Wright Auction

Born in Halle, Germany, Max Kuehne immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and began studying painting under William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri in New York. He quickly became associated with the Ashcan School and its interest in urban realism, although his own style evolved into a more luminous and impressionistic mode. Kuehne spent time in Europe, particularly Italy and France, where he absorbed the influence of both Old Masters and modern European design, sharpening his eye for composition, surface, and light.

While Kuehne gained early recognition as a painter and exhibited widely, he eventually expanded his practice to include furniture-making and decorative arts. His painted and gilded furniture, folding screens, and mirrors became signature works, blending fine art, design, and craft. These pieces were often elaborately decorated using gesso relief, water gilding, and polychrome finishes, techniques he studied and refined to a high level of artistry. Many of his furnishings featured stylized figural or landscape imagery, reminiscent of medieval or Renaissance panels but rendered with a modern aesthetic sensibility.

Kuehne’s screens, in particular, are among his most celebrated works. These folding panels combined sculptural relief with painting and gilding, transforming functional objects into richly textured works of art. His furniture and screens often bridged East and West in their form and decoration, displaying the influence of Asian lacquerware and European decorative traditions while maintaining a distinctly personal vision. In addition to his decorative work, Kuehne also created sculpture, particularly small-scale reliefs and carved panels that carried the same intricacy and craftsmanship seen in his furniture. His studio in Rockport, Massachusetts, became a center for artistic production and a reflection of his belief that fine art and decorative art could—and should—coexist.

Max Kuehne’s legacy is that of a Renaissance man in modern times, an artist who defied specialization to create a body of work that is as beautiful as it is multifaceted. During his lifetime, he counted amongst his clients the likes of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, Juliana Force (the founding director of the Whitney Museum of American Art), and noted critic and collector A. E. Gallatin. His work can now be found in numerous prominent private and public collections, including The Barnes Foundation, Brooklyn Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art.