16 Facts About Kenneth Callahan

Kenneth Callahan was an American painter and muralist who served as a catalyst for Northwest artists in the mid-20th century through his own painting, his work as assistant director and curator at the Seattle Art Museum, and his writings about contemporary art.

Kenneth Callahan enrolled at the University of Washington in 1924 but did not stay long.

Kenneth Callahan traveled widely, absorbing influences from the different countries and cultures he experienced.

Kenneth Callahan's talent was recognized early; his work was included in the first Whitney Biennial exhibition in 1933 and he went on to a distinguished painting career.

Kenneth Callahan was born in Spokane, Washington, on October 30,1905, the fifth of seven children of John and Martha Ann Cross Callahan.

Kenneth Callahan spent his growing years in the small town of Glasgow, Montana.

Kenneth Callahan enrolled in the University of Washington, but left after two months.

In 1926 Kenneth Callahan had his first one-man show at San Francisco's Schwabacher-Frey Gallery; the following year he began his world travels as a ship's steward, winding up back in Seattle in 1930.

In 1930 Kenneth Callahan married Margaret Bundy, who was a co-editor of Town Crier, a literary magazine published in Seattle between 1912 and 1937.

Kenneth Callahan had numerous exhibitions, was commissioned to do several murals, and helped form the Group of Twelve, an "independent salon" of Northwest artists.

Kenneth Callahan was a somewhat controversial figure within the arts community, with some artists seeing conflict of interest in his positions as artist, curator, and critic.

Kenneth Callahan supplemented his income with occasional teaching jobs at various colleges, and in 1954 applied for and received a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Kenneth Callahan married Beth Inge Gotfredsen in 1964, and they moved to Long Beach, Washington, on the Pacific coast.

Kenneth Callahan continued painting in his studio near the shore in Long Beach, but at a more relaxed pace.

In 1984 Kenneth Callahan moved back to Seattle and turned his artistic attention to urban life, in contrast with the sea and light studies that dominated his work during two decades at Long Beach.

Kenneth Callahan's works are included in collections at the Metropolitan Museum, the Guggenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; the Corcoran Gallery, the Phillips Collection, and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC; the Chicago Art Institute, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Tacoma Art Museum.