Walt Kuhn

Walt Kuhn was an American painter, cartoonist, and art advisor, remembered as a principal organizer of the 1913 Armory Show, the exhibition that introduced European avant-garde art in America. As an artist, Kuhn is best known for his portraits of circus and vaudeville performers characterized by their flamboyant costumes and piercing gazes. He studied art at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1893 and at several European institutions including Académie Colarossi in Paris and the Royal Academy in Munich during his travels from 1901-1903. The influence of European modernism is evident in this semi-abstract watercolor.