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Fire Screen

A work made of gessoed wood, watercolor, silver leaf, and shellac.

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  • A work made of gessoed wood, watercolor, silver leaf, and shellac.

Date:

1924–30

Artist:

Max Kuehne
American, born Germany, 1880–1968

About this artwork

Originally trained as a painter, Max Kuehne began to make furniture in 1917 after a trip to Spain, where he observed craftsmen using Renaissance woodworking techniques. Kuehne’s designs were highly unconventional: he made his own pieces with large areas for decoration, which he incised, gilded, and painted with modern elements inspired by non-Western cultures. The imagery on this fire screen— scrolling clouds and bold animals bounding through a lush landscape—recalls Persian miniature paintings.

Status

On View, Gallery 272

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Max Kuehne

Title

Fire Screen

Place

United States (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1924–1930

Medium

Gessoed wood, watercolor, silver leaf, and shellac

Dimensions

91.5 × 63.5 × 29.3 cm (36 × 25 × 11 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Quinn E. Delaney Fund

Reference Number

2015.313

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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