Gustav Hahn | |
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Born | 27 July 1866 |
Died | 1 December 1962 | (aged 96)
Nationality | German Canadian |
Notable work |
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Movement | Art Nouveau |
Gustav Hahn RCA (27 July 1866 – 1 December 1962) was a German Canadian painter, muralist and interior decorator who pioneered the Art Nouveau style in Canada. [1] Hahn was also an amateur astronomer, and his father, Otto Hahn, owned a collection of meteorites. [2]
Hahn was born in Reutlingen, then in the German Confederation. [1] As a young man, he attended art school in Stuttgart. In 1888 he moved to Toronto in Canada, where he started to work as a designer in an interior decorating firm. [1] Hahn painted murals in public buildings such as the Ontario Legislature and the Toronto Old City Hall, as well as churches and residences. [1]
Hahn's major works include the depiction of the 1913 Great Meteor Procession (titled Meteoric Display of February 9, 1913, as seen near High Park) and Hail Dominion (1906). Hail Dominion was a part of a proposal to make a series of murals for the Parliament buildings in Ottawa with the Toronto painter George A. Reid. [1] For Hail Dominion Hahn used his wife and elder daughters as models for Mother Canada. [1]
Hahn taught at the Ontario College of Art, the Royal Ontario Museum, and Central Technical School. His daughter, Sylvia Hahn, also became a muralist. [3]
His brother was Emanuel Hahn.