Louis Kahan collection

Full description

Collection of archival material relating to Louis Kahan’s early career as a fashion illustrator, including drawings, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings. Viennese-born Louis Kahan, also known as Ludwig Kahan, (1905-2002) was a printmaker, draughtsman, painter, and theatre and film designer, and fashion illustrator. The son of a Russian Jewish tailor, Kahan initially trained as a tailor in his father’s business Kahan Tailors. After completing his apprenticeship and a master diploma in tailoring, Kahan moved to Paris, where he worked as a designer for French couturier Paul Poiret. In Paris he absorbed the cultural life of the city and met its contemporary artists, such as Matisse, Dufy and Derain. In 1930 he returned to Vienna to assist with the family business, spending the next 6 years in Vienna, returning to Paris each year to sketch the new fashion collections. In 1936 he moved back to Paris where he worked as a freelance designer and illustrator. During the WW2 Kahan joined the French Foreign Legion serving in Algeria and Morocco. In 1945 he returned to Paris, and by 1946 was working as a staff artist on Le Figaro and studying printmaking. In 1947 Kahan travelled to Australia to visit his parents who had settled in Perth after fleeing Austria. He moved to Melbourne in 1950 where he designed sets and costumes for the National Theatre and Elizabeth Theatre Trust. He also became friends with artist George Bell and writer Alan McCulloch who introduced him to Clem Christensen, editor of the literary journal Meanjin, where many of his portraits of Australian writers were published. His 1962 portrait of the author Patrick White won the Archibald Prize, bringing him national recognition. In 1993 his contribution to Australian cultural life was recognised when he was made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO). He died in Melbourne, at the age of 97 in 2002. The collection is arranged in three boxes containing original fashion illustrations and newspaper and magazine clippings, and in some cases magazines where Louis Kahan illustrations appeared. The collection comprises work from Vienna, Paris, London and Melbourne. There are photographs of drawings, as well as original illustrations in the Archive. Box 1 contains designs and drawings for Maison Paul Poiret (1920s), and pages from Austrian, English and French magazines, original drawings, and promotional material for Kahan Tailors (1930s). Box 2 contains English material from the 1950s, including Kahan’s drawings on newspaper. Box 3 contains mostly original drawings from dating from 1930s to the 1950s, and including the art work for Kahan Tailors.