Samuel Kahn. Raining Cats and Dogs. 2006-2007. Felt-tip pen on paper. ODU Gordon Art Galleries Self-Taught Art Collection. 2013.208.02
By Betsy DiJulio
To say that Samuel Kahn (1927-2007) was a self-taught artist is accurate, but somewhat akin to saying Emily Dickenson was a self-taught writer. It doesn’t begin to paint the whole picture.
Both lived in intellectually and artistically stimulating environments in Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively, both received acclaim after their deaths, and both may have shared a history of depression. Dickenson is, of course, a global household name, but with “Samuel Kahn, Ph.D. + Friends” opening at ODU and an imminent article about him by daughter Eve M. Kahn, hopefully Samuel is poised to receive his due. Her first-person essay will appear in The Art Newspaper, a monthly print publication based in New York and London.
Eve is an independent scholar; author of two books; and noted writer on topics of art, architecture, and design who works for, among other publications, the New York Times, where she is a former columnist. In a recent lively phone conversation, she candidly shared her father’s genius and mental illness, recalling that “By the time I was four (c. 1966), he was in and out of bipolar depression,” noting that he got “crazier and crazier and more and more unwell.”
By the 1970s, Samuel, a one-time noted clinical psychologist, could no longer work for a living. But he received “enormous solace” tending the gardens of the family’s 1830s farmhouse in Stamford, Connecticut, volunteering, engaging in land conservation activism, and becoming a licensed arborist, penning a self-published book entitled Barks That Don’t Bite. But his lifeline was painting.
Eve’s mother, Renee, an artist, art educator, and preservationist with an MA in art history “patched it all together,” raising her family—which includes internationally renowned environmental sculptor, Ned Kahn—and caring for her husband at home until he died at the age 80, one day after their 50th anniversary. Eve recalls that Renee “dragged him to museums and old houses,” observing that “he got interested in making art by osmosis.” And ultimately, his determination to make art provided his will to live.
Far from the monumental German expressionist-influenced works that his wife made, Samuel painted large eye-popping landscapes that resemble maps, complete with labeling. Though he never learned perspective or how to mix colors, that never held him back. Until 2024, when Renee moved to assisted living in California and the family began clearing out the Stamford farmhouse, Eve had not realized how much work her father had produced as he grew increasingly fragile and confused and as she withdrew from him. “I tried to forget about him,” she admits.
Eve wanted to deaccession her father’s work not for financial gain, but because it “made her sad.” However, attempts to interest collectors in Samuel’s work were futile. With deep family ties to an enclave of Jewish immigrants in the Berkley section of Norfolk and a connection by marriage to the late Baron Gordon, Eve reached out to Ellin Gordon who, together with Baron, are widely known for their collection of outsider art and philanthropy, based first in Norfolk, then Williamsburg. Ellin essentially asked ODU to accept the work as a gift, which they did. Eve, happy to have it “somewhere safe and dry” promptly forgot about it.
That is, until she received an email “out of the blue” from Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth, the new curator of the Gordon Art Galleries. In an effort to fully understand the collection, he had been pouring over work in storage, came upon dozens of pieces by Samuel, and reached out to Eve. Asking herself if she was going to tell the truth about her father, the answer was, “Yea, I’m going to tell the truth.” And she found Waugh-Quasebarth’s enthusiasm “thrilling.”
Ultimately, Eve says, “The work itself is heartening now that I’m looking at it after all these years.” Reflecting on how challenging the past year has been in so many respects, she thinks of this show as “the only good thing that has happened in 2025…his work is bringing people joy.”
On a personal level, she is grateful “to see my own family’s story this way” and “to see how he tried to beautify the world.” She steps into 2026 with the realization that, as of the last six months, she is “not mad at him anymore.” Pinching herself that this show is even happening, she reflects, “He didn’t mean to cause all this damage.”
The exhibition will include some 50 works by Samuel Kahn and a “handful” of pieces by Renee and Ned Kahn.
Samuel Kahn, Ph.D. + Friends
January 30 — May 16
Opening Reception: Thursday 1/29
Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, ODU
4509 Monarch Way, Norfolk, 757.683.6271