fritz Max Cahén;
- In Montreal, free-lances for
The Standard and The National Film Board;
- Appointed Art Director of
Magazine Digest;
- Moved to Toronto in 1943,
where his outstanding illustrations, drawings and paintings
win immediate attention;
- Becomes Canadian citizen in
1946 q.v. CIC Canada
Forging
our Legacy;
- Tragically killed in a motor
accident on the afternoon of November 26th 1956
in Oakville, Ontario;
- In recognition of the profound
influence exerted by him, the Toronto Art Directors Club
created the
Oscar Cahén Memorial Award.
|
|
|
"Accident brought Oscar
Cahén to the creative life of this country, and accident, tragic and
terrible, took him from that life. It was in no way accidental,
however, that his work in graphic art started a revolution that is
still gathering force, and has, with C.W. Jefferies, made Cahén one
of the two most important figures in creative illustration in the
history of Canada.
He was, from the moment of his arrival (in flight from fascism) the
most Canadian of new Canadians. He embraced the swirl and change,
the harshness and pace of his new life, with no regrets for the
Europe that he knew so well. A phenomenal mastery of the colloquial
in speech and custom put him at ease with this time of expansion and
rapid change. He lived in the country and the city, in Ontario and
Quebec, and loved it all. In Ontario he was in the vanguard of a
break with traditional ways of painting, comparable to that which
was made by Paul-Émile Borduas in Quebec. His voracious appetite for
living is evident in the paintings that comprise this Memorial
Exhibition – the joyous colour, freely and deftly applied, his
fixation for forms that suggest growth in exultant upward thrust,
and in every work, a sense of his deep concern with the life force.
In his last paintings, there again appeared certain figurative
elements that suggest the fascination with history and religion that
was his early concern.
Like all truly creative artists, it was impossible to chart his
future developments. We can only deeply regret the incalculable loss
of this splendid talent in the richness of its prime, and note that
what he has left us would seem enough for any man."
Harold Town
The Oscar Cahén Memorial Exhibition
1958/59
Art Gallery of Toronto
|
|
