Kuhn, Walt (1880–1949). American painter, cartoonist, designer, and art adviser, born in New York. His first name was originally William, but he adopted ‘Walt’ in about 1900. In his late teens he earned his living partly as a racing cyclist, then in 1899 began working as a cartoonist in San Francisco. From 1901 to 1903 he studied in Europe, before settling in New York, where he worked as a cartoonist and illustrator for various journals over the next decade. His painting of this time was influenced by
Fauvism, but Kuhn was more important as a promoter of modern art than for his own work. His most significant role was in helping to organize the
Armory Show in 1913; he and Arthur B.
Davies were its chief architects. Kuhn was also an adviser to several pioneer collectors of modern art in the USA, notably Lillie P.
Bliss and John
Quinn.
In the wake of the Armory Show, Kuhn experimented with
Cubism, but he reverted to a much more naturalistic style, and in the 1920s he began producing the pictures of circus performers that are his best-known works. Typically they depict a single figure, seated or half-length, boldly and frontally presented against a stark background (
The Blue Clown, Whitney Museum, New York, 1931). The colours are often strong, even garish, but otherwise these paintings are fairly conservative. Kuhn also painted still-lifes and landscapes and he worked as a designer for musical reviews and of industrial products. He died in a mental hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown.