17.11.1954–?
Max Kohn
The Luxembourgish artist Max Kohn studied in Namur and in Karlsruhe, where from 1975 to 1981 he worked in painting, drawing, etching, casting and sculpture in wood and stone. Since 1981 he has been a freelance artist in Luxembourg and France. He has had solo exhibitions since 1985 in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Luxembourg, and his work is in the collections of Luxembourg ministries.
Biography
Max Kohn’s first solo exhibition opened in 1985 at the Galerie Weißer Stern in Karlsruhe. He knew the city: four years earlier he had finished his studies at the academy there.
Kohn was born on 17 November 1954 in Esch-sur-Alzette, in the south of Luxembourg. From 1971 to 1974 he studied at the Institut des Arts et Techniques Artisanales in Namur, Belgium. He then moved to Germany, to the state art academy in Karlsruhe, and stayed there from 1975 to 1981. The programme was broad: painting and drawing, etching, casting techniques and the modelling that precedes them, sculpture in wood and stone. That mixture shows in his later career, because he did not confine himself to one craft, and is called a painter, a sculptor or a graphic artist, depending on who is writing. After 1981 Kohn has lived and worked as a freelance artist, in Luxembourg and in France. By the available evidence, he has never held a permanent post at an institution.
His exhibitions mostly run along a route between borders. In 1987 he showed work at the Galerie Artemos in Bastogne, and in 1988 at the town hall (Maison Communale) there. In 1991 an exhibition took place at the Galerie Artline in Clervaux, and in 1993 at the Galerie Dat Huisken in Bad Salzuflen. In 1997 the Dexia-Bil bank branch in Diekirch received him, and in 1998 the Galerie Schortgen in his native Esch-sur-Alzette. In 1999 there were several exhibitions at once: at the Galerie Aradia in Hesperange, at the Galerie St Nicolas in Remich and at Tendance Mikado in Luxembourg. In 2000 he exhibited at Harald Lang’s gallery in Saarbrücken and at the National Museum of Natural History in Luxembourg. In 2001 came the Galerie Noodlebärg in Basel and the Bankhaus Trinkaus und Burckhardt in Luxembourg. They were followed by the Tour Mahuet in Labry in Lorraine (2002), Michel Miltgen’s gallery in Luxembourg (2003), and the Château de Moncel in Jarny and the municipal gallery of Bar-sur-Seine (both 2004).
In 2007 he showed work at the Galerie Vergolderei von Wedel in Staufen im Breisgau, in 2008 at the Hotel Rix in Luxembourg, and in 2009 again at Aradia. In 2010 an exhibition was held at the gallery of the Château de Bourglinster, in 2013 at the Zitha clinic as part of the ZITHaRT project, in 2014 at the gallery of the Château de Vianden, and in 2016 at the Librairie Alinéa bookshop in Luxembourg. Many of these venues are not art spaces at all: banks, a town hall, a natural history museum, castles.
Kohn’s works are in public collections in Luxembourg: the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Museum of Natural History, the Banque et Caisse d’Épargne de l’État, Dexia-Bil and the company Minerais S.A.
Profile notes