Kuehne’s Floral Folding Screen is a perfect example of his creativity and craftsmanship in this discipline. The multitude of assorted blossoms, leaves and grasses comprising the left and center panels are beautifully offset by the minimalism of the right, containing just a few plants and a lone butterfly. In 1932, Arden Galleries hosted an exhibition of Kuehne’s furniture, including eight screens which inspired the following review: “In their beauty of applied ornamentation they indicate a growing vigor in our native decorative art. Their soft tones of silver, gold and earth hues help to harmonize them with almost any interior, as do their designs, most of which are fanciful conceptions of tropical foliage enlivened by small birds and animals.”[1] Kuehne’s success in his second career in framing and furniture design helped mitigate the effects of the Great Depression, when the market for paintings fell off dramatically, and collectors like Whitney helped keep him afloat.  

[1] “Old Arts Revived for Modern Screens: Adaptations of the Gesso Method of the Italians Exhibited by an American Artist,” New York Times Magazine, December 11, 1932, 14 (newspaper clipping in Kuehne archives)

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Provenance:

Collection, Boston, Massachusetts